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More needed from Crosby, Malkin

5 min read
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Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for three shots in Game 1 Thursday against the New York Rangers. Not surprisingly, the Penguins lost, 2-1.

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Rangers center Derick Brassard scores on Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury as defenseman Paul Martin trails the play during the first period Thursday.

They are megawatt talents so universally known in NHL towns, saying their names is not required, only their jersey numbers.

In Pittsburgh, there’s 87 and 71. In Chicago, 88 and 19. In Washington, 8 and 19. In Vancouver, 22 and 33.

Their task over the next two months is to somehow navigate ever-uncertain waters of the playoffs, where sport’s most user-friendly trophy doesn’t always go to the teams with the brightest lights, merely the hardiest ones.

It’s a push-pull that dates from the earliest etchings on the Stanley Cup. Is it better to build a team around a pair of lamp-lighting point machines (and a hot goaltender) or four effective interchangeable lines (oh, and a hot goaltender)?

The first round marks a litmus test of sorts.

The Penguins and former MVPs Sidney Crosby (87) and Evgeni Malkin (71) face a relentless wave of New York Rangers, who happen to have the league’s best record and a 1-0 lead in the playoff series after a 2-1 win Thursday night over Pittsburgh. Game 2 is tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Crosby had 84 points and Malkin 70 in the regular season, each scoring 28 goals. In the series opener, they combined for three shots, and Crosby in particular was invisible. They’ll need to be far more involved – and dominant – for Pittsburgh to have any chance of upsetting the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.

“Sid had the puck a lot below the goal line,” coach Mike Johnston said after Game 1, “and Geno had a lot of shots blocked. I thought he had the puck in scoring position quite a lot.”

Early goals nixed the Penguins’ chances in the series opener, but they kept it close. The Rangers scored both goals in the first period, the first in the opening minute.

“Besides our slow start we gave ourselves a reason to believe that we could be right there,” defenseman Paul Martin said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but we think we are right there.”

While the Penguins are seeking a series rebound, the Rangers look to convert on more rebounds. They scored 28 seconds into Game 1 when Marc-Andre Fleury couldn’t control Rick Nash’s slap shot and Derick Brassard had an open net, but on more than a dozen more juicy rebounds the rest of the night, New York could do nothing.

Fleury made 36 saves, many of them spectacular. The Rangers will need to be sharper shooters in the future.

And Penguins need Crosby and Malkin to do more.

Crosby and Malkin boast a Cup on their glittering résumés, but it’s 6 years old and growing more distant by the day for a team that struggled to clinch a ninth straight postseason berth. Kane and Toews have a pair of championships, but Ovechkin and Backstrom never even made it to the conference finals while the Sedins came up short against the Bruins in the 2011 Cup Finals.

Still, the way Penguins forward Beau Bennett figures it, there are worse places to start a comeback than by having two of the best players in the world in your dressing room.

“It’s hard because you have to be so aware when they’re on the ice because they can do stuff normal guys like me can’t do,” Bennett said. “You have to gameplan against them. At the same time, everyone is responsible. Everyone needs to contribute to wins in the playoffs.”

Yet, it’s better if the guys paid to score the goals end up well, scoring goals.

It didn’t happen for the Penguins last spring. Malkin and Crosby found the back of the net a combined four times in seven games against the Rangers in the conference semifinals. New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win, kickstarting a slew of changes both on the ice and in the front office for the Penguins, a club that was one of the most stable in the league.

Call it a byproduct of the way the game is officiated once the regular season ends. Power-play chances decrease. The open space that came somewhat easily in December and March evaporates.

In a “dead puck” era where scoring is down to 5.46 combined goals per game – compared to 6.96 per game when Crosby’s boss Mario Lemieux won a second consecutive Cup with Pittsburgh in 1992 – all that clutching and grabbing can squeeze the life out of the most vibrant offenses.

It happened regularly to the Penguins over the last five years. Expected to develop into a dynasty after outlasting Detroit in the 2009 Cup Finals, Pittsburgh hasn’t even won a game in the conference finals since.

While Bennett is quick to defend his team’s depth, the Rangers aren’t quite buying it, not really. New York defenseman Matt Hunwick sounded just like every other team that’s faced Pittsburgh since Malkin joined Crosby in Pittsburgh in 2006 when asked how to keep the Penguins – thrust into the unfamiliar role of underdog – in check.

“It starts with the two guys in the middle, 87, 71, slowing them down,” Hunwick said. “They can see the whole ice … We’ve got to take those guys out of plays as best we can.”

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