What Went Wrong with the Pittsburgh Penguins?

The Pittsburgh Penguins were a heavy favorite to defeat the Montreal Canadiens in game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night.  

The Penguins had every advantage: home ice, two superstar players, and an experienced roster that had gone on an amazing run to win the Stanley Cup in 2009.

Today, Montreal is getting ready to face the Boston Bruins or the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals.  

The Penguins, on the other hand, are packing up to head home for the summer.

How could this have happened?

There were several key things that I felt the Penguins needed to clinch the series, yet were non-existent throughout seven games with the Canadiens.

Offense

The Penguins only managed more than two goals in games one and six.

Their offense, consisting of superstars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, was noticeably absent in this series.

Crosby, who has earned a reputation for coming up big when it counts, was shut down throughout the series. He only managed one goal and four assists in seven games—a big drop off from the 14 points he tallied in the first round against the Ottawa Senators.

Malkin also disappeared after the Ottawa series with only three points (1+2) against the Canadiens.

Although the Penguins also got points from players such as Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis and Matt Cooke, the fading of Crosby’s and Malkin’s stars spelled doom for the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.

Special Teams

As of right now, the Penguins’ power play sits third among playoff teams with a 26.3 percent success rate.

While that is respectable considering the man advantage was below average for most of the regular season, it is worth noting that the Penguins did not convert on six opportunities last night; including a four-on-three advantage to begin the third period.

The penalty kill struggled greatly in the playoffs; finishing second to last among playoff teams with a 72.1 percent rate and 12 power play goals surrendered.

In game seven, the Penguins gave up two power play goals and one shorthanded goal to the Canadiens.

No one expects the Pens to kill every penalty or score on every power play opportunity, but their mistakes on special teams played a factor in costing them the game and the series.

Attitude

The Penguins got almost too confident in their chances for another title.

Prior to the series, Kris Letang told the French media that he felt the Canadiens would not be able to play with the Penguins if the series reached seven games .

Fellow defenseman Brooks Orpik seemed to echo his teammate’s thought, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Penguins felt confident because “usually the best team” wins game seven.

It's possible that the Penguins bought into their own hype.

When you go into a deciding game thinking you are unbeatable, you deserve to be knocked off your high horse a little bit.

By the middle of the second period, the Canadiens had a 4-0 lead and Marc-Andre Fleury had been pulled in favor of Brent Johnson.

Letang had been proved wrong. Montreal could roll with the Penguins and the scoreboard agreed.

Fatigue

This is pretty simple to figure out.

From 2007 until last night, the Penguins played 302 hockey games between the regular season and the playoffs.

They also dealt with long term injuries to players such as Sergei Gonchar and Max Talbot in between those 302 games, not to mention the Olympic tournament for Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Gonchar, and Orpik.

No matter how bad the team's hearts and souls wanted another championship, their bodies just wanted the rest, even if it meant sacrificing another summer with Stanley.