1. Turning the page
It seems like everything went right for the Pens in their 7-0 Game 1 victory Wednesday night against Philadelphia. After all, you don't usually defeat your most-heated rival in a playoff game by a touchdown without clicking on all cylinders.
But if you judged the game by the comments of the players in the locker room following the game, you almost couldn't guess the game's outcome.
"We executed. We capitalized on our chances. I think there's always areas you need to improve on," said captain Sidney Crosby, who netted his franchise-record tying third career hat trick in Game 1. "Our power play wasn't as sharp."
"It's a good start. There are a lot of things we did well, but in the first (period the Flyers) had two or three really quality scoring chances," defenseman Kris Letang said. "They're a really dangerous rush team. If we clean up that part of our game I think we'll be heading in the right direction."
It was an even-keeled approach to a pretty dominant victory. But it's a mindset that will serve the Pens well. Pittsburgh is a veteran group and one that has learned that momentum does not transfer over from game-to-game in the playoffs. So while there was a lot to like about a 7-0 win, the slate is wiped clean once the puck drops to start Game 2 on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena at 7 p.m.
"A win is a win," said goaltender Matt Murray, whose 24-save shutout extended his franchise-record shutout streak to 206:26. "We'll take it. In the playoffs it doesn't matter whether you win 7-0 or 1-0 in overtime, it resets after that. We'll take the win and move on."
Crosby echoed that sentiment.
"It's one game. Whether it's 7-0 or 1-0 in double overtime, it's one game," Crosby said. "A big part in the playoffs is to get better every game and adjust. That's the way you have to look at it."
The Pens understand that Philadelphia is a dangerous team. The Flyers finished just 2 points behind Pittsburgh in the NHL standings, and have a roster full of star players like Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier.
The Flyers are a prideful team and will no doubt be motivated in Game 2 to amend their embarrassing performance in Game 1. Winger Patric Hornqvist knows what to expect from the Flyers on Friday.
"A really hard response," he said. "Even when they were down a few goals they were still finishing checks and playing hard. It's going to be that kind of series. It's going to be a hard series, but I'm expecting a really hard game (Friday)."
2. Absentees
Murray, defenseman Olli Maatta and forward Carter Rowney (upper-body) were the only players absent from the team's practice session, which lasted exactly a half hour.
Murray and Maatta were given maintenance days according to head coach Mike Sullivan. Both are expected to be available for Game 2 on Friday.
3. Workflow
The Pens used the following workflow…
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist
Sheary-Brassard-Kessel
Aston-Reese-Sheahan-Kuhnhackl
Dumoulin-Letang
Hunwick-Schultz
Oleksiak-Ruhwedel
