You've heard the old saying that there are lies, damned lies … and statistics. But there was one stat in Game One of the Penguins-Islanders series that stood out. New York was credited with 72 hits – by the Pittsburgh stats crew.
Most times when you see a number like that it's because the home ice crew will be overly generous with hits because it makes their guys look good, especially with a team that prides itself in hitting.
So when you see the Pens stats guys credit Ryan Pulock with 8 hits, Matt Martin with 9 and Leo Komorov with an astounding 14 it tends to get your attention. But did it get the Penguins' attention?
"You could tell it was a playoff game, for sure," Kasperi Kapanen said the day after. "But we also know what they're about, they're a big physical team and we're ready for that. We're ready for them to be heavy, dump pucks in and get on our D."
Fair enough, but were they ready for that much hitting? "it's something that we can handle. We have great D back there that can handle that and make plays. (But) it's something that we have to get better at next game."
Mike Sullivan knows they have been better in a lot of areas even though he considered it an even game. While his team will probably never out-hit the Islanders, he admits they can be better physically in their own way, winning puck battles for example.
"Can we improve in that area? Of course we can." Sullivan said, "That's always an area we strive to get better. I don't know that we ever arrive as a team as it relates to that. We're going to push our guys to get better in that aspect of the game on a daily basis."
No doubt that will be part of Sully's pregame message tonight.
