Tuesday, May 12, 2009

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins entered their second-round playoff series against Washington intent on having the defense tandem of Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill on the ice against Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin as much as possible.

Heading into Game 6 at Mellon Arena last night, their plan had worked, for the most part.

While Ovechkin's total of seven goals during the first five games might strike some as evidence the Penguins' coaching staff should have considered another option, it actually was delighted with the work of Scuderi and Gill.

A more detailed look at Ovechkin's production shows why.

Two of his goals during Games 1 through 5 came on power plays; of the other five, the Scuderi-Gill pairing was on the ice for just two.

The other pairings victimized at even-strength were Mark Eaton-Sergei Gonchar, Gill-Brooks Orpik and Eaton-Orpik.

Assistant coach Mike Yeo, who handles the defensemen, described Scuderi and Gill yesterday as "two guys who know what their role is when [they] step on the ice," adding that, "I've always believed that it's easier to do your job when you have a pretty strict set of guidelines for what that job is."

In Round 1, that meant limiting the damage done by Philadelphia's Jeff Carter, the No. 2 goal-scorer in the NHL during the regular season. When the Penguins advanced to Round 2, Scuderi and Gill were told to focus on Ovechkin, who led the league with 56.

"Whether it's playing against Jeff Carter or playing against Alex Ovechkin or whoever we might be playing on a particular night, for the most part, these are guys we're going to lean on," Yeo said.

Scuderi said he was "satisfied" with the pair's work against Ovechkin going into last night but noted that trying to shut him down is not terribly realistic.

"It's more of a pick-your-poison type of thing," he said. "You can let him take that shot from 25 or 30 feet, and it's still a pretty amazing shot, or you can let him get inside and let them have some offensive-zone time, which you don't want, either"