Great comeback from Columbus as they scored four unanswered goals to tie up the series with Pittsburgh.
Poor Marc-Andre Fleury! We talked about him here last year during the series against the Islanders.
I should point out that Umberger was heroic setting up the OT goal right after blocking a wicked shot that almost hit him in the face.
Fleury had been atrociously bad in four straight playoff years, ever since the Penguins won the Cup in 2009. Against Columbus he had been playing pretty well and it even looked like he would steal Game 4 for them, as the Penguins immediately went into their lazy, entitled mode of play after jumping off to a 3-0 midway through the first period, but then Fleury made an idiotic failed attempt to clear the puck with 22 seconds left which resulted in Columbus tying the game, then quickly let in a softie in overtime. Fleury's been pampered his entire career because of his fragile mental state; he's almost like the White Kordell Stewart in that respect.
The Penguins lack hunger and they have a terrible system, which is ill-suited to the playoffs. Knowledgeable fans have been pointing this out for years, but the ownership is content to have good (and very profitable) regular seasons even though the team is no longer a serious Cup challenger. The country club attitude that goes back to Mario's playing days (Mario wouldn't let Scotty Bowman, the greatest hockey coach ever, even attend the team's practices) is worse than ever. It's especially annoying because hockey is supposed to be the sport where White dominance also corresponds with the White work ethic, but large salaries combined with an entitled attitude can create gutless teams, as has happened with the Penguins.
Crosby has looked terrible; no goals in 8 straight playoff games going back to last season's sweep by Boston, and appears disinterested. He is exercising no leadership either. Malkin is trying hard but has two soft linemates (Neal and Jokinen) which leads to him having few scoring opportunities.
