Playing with lead has given Penguins more confidence

The Pittsburgh Penguins may be on the brink of elimination, but pulling the series to Game 6 after a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night has re-ignited hope of an extended run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs amid their first postseason since 2021-22. 

While the Penguins have been unable to take over games in the series, their best moments have come when they’ve stayed away from the Flyers’ physicality and antics and kept the game at even strength. 

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by Penguins play-by-play broadcaster Josh Getzoff to break down whether playing with the lead has given the Penguins more confidence. 

Yaremchuk: Last night, the Penguins forced a sixth game in their series against the Flyers. What changed? What’s allowed the Penguins to make this a series?

Getzoff: When you look at the Penguins when they were down three, there was nothing being around this team in those two days in between games three and four. I really felt like, weirdly enough, they seemed to have a sense of calmness, not so much confidence, just kind of, there’s nothing else for us to do but win a hockey game.’ And then boiling it down a little deeper to winning a shift, to winning a period. I honestly think that’s truly how they’ve approached this. 

I’m thinking they’re saying this, leading into those games: this sounds so cliche, like we hear this so many times, but then you watch how they play, and it’s truly what they’ve subscribed to: how they’ve acted it out on the ice. I feel like the biggest thing for me in these last two games. 

Now, in Game 3, they also scored first, but they got caught up in a bit of shenanigans. Obviously, we all know what happened in the second period with Brian Rust and Travis Konecny, which put the game on its head. The Flyers took control, and that was all she wrote. But in Game 4, they get a two-goal lead. In Game 5, they get a two-goal lead. And for me, it’s pretty simple. At that point, the Flyers have to play hockey, and I think when the Flyers have to play hockey, it’s just strictly that the Penguins have the advantage. Now, it’s easier said than done to not get involved in a lot of the after-whistle stuff, and the Penguins are no shrinking violets either. They have a few that have pushed the envelope multiple times in this series, but that’s playoff hockey. I just think that at the end of the day, the Penguins have been able to play with the lead a little bit more. I know it’s pretty basic, but when you’re chasing games, and you’re trying to work through the Flyers stuff, it’s a double-edged sword to try to come back in games. But in these last couple of games where they’ve had a lead, they’ve been able to control possession, they’ve been able to spend some more extended time in the Flyers’ zone and maybe put just a little bit more doubt in their minds. I think that’s made a huge difference.

You can catch the rest of the episode here…