Mishkin’s Extra Shift: Penguins 2, Lightning 1

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who deserved not only of their Game Seven win, but also of series triumph. The Pens entered the Eastern Conference Final as the NHL’s hottest team, having won 22 of their previous 27 games. Clicking on all cylinders, they look like a locomotive train zooming down the track at full speed. Before winning this series, the Penguins easily dispatched of the New York Rangers in the first round, then knocked off the President Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the second round. My point is that they are a team on a major roll and the Lightning, despite winning three games from the Pens, weren’t able to stop them.

Over the first six games of the series, there was a difference between the three Pittsburgh wins and three Lightning triumphs. In the Pittsburgh victories, the Pens were decisively the better team. They badly outshot and outchanced the Lightning. They enjoyed a huge advantage in puck possession, thereby limiting the amount of time the Lightning went on the attack. (The one exception was the third period of Game Six, a frame in which the Bolts posted 19 shots and netted two goals, but the Penguins owned the first two periods in Game Six and built a 3-0 lead). On the other hand, in the three Lightning wins, the games were more evenly played. I know …

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