Dig Deep is a phrase used often in sports. It is used to describe how players need to find another level in their game. When the game gets tough, and the opposition is seemingly running show on you, it is up to that individual player/team to look within themselves and take their game to the next level. Sometimes they come up short, they have nothing in the tank and as such their teams suffer disappointing losses. Year after year there are certain players who just have no success in playoff hockey. Motivation of these players is often questioned, because once the playoffs start the payouts stop. This is often an unfair justification of why the player slumps, quite often it can be due to injuries, fatigue, and opposing teams keying in on these players. Regardless of this, these are players that are vital to their team and if they do not perform their teams will be playing golf before they know it.
It is not hard to find a couple of these guys from Tampa Bay. Tampa went out in four straight games at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. The cop-out is to blame the injury to Ben Bishop, but the fact of the matter is the Lightning were not good enough. Nobody stepped up, no individual, and the team as a whole failed to adjust to losing their number one goalie. They made poor decisions in defensive scoring zones consistently, resulting in many costly turnovers. So while Anders Lindback wasnt great, neither was anyone else on Tampa Bay, and thats why they are on the outside looking in.
These are the five guys who need to step up right now to ensure their teams don’t suffer similar first round disappointment:
1. David Krejci, Boston Bruins: Krejci is supposed to be the offensive center to Patrice Bergerons two-way play. Krejci centers the Bruins top line, and is relied upon to produce offensively. Through the first three games, Krejci has 0 points, is a minus one, and has a CF% Rel of -13.7%. These are awful numbers, and granted he will be facing off against Detroits best defenders, but for Krejci and the Bruins, he will need to find a way to succeed. The Bruins are the favorites in the East, but currently sit ahead in their series with Detroit just 2-1. They will likely have no trouble getting past Detroit, but beyond that if Krejci doesn’t turn his game around the Bruins will not be returning to the Finals this year.
2. Mike Richards, Los Angeles Kings: The Los Angeles Kings are being absolutely destroyed by the San Jose Sharks right now. San Jose is making the Kings look like a bottom-feeding team that should be picking in the top 5 of the upcoming entry draft. The speed of the Sharks has decimated the Kings. Los Angeles trails the Sharks 3-0 in their series and Mike Richards has been completely underwhelming thus far. When game three got underway Richards found himself centering the Kings' fourth line. When the Kings won the Cup just a couple seasons ago, Richards was part of the reason for this success. In that Cup run the line of Richards, Penner, and Carter was unstoppable. They were providing secondary scoring and shutting down the oppositions top lines. Richards is known as a playoff performer, yet here he is through three games with zero points and a minus three on the stats sheet, playing just 15:48 per game. All that with favorable zone starts that see him starting almost 75% of his shifts outside the defensive zone/ He is not the Richards he was when the Kings won the Cup, and if he doesn't once again become that player, the Kings will be swept by the big, fast, scary San Jose Shark team.
3. James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins have a 2-1 series lead after staging an impressive comeback to win against Columbus in game three on Monday night. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh they have been unimpressive thus far. They do not look like a threat to come out of the East, and a big part of that is on Neal. Neal is a prolific goal scorer, he has an incredible shot and finds open spots on the ice to take advantage of that. Through three games Neal has no goals on 23 shots. The shots are there, but Neal has to start burying the puck if the Penguins have any hope this spring.
4. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings: Quick was a Conn Smythe trophy winner two seasons ago. He was incredible in the Kings run to the Stanley Cup and was chosen as the MVP of that Stanley Cup winning run by the Kings. Since that incredible run Quick has been a rollercoaster of a goaltender. He has had string of games where he has been that Conn Smythe winning goalie, then he has strings of games where he looks like a backup goaltender. Right now for the Kings, Quick has not been good. Through three games he has allowed 16 goals to the Sharks, and has a SV% of just .852. These numbers are not good, and the Kings will not be able to win with goaltending this poor.
5. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers: Giroux is the Captain of this Flyers squad, and he has been completely underwhelming thus far. He has one assist and is plus 3. Which is ok; but Giroux is the offensive superstar on that team. He needs to produce more than two assists in three games and a CF% Rel of just 1.9%. That is unacceptable from a production standpoint. The most surprising aspect is that Giroux in the past has been a dominant force in the playoffs. He went head to head against Sidney Crosby a couple years in the playoffs and he was able to beat the best player in the world. That is impressive on any given night, let alone in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yet here we are, Philly sits down in their series 2-1 against the New York Rangers and Giroux is not making a difference right now.
To lay all the blame at the feet of these guys would be foolish, hockey is a team game after all. However these are guys that are the leaders of their respective teams. They need to step up now, or their teams will be out of the playoffs in the first round. It is imperative for key players to step up to the plate players in big game situations. The most vital part of the season is always the playoffs, for these guys too slump right now means they are letting their entire team down.
All stats courtesy of extraskater.com.