Published: May 09, 2008 12:07 am            

Inside the Keystone clash

A look at how the Pittsburgh Penguins match up with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals, which begin tonight in Pittsburgh:

Forwards

Penguins: It’s widely believed that two of the top three forwards in the world play in Pittsburgh, but the order may have changed this season. C Evgeni Malkin (47 goals/106 points) has passed C Sidney Crosby (24/72) as the Pens’ best player in many people’s eyes. Malkin carried the team during the 28 games that Crosby missed with a high-ankle sprain. Malkin and Crosby each have 14 points in nine playoff games, but Malkin has six goals to Crosby’s two. Either way, the Penguins’ top two lines create matchup problems for Philadelphia coach John Stevens, who must decide whether to use his top defensive pairing against Crosby’s line or Malkin’s. RW Marian Hossa (29/66) was added in a deadline deal and has shed his reputation for disappearing in the postseason by recording five goals and five assists in nine games. RW Petr Sykora (28/63) gives Malkin a dangerous option, and LW Ryan Malone (27/51) provides a physical presence in front of the net. RW Pascal Dupuis came in the trade that brought Hossa to the Pens and has been effective on the top line, notching five playoff points. Jordan Staal is a solid third-line center while C Tyler Kennedy has given the team a postseason boost. LW Jarkko Ruutu is an agitator who is almost as despised by opposing players as he is adored by Penguins fans. RW Georges Laraque is the most feared fighter in the NHL and could play a key role in what should be a very physical series.

Flyers: Throughout the playoffs, C Daniel Briere has shown why the Flyers lured him to Philly with an eight-year, $52 million deal in the offseason. He is tied with four others – including Malkin and Crosby – for the second-highest postseason point total so far with 14. During the regular season, Briere (31/72) was second to C Mike Richards (28/75) on the team. LW Vaclav Prospal, a deadline-acquisition who plays alongside Briere on the top line, has 12 points in 12 playoff games after recording 71 in the regular season. Pittsburgh native R.J. Umberger (13/50) did most of his damage against his hometown team, scoring six of his regular-season goals against the Penguins. Still, the center will be hard-pressed to match his production from the semifinal round, where he scored eight goals in the five-game victory over Montreal. RW Mike Knuble (29/55) tore a hamstring in the first-round win over the Capitals but still returned for the final two games against the Canadiens, scoring a point in each. Knuble and 39-year-old C Jim Dowd provide playoff experience, as both have hoisted the Stanley Cup during their careers. C Mike Richards has 11 postseason points while C Jeff Carter has nine. RW Scottie Upshall has seven points and does for the Flyers what Ruutu does for the Pens. This group would be even more dangerous if LW Simon Gagne, who suffered his third concussion of the season against the Pens on Feb. 10, could play, but GM Paul Holmgren insists that Gagne will not be back this year even though he has been traveling with the team.

Edge: Briere and Umberger have been playing extremely well, but even they can’t match Malkin and Crosby. Plus, the Penguins’ depth gives them a clear advantage.

Defensemen

Penguins: How good has Pittsburgh’s defense become? Darryl Sydor, a two-time Cup winner who was supposed to shore up the blue line, has been relegated to a healthy scratch in the postseason. Sergei Gonchar (12/65) gives the Pens one of the top offensive defensemen in the league, while Ryan Whitney (12/40) isn’t too far behind in that area. The trade that brought physical Hal Gill to the Pens has been almost as important as the one that delivered Hossa and Dupuis. Gill is usually paired with Rob Scuderi, who is a team-best plus-7 in the postseason despite playing with a foot that was injured blocking a shot against the Rangers. Brooks Orpik is another physical defenseman while young Kris Letang can be effective at both ends of the ice.

Flyers: Stevens has a great defensive pairing in Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn, but it looks like Timonen could miss the entire series. Timonen (8/44) is also the Flyers’ top offensive threat on the blue line. Randy Jones is a team-best plus-8 in the playoffs, while Derian Hatcher, who returned for the postseason after breaking a bone in his leg just 31 days earlier, is a plus-6. Hatcher famously bloodied Crosby in the budding superstar’s first game against the Flyers in 2005, and though Hatcher says he’s grown to respect Crosby, he’ll surely look to lean on him again. Jason Smith has played in all 12 of the Flyers’ playoff games despite being a minus-3. Lasse Kukkonen, Ryan Parent and Jaroslav Modry have each seen time in the postseason.

Edge: The Flyers will be severely weakened without Timonen, but the Penguins would have earned the nod here anyway on superior depth.

Goaltending

Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury is showing why the Penguins made him the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft in 2003. The 23-year-old has been spectacular since returning from a high-ankle sprain in late February. Nobody has been better statistically in the postseason, as evidenced by his .938 save percentage and eight wins. At times Fleury has been peppered with pucks in the postseason and in others he’s gone long stretches without seeing a shot. Either way, he’s been up to the task, recording a pair of shutouts – a feat matched only by Montreal’s Carey Price, the goalie that Philadelphia tormented in the semifinal round. Fleury also has an impressive 1.76 goals-against average, which is the best mark in the Eastern Conference. Ty Conklin has yet to appear in the postseason, though he did a great job filling in for Fleury during the regular season.

Flyers: Martin Biron is the main reason that the Flyers have gone from the last team into the Eastern Conference playoffs to being just four wins from the Stanley Cup finals. He’s been a workhorse, making at least 30 saves in eight of the past nine games and has been in net for all of the Flyers’ postseason contests. His stats aren’t as impressive as Fleury’s – he has a 2.72 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage – but he and Dallas’ Marty Turco are the only goalies that can match Fleury’s eight victories. Despite being seven years older than Fleury, Biron actually has less playoff experience, as he had not played in a postseason game until this year. Backup Antero Nittymaki won 12 games during the regular season but hasn’t played in a postseason contest since 2006.

Edge: Despite Fleury’s statistical advantage, this is a very even matchup. Both goalies have played well despite being seen as potential question marks heading into the postseason. Until he proves otherwise, Fleury looks like a world-class goaltender and holds the edge.

Special teams

Penguins: The Penguins have more firepower than any NHL team on the power play, but they can never turn it into the most effective one. Their 23.4 percent rate ranks fourth in the playoffs, the same position that their 20.4 percent rate got them in the regular season. The postseason has been much better for the penalty-killing units, as the Pens rank second in the NHL with an 89.5 percent rate in that category after ending the regular season tied for 23rd in the 30-team league with a kill rate of 81 percent.

Flyers: The Flyers can’t match the Penguins in terms of big names on the power play, but they have been more productive, converting on 24 percent of their opportunities, second only to Dallas among teams still playing. It’s not a fluke, as Philadelphia was second in the NHL during the regular season, converting 21.8 percent of the time with the man-advantage. The team that ranked ahead of them? The Montreal Canadiens, whom the Flyers baffled with their penalty killing in the semifinals. Overall, the Flyers are killing only 77.2 percent of penalties in the postseason after tying for 10th in the regular season with an 83.2 rate in the regular season.

Edge: The Pens have a scary power play, and the penalty killing has been much better since the trade for Gill, but the Flyers have been consistently better on both ends of the special teams, so they get the nod.

Coaching

Penguins: Michel Therrien isn’t one of the candidates for the NHL’s coach of the year, but it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve it. He managed to keep a team that lost Crosby and Fleury for large parts of the season in the hunt for the best record in the conference until the final day of the regular season. The only thing that kept Pittsburgh from being the top seed was a loss to the Flyers. Because he rested Crosby, Therrien was accused by some of tanking the game in order to avoid a first-round series with Philadelphia. He also has done a great job of matching lines during the postseason as the Pens have won eight of nine contests, including all five of their home games.

Flyers: Like Therrien, Stevens isn’t up for the Jack Adams Award, but also seems like a worthwhile recipient after taking a team that was the NHL’s worst a year ago to the playoffs. He’s done an even better job since, as his Flyers upset the Capitals and Canadiens to reach this point.

Edge: Stevens owns a pair of playoff series victories over Therrien while they were both coaching in the American Hockey League, and his Flyers went 5-3 against the Pens this year during the regular season. He also seems to have a penchant for getting under Therrien’s skin, as there have been some verbal wars during their previous meetings. Since Stevens has history on his side, go with him in this matchup.

Prediction

The Flyers will do everything they can to make this a physical series and make life miserable for Crosby, Malkin and company. Both teams look much better than they did during their eight regular-season meetings, but the Penguins’ superior talent should win out over a long series. Penguins in six.

        

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