The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins controlled the play of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Final. They still lost 4-2 to the Toronto Marlies. The Penguins generated 20 more shots (36-16) than the Marlies. However, they didn’t get quality scoring chances, and when they did, they didn’t make the most of them. 

The more important factor and the primary reason the Penguins lost is that they weren’t tough. They didn’t play a physical game, and they must have an aggressive mindset to control this series. “We didn’t get to the net. We didn’t make it hard. We had the puck but we were content to just have it and not be hard around the net,” head coach Kirk MacDonald stated after the game. 

If they need someone to set the tone, it’s Rutger McGroarty, the 22-year-old winger and top prospect in the Penguins system. He scored their second goal in the opening game and showed the Penguins what they needed to do to win and advance to the Eastern Conference Final. 

The playoffs are where the game tightens up, and space is hard to come by. The Marlies are allowing them to work along the boards but they aren’t generating interior scoring chances. The Penguins need to power their way to the net and find those extra scoring chances. 

Their passive mindset also cost them on the other end. The Penguins were caught napping a few times in the defensive zone, allowing the Marlies to find chances off turnovers. Both our goals five-on-five that we gave up were within 15-20 seconds of us having the puck on our stick. We didn’t do a good job taking care of it,” MacDonald added after the game. The game winner in particular saw the Marlies make the most of a turnover with Michael Pezzetta firing the puck past a surprised Penguins team. 

The Penguins controlled the pace and should have won the game. That’s hockey sometimes. It shows how a team is only as good as its next shift. The Penguins had the momentum and lost it on a few game-deciding shifts. 

The dirty-area goals are what McGroarty provides. It’s not the highlight play per se but he can get to the net front and find the back of the net. It’s what happened earlier in the playoffs, notably with his deflection in Game 3 against the Hershey Bears on the overtime winning goal. 

McGroarty’s goal in Game 1 against the Marlies was what the Penguins needed. “That’s the stuff we need, we've got to be harder when we get opportunities,” MacDonald added after the game. He fights to power the puck into the goal, and it takes a second or even a third chance. “We got to attack, and we got to try, and it was a great play but it was a second-chance opportunity where he stuck with the play and gets rewarded,” MacDonald added.

The Marlies won’t make it easy, as they’ll play with an edge and protect the dirty areas. It’s why a player like McGroarty sets the tone, and the rest of the team must follow his lead. “I think we did a good job forechecking and we got the puck back, and we had an attack mindset,” MacDonald reiterated after the game. It’s the message and something they’ll keep in mind once Game 2 begins. 

The Penguins have plenty of skill with Ville Koivunen, Mikhail Ilyin, and Tristan Broz in the top six and often on the same line. McGroarty is bunched into that group with 34 points in 30 games at the AHL level this season, plus three goals and three assists in the playoffs. 

However, McGroarty is also the player who can play the physical game. He can take a hit with his 205-pound frame and deliver one as well. His speed in particular allows him to skate down the wing and close in on skaters with the puck and remove them from the play. 

In the big picture, the Penguins need that type of player on their NHL team. They need a player who brings that physical edge and scores the dirty area goals, something Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin do but will only do for so long. McGroarty is the player who can take on that role for the NHL team soon enough. 

If Game 1 was any indication, the Penguins need their forwards to score at the net front. It makes this series a big one for Tanner Howe, a fourth-liner who has moved up to the top line and stepped up in that role. 

This is also a series where scoring at the point will make a difference. The Marlies have that playmaker with defenseman William Villeneuve stepping up and adding a scoring touch. The Penguins hope prospect Harrison Brunicke is that player for them. 

Then there’s the battle between two excellent goaltenders. Artur Ahktyamov outdueled Sergei Murashov in Game 1, saving 34 of the 36 shots he faced with some impressive glove stops along the way. Murashov is the better goaltender, certainly the better goaltender this season, and he must prove it throughout the rest of the Eastern Conference Final.