PITTSBURGH — They stopped Sidney Crosby in Game 1, but that probably meant the Flyers would have to double the effort to repeat the same performance in Game 2.
The Penguins star is one of the most dynamic offensive weapons in NHL history. So when a team stops him in his tracks, it just heightens his drive.
That’s what the Flyers were trying to counter in Monday night’s Game 2 at PPG Paints Arena.
“He’s going to have a response for sure,” Sean Couturier said pregame. “You’ve got to be ready from the start. He’s had success against us so we expect the best out of him.”
Coach Rick Tocchet said it was going to take some extraordinary defensive play to keep Crosby under wraps again.
“You know he’s going to play,” Tocchet said. “How many years has he played in the league, plays well almost every game. We have to prepare the same way. It’s like their team. We know they’re going to come. We gotta go too. They’re going to throttle up so we have to throttle up. That’s reality.”
Tocchet said his team had to take a somewhat similar approach to Pittsburgh’s other star, Evgeni Malkin. In Malkin’s case, it’s to get under his skin. Malkin had a goal and an assist in Game 1.
“I think the approach like any team is to initiate,” Tocchet said. “The stuff after the whistle, you have to stay out of that stuff. If you initiate and people get frustrated, that’s fine. When the whistle blows, just get out of there. When you get into those scrums, you don’t know who they’re going to pull off the ice.”
Noah Cates sometimes gets the defensive assignment on Crosby when the Penguins use the last line change at home to avoid Couturier.
“I think we did a lot of good work in our D-zone,” Cates said. “We had good structure. We knew where we were going. We got into a little bit of a track meet in the second period with turnovers. Just clean stuff up and get pucks behind them.”
If the Penguins were planning some new moves, Tocchet knew he had to find ways to counter.
“There’s not much in the last month I’ve changed the way we’re changing,” Tocchet said. “But there are some tweaks you do game-to-game, personnel-to-personnel.
“Everything is game-to-game. Whether you win, lose, lose bad, lose in overtime, you have to shut that game off. The last thing I want is for a young team to be comfortable. You shouldn’t be comfortable. It’s mental warfare and this is a whole new game for us.”
Cates was one of about a dozen players who made their postseason debuts on Saturday night. They handled the pressure rather well.
“It was an awesome environment,” he said. “The warmups were loud, the chants and all that stuff. It was great to see, we didn’t get rattled. I think it just speaks to the leadership of this team. We’ve been playing playoff hockey. We know what it takes.
“To be in a Game 1 in a series like this is big. To get a win and have our heads on straight. To not be satisfied with one win is big for us.”
What was the advice from team leaders?
“There will be a lot more talk tonight in the locker room,” Cates said. “Things to look for. It’s a series, it’s a war. You have to be strong and play hard.”
Couturier had his own take on Game 2 and the Penguins’ gameplan.
“I think we can expect them to be sharper,” Couturier said. “I don’t think we can expect them to change everything. We know the type of team they are. Just try to keep playing the way we are.”
