On paper, it would be easy to look at the Pittsburgh Penguins first round opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and feel confident.
The Penguins have nine players who have won a Stanley Cup. The Blue Jackets? One.
The Penguins have a roster full of playoff experience, nearly 1,200 total games played. The Blue Jackets? 251 games.
How about star power? Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Chris Kunitz. Go ahead, I dare you to name a Blue Jacket of comparable stature. Good luck with that.
Add to the fact that the Blue Jackets are making only their second playoff appearance in thirteen seasons, and will be looking for their first playoff win, ever, and its easy to go into tonight’s opening game at Consol thinking this could be a cakewalk.
Oh, and did I mention the Penguins were 5-0 against Columbus this season? Nothing to worry about, right?
As healthy as they have been in months, the Penguins will likely have Evgeni Malkin ready to play in game one, and the addition of Kris Letang, Joe Vitale, and Beau Bennett to the lineup certainly helps. The Blue Jackets are not nearly has fortunate in terms of injuries, as key forwards Nathan Horton, R.J. Umberger, and Nick Foligno being out of the lineup will test an offense that already lacks consistent scoring.
Though the Blue Jackets could get Umberger and Foligno back at some point in the series, they will still find difficulty getting consistent scoring. Budding superstar Ryan Johansen scored 33 goals for the Blue Jackets this year, but only two other players, Artem Anisimov and Cam Atkinson, broke the 20 goal plateau. Brandon Dubinsky is a solid two-way forward who scored 16 goals and has a history of being a Pen’s killer during his time with the Rangers.
Veteran defenseman James Wisniewski is an outstanding power play specialist, and scored 51 points during the regular season. However, the fact that his point total was good enough for second on the team speaks volumes about the lack of offensive firepower. One strength the Blue Jackets do have is multiple defenseman who add some offensive punch along with Wisniewski. Jack Johnson, Fedor Tyutin, and Ryan Murray are all capable puck moving defensemen who can create offense.
If the Blue Jackets have one potential advantage in this series, its in goal. 2013 Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky is more than capable of stealing a series if he plays at the level he has of late. Bobrovsky has been white-hot of late, boasting a 1.82 GAA and a .945 save percentage in April. A hot goaltender can be the difference in the series, and it is worth noting that in the Penguins five wins against the Blue Jackets this season, Bobrovsky played barely one period total.
In a series where the Penguins will have a significant edge in terms of goal scoring and experience, players like Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Kunitz must provide consistent offense and dominate against a lesser opponent. Another key to this series is can some of the secondary contributors like Lee Stempniak, Brent Sutter and Jussi Jokinen do enough to provide additional offense. The pressure will also be on the bottom six forwards for the Penguins. Improved play during the playoffs from this group will certainly be a key to advancing towards a Cup.
Can the maligned, but finally healthy, defensive corps for the Penguins find their equilibrium going into the playoffs? With everyone relatively healthy for the first time all season on the blue line, consistent play from this group could make all the difference. It will be interesting to see how the Letang/Rob Scuderi pairing does in the playoffs. If they are anywhere close to the level they were in 2009, the Penguins could be in great shape.
After four straight disappointing playoff performances by Marc-Andre Fleury, its fair to say that this is a make or break playoffs for the Pens franchise goalie. Since Fleury’s Cup winning performance in 09′, the net minder has been abysmal. Another poor performance by Fleury and one would have to believe the Penguins will have serious decisions to make in the off season. With Tomas Vokoun recently recalled after a rehab stint in Wilkes-Barre, it will be interesting to see what happens if Fleury struggles early in the series.
The Blue Jackets come in hot, and have been playing in “playoff mode” for a number of weeks now. They are a puck possessing, physical team with nothing to lose. They will try to wear the Pens down and lean on Bobrovsky to keep games low scoring and close. Though I expect the Blue Jackets to make this series tough, ultimately I like the Penguins to advance in six games.
