Disappointing Loss for Pens

I do not know whether to pat myself on the back for an unfortunate but right on the money foreshadowing or kick myself where the sun don’t shine for my first-ever Pittsburgh jinx. At some point during the Penguins-Canadiens series I wrote the following two things;

“The loss was especially frustrating because the Pens are up against a Montreal team that is relying on their goaltender, luck and momentum for success in these playoffs…But what if, and it’s a big if but not impossible, Halak stands on his head Saturday night, or Fleury has an off night, or a couple of lucky bounces go the Canadiens way. All of a sudden the Pens could be on the brink of elimination” and;

“I do not want to jinx the Pens here, and I will save a longer version of my thoughts on Sidney Crosby until after the season and hopefully another Stanley Cup run, but as a Penguins fan could you ever imagine a Crosby-led team losing in a game seven when they are clearly the superior team.”

The former of those two quotes were from the Penguins game four loss to Montreal. A win in that game would have put the Pens up 3-1 in the series and all but eliminated the Canadiens. The latter quote was in reference to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals losing game seven at home to the Canadiens, something that Crosby and the Penguins matched in the second round.

I tried to give myself a day to get over the immediate emotional reaction from a game seven loss and such an abrupt end to a season that looked so promising for another Stanley Cup championship. But in the end the only word that kept coming to mind was “disappointing”. The Penguins were clearly the class of the Eastern Conference, especially amongst the remaining teams fighting it out in the playoffs. They boasted of the best two players in the league still playing, the most playoff tested team and the most experienced goalie in terms of big games and big saves. In the end, none of that mattered.

Despite the Penguins outshooting, outhitting, winning more face-offs, having more scoring chances and generally outplaying the Canadiens for most of the series, it was Montreal that found a way to win four out of seven games, including a game seven on the home team’s own ice. The good news is that Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Orpik and Letang are all under contract for the next few years and this surely will not be this group’s last run at a Cup. It’s just a shame that this season had to end this way.