Dunlap: A Split In Tampa Is Still Sufficient
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - The highs and lows.
The ups and downs.
The radical swings in opinion.
Welcome to the NHL Playoffs. Welcome inside the mind of fans who hang on every poke check, who suspend each breath with each slapshot and who have their feelings ebb and flow with seemingly each shift.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is, feel how you want, but I'm going to have some perspective with all of this.
Oh yes, even after the Pittsburgh Penguins thoroughly manhandled the Tampa Bay Lightning for wide stretches of Game 3 and eventually held on for a 4-2 victory to take a 2-1 series lead, I'm going to have a huge amount of perspective.
Even as Carl Hagelin dominated the pace early, that H-B-K line was too much to handle, Phil Kessel throttled through Tampa like a hot rod on the freeway in the middle of the night, Sidney Crosby looks to have his game back and goalie Matt Murray looks to have firmly planted himself as the unabashed No. 1 guy for right now, I'm going to have perspective in all of this.
I know what you're thinking, right? Sure, that guy is going to tell me to have some perspective.
Isn't that Dunlap the King of knee jerk? Well, sometimes I am. And other times I'm probably just a plain old jerk.
But this is a time that calls for neither.
Instead, it calls for a moment of taking a deep breath and having a huge measure of evaluation and perspective.
Just as the Penguins now look to be the undeniably better team in this series --- as evidenced by the way Tampa Bay had no match for their speed last evening --- the Eastern Conference Finals are more grind than sprint.
That's why (and again, you can feel how you want) I'm not going to deviate from my original course when I say that a split in Tampa in Games 3 and 4 would be just fine.
Yep, you read that correctly, the Penguins could go out on Friday night and lose to the Lightning and I won't shillyshally from my thought that they will win this series.
And, more so, that they have Tampa right where they want them now.
When the Penguins were victorious in Game 3, it forced within me a thought that getting a victory tomorrow night in Game 4 would be seen as a bonus, as they already will come home on Sunday --- at worst --- tied in the series at 2-2.
Think about that for a moment. That's the worst-case scenario right now. Yep, the very worst-case scenario is that the Penguins could be involved in what essentially would amount to a best-of-three series against the Lightning with two of those games being played at CONSOL Energy Center.
I'd take that every single time against this Lightning team with this group of Penguins.
So remember that. Remember the high you're on right now in the aftermath of the Game 3 victory and, if by some chance the Pens lose Game 4, don't go into some morose and sullen low.
Instead, I'd advise you to have some perspective. A split in Tampa would be just fine if that were to happen.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.