Can the Penguins freeze out Detroit?

After Monday night’s 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins find… After Monday night’s 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves down 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Penguins breezed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, but have they run into the buzz saw known as Detroit? What’s gone wrong? Can they rebound and make it a series?

Our Penguins experts chime in with their opinions on some key questions.

-What in the world is wrong with Evgeni Malkin?

Jay Huerbin: Simply put, he’s tired. Malkin has even admitted it himself; after Sunday’s practice he told reporters in an all-English interview that his play is “not good right now.” He’s absolutely right, too. The NHL playoffs are long and demanding even if you get some time off for rest.

But you can’t harp too much on a 22-year-old, second-year NHL player. Coming over from the Russian Super League, where the regular season is 57 games and the playoffs consist of a best-of-five series, compared to the NHL’s 82 regular season games and best-of-seven playoff format, it’s no wonder Malkin hasn’t quite adjusted.

Nick LaMantia: Plain and simple, Malkin is trying to do too much. Throughout game 2, he forced the puck into situations where he would ultimately turn it over to the Red Wings defense.

He continually tries his forehand deke, but the suffocating Red Wings’ defensive scheme collapses on him as soon as he attempts it, so he better find a new way to beat a defender, or he’ll simply crash and burn.

-In fact, what about the whole Penguins offense? Is it a matter of excellent defense by Detroit?

JH: You have to give credit when credit is due. Detroit has figured out how to slow the Penguins offense: shut down the neutral zone, and you minimize the damage done by this explosive team. While I didn’t think that the Red Wings would be so good at it – to the point of consecutive shutouts – the Penguins have no one to blame but themselves.

For now, Penguins faithful can only hope that coach Michel Therrien is figuring something out. Line changes can do wonders, but as we found out in game 2, they’re not the solution.

NL: The entire Penguins team is guilty much like Malkin. They are trying to beat a very mobile Red Wings defense. The way they have to win is to dump the puck in the zone and beat Detroit to it.

We saw it on a few occasions by the third line, but for the team to generate anything offensively versus Detroit, it needs to play physical down low and beat the Wings to pucks.

-Marc-Andre Fleury has given up a few “soft” goals but otherwise has been sufficient. Do you agree? Can he carry the team?

JH: You can’t blame a goaltender when his team doesn’t score goals. He’s keeping the Penguins in this series, but his teammates need to do some scoring, too.

I’m pretty sure that a team has never won the Cup getting shut out every game.

NL: Yes, he has given up some soft goals, especially the first two in game 2, but he can carry the team. The problem isn’t even him. His teammates are the problem.

They need to help him offensively, as you cannot expect a team to win without offensive support throughout the lineup.

-Is the big-game inexperience finally catching up to the Pens, compared to the veteran Red Wings?

JH: That’s a tough one to call. I’m going to say that this whole experience talk that reporters and analysts discuss doesn’t mean anything for the Penguins or Red Wings anymore. The Penguins are in the Stanley Cup Finals, and it takes a lot to get there.

NL: It is. While both teams relatively cruised to the finals, Detroit is the team that’s been doing most of the driving in this series.

The Penguins are forcing plays and not playing to their system at times. Throughout the first two games, they made fundamental mistakes, which led directly to Detroit goals.

-What was Johan Franzen’s impact on game 2?

JH: He was the runner-up for Actor of the Year (the Oscar went to Chris Osgood by the way).

Franzen is good, but he’s not going to be a series changer. He was quiet for almost all of the game, and his one assist was on a goal in which Valtteri Filppula did all the hard work. Franzen was about as exciting as Detroit’s neutral-zone trap defense.

NL: While Franzen’s addition to lineup definitely boosted the talent on the Wings’ depth chart, what was important with his addition was for the Wings’ psyche.

He seemed invisible despite his assist on their third goal, but his presence appeared to raise the level of intensity amongst his teammates.

-Is the series over?

JH: Maybe, if you’re a bandwagon fan. The last time I checked, it was a best-of-seven series, and if you picked the Penguins to win in six or seven, then you knew they would have to lose two or three games. Believe.

NL: No. If the Pens can regain their form, they can take both games at Mellon Arena. The Uptown arena has not been kind to its visitors. The Penguins are undefeated when playing there in the playoffs.

If they can tie the series, anything can happen. They’ll need to sweep the next four games for my Pittsburgh-in-six-games prediction to come true, but I’m altering it a bit and saying the Pens in seven.