PITTSBURGH – Sid versus Ovie, or the Battle of Pennsylvania.
Those are the juicy prospects for a second round series involving the Pittsburgh Penguins. Whichever opponent awaits them in the second round, it will be a fierce rival, one that will provide the recipe for a heated clash.
Whether the foe ends up being Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals or the cross-state Philadelphia Flyers, Sidney Crosby and company sent a warning out Saturday to those two teams as well as the rest of the hockey world: Be afraid of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Just ask the New York Rangers and their future Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who were eliminated in five games by the steamrolling Penguins thanks to a humiliating 6-3 loss in Game 5.
Prior to the contest, Penguins fans each received a yellow towel to wave in support of their hometown heroes. By the time the second period was over, the hapless Rangers should have been waving their own towels — white ones of surrender.
To say the Rangers gave up might be a stretch. To say they hung goalie Henrik Lundqvist out to dry would be accurate.
King Henrik certainly wasn’t good, but his lacklustre teammates were even worse. After taking a 2-1 lead midway through the first period, the Rangers were outscored 5-1 the rest of the way in what truly was a shameful exhibition to end the 2015-16 season.
Since the final minute of the second period in Game 3, the Penguins outscored the Rangers 14-3 to finish the series in five games.
Next up for the Penguins: Ovechkin and the Caps, or a showdown with their cross-state rivals from The City of Brotherly Loathe. Washington lead the Flyers 3-2 in their series, which resumes Sunday afternoon.
“I think it doesn’t get any easier, that’s for sure,” Crosby said. “But I think this series was a good step. We were tested.
“You look at how good (the Rangers) are defensively. They’re an experienced bunch that blocks a lot of shots and don’t give you a lot of space. That’s what you expect in the playoffs …
“I think that this should create confidence that we can create in those types of games. That being said, we’re going to need that same type of effort here.”
A matchup against the Capitals would mean yet another head-to-head showdown between Ovechkin and Crosby. Who wouldn’t want to see that?
In their only previous postseason encounter, Crosby’s Penguins outlasted Ovechkin’s Capitals in seven games during the 2009 playoffs. In the end, it was a series that lived up to its billing as the two superstars didn’t disappoint.
In the course of that seven-game slugfest, the two faces of the NHL combined for 27 points with Ovechkin accounting for 14 of those. Even with the lack of Canadian teams in the playoffs, the renewal of such a matchup would have television execs on both sides of the border drooling.
Meanwhile, it is no secret that the Penguins and Flyers don’t like each other. In fact, Troy Crosby, Sid’s father, refuses to attend games there because of the abuse he and his son absorb there.
Back in 2012, the Flyers eliminated the Penguins 4-2 in a first round series that featured the type of on-ice brouhahas normally associated with the 1970s.
At one point of the series, the Philadelphia Daily News depicted Crosby as the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz, complete with facial hair. Even Crosby laughed when he was shown the paper back then, complete with the headline “The Cowardly Penguin.”
“That’s one of the nicer things they’ve called me here,” Crosby chuckled at the time.
No one is going to be laughing at these Penguins. Not the way they are playing.
The Rangers, on the other hand, were being depicted as a joke by many of their fans on twitter.
How much blame needed to be placed on the shoulders of Lundqvist can be debated. What is certain is that he did not play like one of the world’s top goalies.
On Saturday, Lundqvist was pulled for the second consecutive game. In Game 4, he gave up four goals on 18 shots. In Game 5, he allowed six on 23 shots. That’s 10 goals that beat him over the final 41 shots he faced.
Brutal.
Just like the rest of the Rangers.
Meanwhile, the Penguins are cruising into the second round. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are flying, Phil Kessel recorded six points in the series and supporting castmembers such as forwards Matt Cullen, Conor Sheary and rookie goalie Matt Murray were outstanding.
This is a team that appears to be on a Stanley Cup mission.
The thorough dismantling of the Rangers is proof of that.