Things we learned from Games 1 & 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals

By Scott

• Pittsburgh is being badly out-coached.  Not that this comes as a surprise as Dan Byslma is a rookie squaring off against one of the best in the business in Mike Babcock, but Byslma has been slow to adjust to Detroit's attack.  The Penguins' defensemen often look tired and Byslma is going to need to figure out how to keep his defensive shifts moving smoothly and effectively.  Byslma also needs to get his stars on the ice.  Sidney Crosby played under 7 minutes in the first period.  That is absolutely unacceptable and if Byslma can't get his stars on the ice, the Penguins could be swept.
• The Penguins are relying far too heavily on fastbreaks to produce points.  They are consistently rushing down the ice on 2-on-3's or 3-on-3's and getting one shot or maybe two if they're lucky.  They need to slow things down, set plays up, and get their defensemen in position to spread out the Red Wings' defense.  Their sole goal of the night came on a set-up play.  Granted it was on a powerplay, but Pittsburgh has to play their own game by relying on the deflections and rebounds that got them into the finals.  Pittsburgh may have outshot Detroit, but the amount of quality shots that Detroit produced outnumbers Pittsburgh by a landslide. 
• Marc-Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood have been sensational.  I know Fleury has let in some inexcusable goals, but considering how poor Pitt's defense has played, he has kept them alive in both games.  However, he definitely deserves much of the blame for the Penguin's losses in games 1 and 2.  Fleury can not let Justin Abdelkader's second goal get by him.  Meanwhile, Osgood has been nothing short of sensational.  Although he has had plenty of lucky bounces that Fleury has not, Osgood is the main reason Detroit is up 2-0.
• Geni Malkin dropping the gloves against Henrik Zetterberg at the end of the 3rd period will provide a huge boost of energy for the Penguins heading into game 3.  It was nice to see a star like Malkin show some emotion and fight for his team.  It's too bad Fleury was on the bench at the time because we could have seen a goalie fight after Osgood started getting into the scuffle.  
• Pittsburgh is 6-2 at home so far in the postseason, while Detroit is a decent 4-3 on the road.  There is no way the Penguins don't win at least 1 game in Pittsburgh especially considering how well they adjusted from game 1 to game 2; even if it didn't result in a win.  And remember that last year the Penguins headed back to Pittsburgh down 2-0 and had not even scored a goal.  They're in better shape this year; however, with one of Detroit's biggest scoring threats in Pavel Datysuk likely returning for game 3, Pittsburgh will have to elevate their game.
• It should be interesting to see if the NHL disciplines Evgeni Malkin for his conduct at the end of the game.  He received an instigator penalty which is an automatic 1 game fine; however, because this is the finals it seems unlikely the NHL will discipline arguably the best player in the series.
• The NHL better hope that the Penguins do in fact win a game in Pittsburgh considering Versus is airing games 3 and 4.  Detroit clinching the series on Versus would be a disaster for the league considering a vast majority of their casual views either a.) don't have Versus or b.) are not aware games 3 and 4 are on Versus.