Game 7 Preview: Kunitz, Fleury must step up

OK. This is it. We all know that this series should have been over by now. But it’s not.

The Pens have outshot the Capitals in every single game and overall the shot total is 226 to 159 for Pittsburgh. That’s 11 more shots per game for the Pens. One could easily argue that Pittsburgh’s outplayed Washington in 5 of the 6 games. But David Steckel stole Game 6 on Monday night. His team was outplayed and outshot for most of the game, yet the Caps still came out on top. That’s hockey sometimes. The better team loses.

After somehow surviving regulation, the Caps stunned the crowd at the Igloo. One shot off the crossbar for Rob Scuderi and one broken stick for Max Talbot, and seconds later the puck was in behind Marc-Andre Fleury. Tied series.

So now, here we are. Game 7. And although the winner of tonight’s tilt only advances to the NHL’s final four while the loser goes home, it still feels like a championship is on the line.

The championship game if you will, of the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry, four years into the making. A one out of four chance of winning the Stanley Cup. At least two more home games at the gate. Bragging rights for a full year against “Caps fans”, some of whom had never watched a single hockey game in their lives before Alex Ovechkin’s third season.

And oh yeah, fans of the winning team tonight will be ecstatic, with a reason to celebrate and go wild, while fans of the losing team will be very disappointed, having to wait until October for more hockey. And also being forced to root for either Boston or Carolina in the next round. Ouch.

This is what hockey is all about. Two evenly matched teams with superstars going at it for a classic series, and one final game for all the marbles. There will be two winners tonight – the Pens or the Caps, and the NHL.

Anyway, tonight is the Pens’ first Game 7 in eight years. On May 10th, 2001, Darius Kasparaitis did this:

A stunned crowd at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo witnessed the former pesky blueliner of the Penguins beat former MVP Dominik Hasek with a surprising wrist shot. It makes for an awesome trivia question – that was the last game Hasek played for Buffalo, and of course, the last goal he gave up in a Sabres uniform.

Tonight is the Penguins’ 10th Game 7. They are 5-4 all-time, and 2-0 against the Capitals. Those two wins came in the 1992 and ’95 playoffs. The Caps, meanwhile, are 2-7 in Game 7s. Both teams are 1-1 in overtime. For a trip down memory lane, check out the Trib’s full rundown of all those games.

But anyway, back to the present. One thing that might fly under the radar tonight amidst all the hoopla about Crosby and Ovechkin is the fact that Chris Kunitz is goalless in the playoffs. In fact, he hasn’t scored since April 1st – a string of 17 consecutive games. For a 23-goal winger who’s playing with Sidney Crosby on the top line, that must feel like an eternity.

It remains to be seen if he will play with Sid tonight. He was finally replaced in Game 6, but it was Matt Cooke who was skating alongside Crosby and Bill Guerin. Not exactly a guy who can take advantage of Sid’s playmaking ability.

Wherever he plays, one thing is for sure – Kunitz must step up and prove that he was worthy of being traded for Ryan Whitney. Whether he scores in Game 7 or not, he has to take his game to another level and make an impact. If it’s a goal, great. If it’s a huge hit on one of the Caps’ stars that gives the Pens momentum, then that’s great too.

And Kunitz is hardly the only Penguin who has to take his game up a notch.

The Pens can’t afford for Hal Gill to make a mistake, like he did on the Capitals’ 4th goal on Monday. He and the entire Penguins’ defense corps have to make sure they are sharp, and they must limit the Caps’ chances and block as many shots as they can.

Marc-Andre Fleury gave up 5 goals on 24 shots in Game 6. This will be his first ever Game 7, but he’s played in the Stanley Cup Finals before, and Simeon Varlamov has not. So expect Fleury to bounce back. He probably will have to outplay Varlamov for the Pens to win.

As for Crosby, you can expect him to give it all and then some. Crosby proved in last year’s playoffs that he’s one of the best captains in the league, because he leads by example. He’s doing it again this year. No matter what happens tonight, you can count on Sid to leave it all out on the ice.

News, notes and more

• Sergei Gonchar could play tonight. He practiced with the team yesterday and will be a game-time decision. If he’s not able to play, expect to see Alex Goligoski and Philippe Boucher in the lineup for a 3rd game in a row, although it remains to be seen if the Penguins will once again play with 7 defensemen.
• If Gonchar does return, the Pens might go back to playing with 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. That could make it possible for either Pascal Dupuis or Petr Sykora to get back in the lineup. In any event, it’s hard to imagine that Dan Bylsma could shake up the top 3 lines at this point, so if Sykora or Dupuis get to play, they’ll probably be on the 4th line.
• Check out this awesome juju thread full of great pictures on the legendary LetsGoPens.com forum.
• Empty Netters is loaded with Penguins coverage today. Faceoff-Factor has tons of stats in their Game 7 preview post. And the Pensblog is “full of win” with their latest post.
• Unfortunately, the Baby Pens lost Game 7 to the Hershey Bears and were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs last night. They were shut out by a score of 3-0 for the 2nd consecutive game.
• Join us in the chatroom tonight starting at 6:30 pm. If you’re new, read this.
• Think back to about a month ago. How crazy is it that Petr Sykora is a a healthy scratch and Miro Satan has taken his place on the 2nd line?

And finally

If you missed it, and there’s a good chance you did, check out the latest episode of Yinz Luv Da Guins. Click on HQ to watch in high quality. And subscribe to YLDG on YouTube.