The Pittsburgh Penguins entered their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders as the heavy favorites because of their advantage in offensive skill, postseason experience, blue-line depth and goaltending.
But after a couple hard-fought games that resulted in the Penguins barely earning a 2-1 series advantage, Pittsburgh's weaknesses from last season's first-round loss to the rival Philadelphia Flyers (poor defensive play, unreliable goaltending) have become concerns again.
Now that the Islanders have made this series competitive and deserve to be given a realistic chance, it's appropriate to ask: Are the Penguins still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference?
At the moment, the answer is still yes, but picking them to reach the Stanley Cup Final is a bolder prediction now than it was when the postseason started on April 30.
Pittsburgh has blown two leads in the last two games against a roster that has very little playoff experience outside of starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, which has to be a concern for head coach Dan Bylsma.
In Game 2, the Penguins had a 3-1 lead going i ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Nicholas Goss
Are the Pittsburgh Penguins Still the Favorites to Win the Eastern Conference?
May 6th, 2013 by Nicholas Goss Leave a reply »
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