Non wrote:
Sarge and Malkin came back too close to the start of the playoffs, so there wasn't enough time for the team overall to find the right chemistry
and Fleury was struggling
and the defense was making too many turnovers
the effort was there but the sharpness of play and attention to detail was seriously lacking
it definitely seems like they're coming on
this is not the same Ottawa team that rolled over a couple of years ago, they played well in Game 1 and for the most part have battled hard as a team, the Pens have been forced to take it to another level and they've done that particularly these last two on the road
I agree with everything you have said, including the part about Ottawa not being the same team from 2 years ago, but they are still not good enough to play with the Pens when the Pens are on their game. Their only hope was to do exactly what they did in game 1 and hope that the Pens struggled to find their game being down in the series... Luckily that wasn't the case and the Pens have all but put the final nail in the coffin for Ottawa. My only concern is that the "goon" tactics do not show their ugly faces in game 5 and get someone hurt.