Projecting The Penguins-Canadiens Game 2 Winner

Quick-Hitters

• The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a 3-2 OT loss in the first game of their play-in series against the Montreal Canadiens, but the outcome could have been entirely different if the Pens had been more accurate with their chances.

• Pittsburgh opened as large home favorites in Game 2. SEE LIVE ODDS!

• After Pittsburgh couldn’t take advantage of a 5-on-3 penalty while also missing a penalty shot, it’s clear the Penguins had enough opportunities to earn the win. That has to be the team’s focus ahead of the second game of the series Monday.

• The Penguins are favorites to advance into the next round, but they have been struggling to get the job done in tight games. Can they change that against Montreal?

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Bad Luck In Game 1?

The Pittsburgh Penguins were heavy favorites for Game 1 of the series against the Montreal Canadiens. They couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities, however, and dropped the opener by a 3-2 score after overtime. The reality, though, is that the outcome of this game should’ve been different based on how things happened.

The Penguins outshot Montreal 41-35, won 51 percent of face-offs and generated more power play chances - seven against Montreal’s two. It’s easy to see why Pittsburgh didn’t win Saturday, then. The team missed several chances to turn the game around, and the missed opportunities came back to bite them. Jeff Petry scored the winning goal in overtime at 13:57 to pull the upset in Montreal’s favor.

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Playoff Time

NHL playoff games tend to be tight, so this kind of outcome was expected - three of five Saturday’s game finished with a one-goal differential, and four of them featured under 5.5 total goals. These two stats explain why taking advantage of the opportunities is so important, especially in playoff games. You can lose a game in the blink of an eye, and Pittsburgh can feel that’s what happened.

The Penguins controlled most of the game from the get-go, taking nine of the game’s first ten shots, and they even missed a 5-on-3 powerplay. If we add the fact that Carey Price was between the pipes for Montreal, then taking advantage of the scoring chances has an even higher value in a five-game playoff series.

Execution

Not all hope is gone for the Penguins, but they need to be better. The numbers say they will, though. After all, this is a team that averaged 3.24 goals per game during the regular season while converting 19.9 percent of their power-play chances. The latter figure is rather average - 16th best in the league - but illustrates an area where Pittsburgh must improve right now before it gets too late.

Execution in tight games becomes even more important since the Penguins have lost their last five games that have not hit the over ATS. And the upcoming games in this series against Montreal are likely to develop in a similar path to Game 1.

They have the talent and the personnel to do so in Game 2, especially after recovering several top guys during the pause of the schedule. Now it’s time to execute what they do best - and that’s scoring goals. Otherwise, they might fall into a hole they will not able to get out of.

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