Penguins' crumbling of virtual locks would be legendary

PHILADELPHIA -- Chances are the 1992-93 Penguins always will be remembered for the most punishing postseason loss in franchise history. That team was supposed to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup and had Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy and Joe Mullen, future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr and should-be Hall of Famer Tom Barrasso. It won 17 games in a row down the stretch, still an NHL record. It finished with 56 wins, 119 points and the Presidents' Trophy. It lost in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs to the underwhelming New York Islanders.

The wound still oozes all of these years later.

But here's what's amazing:

The 2011-12 Penguins are looking at a much worse fate. Six days ago, they were the heavy favorites to win the Cup, a 4-to-1 betting choice when the next highest-rated teams were 11-to-2. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang were back healthy and roaring to go. Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury were the team's best players all season and the others were ready to follow their lead in the playoffs. No team is unbeatable, but this Penguins team appeared to be close.

Now, after three consecutive losses to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, the Penguins might not win a game in these playoffs. Coach Dan Bylsma described the team's mood Monday as being "a little bit of shock and disbelief, disappointment." Unless it finds a way to win the next four games to survive and advance to Round 2, it will be remembered as the most underachieving team in franchise history.

Maybe the most underachieving team in NHL history, actually.

That's a heavy load to carry into Game 4 Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

"We have to look at it like we have to win one game, four times," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "We can't look at it like we have to win four games in a row."

Good luck with that.

It's hard to come up with another really good team in any sport that crumbled the way these Penguins are. Crosby made his biggest news in Game 3 Sunday by childishly pushing away Flyers winger Jakub Voracek's glove as he tried to pick it up off the ice and then by fighting Flyers star Claude Giroux in what Bylsma called an attempt to "spark our team ... It was more calculated than losing emotional control." Letang was thrown out of Game 3 for fighting Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, fully realizing he's instrumental to his team's success. Malkin has been a no-show with one even-strength point in the three games. Fleury has been awful, giving up 17 goals -- the most in NHL history after the first three games of a series -- and he didn't even play the third period Sunday after being pulled for backup Brent Johnson. The defense in front of Fleury has been atrocious. What should be a dynamic power play has been terrible, allowing three short-handed goals. The penalty-kill, among the NHL's best all season, has been worse, giving up six goals in 10 short-handed situations.

Am I forgetting anything?

Of course, I am.

Bylsma has had no answers for anything other than to make the daring decision to take Crosby off the first power-play unit for Game 2 and the start of Game 3. When you start messing with the best player in the world like that, you had better be right. Bylsma hasn't been so far. That's the type of failed strategy that could shorten his stay as Penguins coach.

Bylsma's players haven't done him any favors with their pathetic play, but they really sabotaged him by losing their cool in Game 3. Letang's selfish fight might have been the start of it, but there was so much more, so much worse. Arron Asham took a cheap cross-check on the Flyers' Brayden Schenn, punched him in the head when he was down and was thrown out of the game. Later, James Neal took dirty runs at the Flyers' Sean Couturier and Giroux in the same shift. Asham and Neal are looking at suspensions for Game 4. Craig Adams already is out of that game because he instigated a fight with the Flyers' Scott Hartnell in the final five minutes. That's as it should be. Asham and Neal should be suspended, as well. They embarrassed themselves and the Penguins organization.

Sadly, Bylsma tried to justify the cheap shots Monday by saying "our players desperately want to win and are desperately playing. The emotion boils over in a situation like that. They're competitors." He went on to insinuate that any team would react the same way in that spot.

Is that weak or what?

Look at it this way. If the Flyers were down, 3-0, and started taking cheap shots at Crosby and Malkin, would Bylsma scream? Would you?

The cowardly shots from the Penguins are especially repulsive because Lemieux -- the team owner -- has led the push to eliminate gratuitous violence from the NHL. He and general manager Ray Shero won't be able to say a word if the league comes down hard on Asham and Neal. Maybe that's why Lemieux looked so unhappy Sunday after the game, although it could have been that there's no longer any guarantee or even the likelihood that he will get a lucrative third playoff game at Consol Energy Center this spring.

It turns out the Flyers were the voices of reason on the violence issue. Imagine that.

"I understand the rough game," Timonen said. "I understand the guys with the puck, you can hit. I love the rough game. But when guys don't have the puck and you hit -- blindside them -- I don't understand that. I don't like that. But if they think they're going to win that way, go ahead and do it."

Crosby called it "playoff hockey" Sunday.

This time, Crosby was wrong.

It was garage league hockey.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com . Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.

First published on April 17, 2012 at 12:00 am