Theres an old adage in sports, you’ve probably heard it a million times. You might even place it high on the list of cliches you absolutely despise.
Defense wins championships.
Agreed, it’s tired. Yes, I concur it’s overused. Sure, many will argue that it is overvalued in it’s importance. However, when it comes to hockey and, specifically, playoff hockey, few sayings have more relevance. Stanley Cup champions have leaned heavily on it, and there is little reason to doubt that this year’s Cup winner will need their blue liners to be at their best in hockey’s second season.
The Stanley Cup winners of recent years have been examples of how important a top-flight blue line really is. The Blackhawks have won two Cups over the past four seasons in no small part due to their deep, talented and productive defensemen. The Kings had a defense that was nearly impenetrable, and Pens fans experienced first hand how stout the Bruins defense has been in recent years.
The stats don’t lie either. If you plan on winning the Stanley Cup, worry about stopping the opposition, not necessarily how many goals you score. Since 2005, the average goals against for the Stanley Cup Champion has been 2.20 goals against. In tight, playoff contests where the games have fewer penalties and games are going to played with more urgency, goals are simply hard to come by.
That leads us to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Though the Pens advanced over the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, they were unable to stop an overmatched opponent from scoring at an alarming rate. The Blue Jackets scored 18 goals in six games, simple math tells you that is an average of three goals a game.
No team has won the Stanley Cup with a GAA over three goals a game since the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers, and that team was historically prolific on offense, and the game was much more wide open than we see today.
With a Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Rangers on the horizon, the question becomes, is the Penguins defense good enough to get the job done?
There are some concerning questions to be certain. What type of performance can we expect from Kris Letang? Will we see the Letang that has been a major disappointment much of this season, or the player who was a Norris Trophy finalist just a season ago?
Since Letang has been been paired with Paul Martin the last couple of games, he looks like a totally different player. His uptick in performance is critical to the Penguins success, and regardless of the health or availability of the injured Brooks Orpik, Dan Bylsma may not be able to break up the Letang/Martin pairing.
With Orpik out the last two playoff games, the Pens have turned to the increasingly reliable Robert Bortuzzo. Whether or not Bortuzzo’s presence in the lineup has made the difference, there seems to be some evidence that his insertion to the blue line has been a positive. Surprisingly, with Rob Scuderi paired with Bortuzzo, Scuderi’s quality of play has improved considerably. Coincidence? Hard to say, but it’s certainly been noticeably better.
No one will debate that the Matt Niskanen/Olli Maata pairing has been outstanding, and if the other two pairings can hold up there end of the bargain, there’s reason to believe this grouping can be good enough to hold their own in the next round of the playoffs. Good enough to win the Cup? Thats a big question mark.
It will be very interesting to see what Dan Bylsma decides to do with Orpik. He’s been a warrior over his long career with the Penguins, but at this point, has he run out of gas? He’s been a portrait of consistency over the years, but with Orpik fighting an undisclosed injury, coupled with the strong play of Bortuzzo, will Bylsma rush Orpik back into the line up?
It’s a tough question to answer. Do you mess with the synergy the Pens defense has displayed with Orpik out of the line up? Or do you put Orpik back on the ice, even if it means taking out Bortuzzo or changing the pairings that seem to be working?
Difficult decisions lie ahead for Bylsma. One thing is undeniable, the performance of the Penguins blue liners will be a key component as the team continues on its quest for it’s fourth Stanley Cup.
