Posted by Scott Burnside
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Here are some Sunday musings in the middle of the Eastern Conference finals:
1. Coming into this series, the Carolina Hurricanes played 14 playoff games and the Pittsburgh Penguins 13. So, how come the Penguins look fresh as a daisy and the Canes look lost, a half-step slower?
One reason may be the fact the Penguins were forced to go to with seven defensemen by the Sergei Gonchar injury in Game 4 of their second-round series against Washington. That, in turn, forced coach Dan Bylsma to drop a forward from the lineup (Pascal Dupuis) and use mostly Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as centers on the fourth line with Craig Adams and Miroslav Satan. Any time you put Malkin and Crosby on the ice, it adds a distinctly different look to your normal fourth-line personality.
"We're in the situation now with Crosby or Malkin at center and Satan, a responsible guy and faceoff guy in Craig Adams, it's a formidable line, a line you can put out in different situations and not worry too much about matchups," Bylsma said.
Carolina coach Paul Maurice said the situation reminds him of Detroit's championship team from 2002.
"It's not far off than when you go back to what Detroit did so well when they were winning," Maurice said. "When you have Brett Hull on the fourth line or [Luc] Robitaille on the fourth line, it's no longer a fourth line."
2. Is it just us, or is Bill Guerin getting younger every day, a kind of reverse Dorian Gray?
There was a stretch in the first round when Guerin looked a little out of step. He got on the score sheet just once in the first five games of the playoffs, but has since posted points in eight of his past 11 games, including back-to-back two-point efforts in the Eastern Conference finals.
"To make a backhand pass to Crosby like that, you're doing the right things," Bylsma said Sunday, referring to Guerin's long, cross-ice pass to Crosby which set up the Penguins' second goal late in the first period of Game 3.
Did Bylsma, a journeyman forward in his playing days, teach him that move?
"No, I didn't teach him that. I would have taught him to dump it in," Bylsma said laughing. "Billy's a smart player. He's an experienced player. To his credit, he's worked hard at figuring out the right things to do to be on that line ...
"I'm not so sure about his fresh legs, but he's certainly got a fresh brain," Bylsma added. "It's all relative. He's a smart player, makes smart plays with the puck. You know, he executes the right way, whether it's getting pucks in at the time, coming across, supporting his winger, or if it's putting the puck to his net with the guys going there. It's not the first time smart's been used [to describe] his game."
3. Back in 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes employed a no-name defense en route to their first Stanley Cup. Critics suggested the group that included Mike Commodore, Glen Wesley, Niclas Wallin and Frank Kaberle would be overmatched against teams like New Jersey and Buffalo, but they weren't.
This spring, the Hurricanes' blue line is once again an underappreciated group, but they are being feasted upon by the Penguins' relentless forecheck and skilled forwards.
"They need a little help," Maurice said when asked specifically about his top four defensemen. "They need a little help from our guys up front ... they're going to do some things in the offensive zone [where] we can't contain one of them. When that happens, we need not a mad rush to help, but we just need a little better help."
4. Everyone is pointing the finger at Eric Staal for not delivering in this series. The big center has gone six straight games without a goal, so it's fair to ask: If not now, when? But what about some help?
Ray Whitney, who had 24 goals during the regular season, has just three this postseason and has now gone 10 straight games without denting the twine. When asked about Whitney, Maurice insisted the offense isn't the issue.
"I don't think the crux of our game has been a lack of offense or that we should go out and score seven a night if everybody's playing well," the coach said. "That's not it. I think we're getting enough offense in our games. We're just not defending well enough to look at our offensive players. That being said, our offensive players have to defend as well."
5. OK, is it possible now that the Canes have virtually no chance to win this series (OK, history buffs, only two teams have come back from a 3-0 series deficit and one of them was back in 1942), there is some release of pressure to win?
"No, but mentally, I understand the question," Maurice said. "I think you saw it in Boston, in the Boston series. To get down 3-1, for them, that was their point where they kind of released all the thoughts of the next day, and that helps you drive and focus on the day that you have."
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
