Coming into the 2013 shortened season, the Pittsburgh Penguins were expected to do big things by hockey pundits and fans alike.
For starters, the team was made up of offensive superstars and point-producers in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. The Penguins easily had one of the best top-six forward groups in the league and one that could score goals and produce at will.
Secondly, the team made deals at the deadline to acquire veterans Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla. Not only were both of these players looking for their first Cup, but they were both also looking to show that they could still play at a high level when the game required it.
Lastly, this was a team that ruled the Eastern Conference during the regular season. The Penguins not only won the Atlantic Division, but they finished atop the Eastern Conference with 72 points, which was just five points behind the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks.
So where did it all go wrong for this hockey club in the Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins, where they were swept?
No offence
For a team that led the league in goals scored (165) during the regular season, the Penguins’ offence went south at the most important time of the year.
In their four-game loss to the Bruins, the Penguins scored just two goals. What makes that statistic even worse is that it was not by Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Neal, Dupuis, or even Kunitz.
Crosby and Malkin, the team’s two best offensive players, were held without a point in the Bruins’ sweep – up until this point, Crosby and Malkin had never gone four straight games without scoring a point.
When the team needed it the most, their offence went silent.
Poor defensive coverage
While the Penguins certainly had their scoring chances in this series, it was the Bruins that were the ones that were able to cash in on opposition defensive lapses.
A perfect example of this was on the only goal scored in Game 4. On the goal, the Pens not only made a bad line change, but they also left Bruins’ defenceman Adam McQuaid wide open as he was able to blast a shot past goaltender Tomas Vokoun.
Shortly after the Bruins scored to make it 1-0, the Penguins had another defensive letdown that lead to a Daniel Paille breakaway. Luckily for them Paille missed the net, but if he hadn’t, the game would have been over much earlier.
Better goaltending from the Bruins
While one cannot put the blame on solely on Vokoun’s shoulders, Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask was clearly better in this series.
Rask stopped 134 of 136 Penguins shots, did not allow any soft goals, had great rebound control and was as a solid as a rock between the pipes for his hockey club.
While Vokoun deserved a better fate in this series, both his and Marc-Andre Fleury’s play in their 6-1 Game 2 loss did not do their team any favours and put their team behind the eight ball heading to Boston down 2-0 in the series.
Total domination by the Bruins
Basically put, the Bruins were the better team in this series. They had better offence, better depth, better defensive play and a much better goaltender in Rask.
Based on those facts alone, the Penguins had no business winning this series, which is extremely disappointing considering they were built to win hockey’s holy grail this year.