The Pittsburgh Penguins needed one of two things to happen if they were going to avoid elimination. They either needed to show marked improvement on defense, or Fleury would have to stand on his head. Neither happened. Fleury let in a couple soft ones but received little support from his team either. The saddest point of this game was that Fleury was the better goaltender. However, the Penguins made life pretty simple for Philly goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Once the Flyers got up by three they just protected the cage. They made it difficult to get anything through on Bryzgalov.
The only Penguins goal was scored by Evgeni Malkin. However, that underscores an overall
lackadaisical game. After the Malkin goal, the Flyers responded with a Danny Briere less than a minute later. That seemed to deflate the Penguins. Their late powerplay nearly got a goal, but it was waved off because James Neal pushed the goalie into the net.
The Penguins need to stew on this series all off-season. Not only did they lose in round one again. This time, they lost to the hated Philadelphia Flyers. GM Ray Shero should be looking for some defensive help this off-season with the hopes of moving Paul Martin and/or Zbynek Michalek. They have been a disappointment for the amount of money they are hauling in. The team also has to go back to fundamentals. There were far too many bad passes and bad defensive plays. I also have to say this. As much as I don't want to admit it, last year's Jack Adams winner for best coach, Dan Bylsma was outcoached by Peter Laviolette. It will definitely be an off-season of soul searching.
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