NBC Analyst Eddie Olzyk: Pens/Lightning Series Should Be Fantastic
PITTSBURGH (93-7 the Fan) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will open the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
To help set the tone, NBC Sports NHL Announcer and former Penguins head coach Eddie Olczyk joined Cook and Poni today.
"This is going to be a whale of a series," Olczyk said. "This is the type of series the NHL offices will want to show to the advertisers. It will have a bit of everything."
Olczyk says he is privileged to be calling this one for NBC Sports and it should be a great series for all to enjoy. However, the Pens will have their hands full with this Tampa Bay team.
He admits that he is a bit surprised that the Pens were able to play as well as they did to beat the Caps and advance to the conference finals without contributions from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But, he said it's the ultimate team game and the Pens proved their speed and depth were better.
The Pens also had great goaltending from rookie Matt Murray, who is now 7-2 in the playoffs. Olczyk said he hasn't been perfect, but he has seen nothing to make him question a change.
"You have to stay with Murray," he said. "You can always go to the bullpen...but what blemish has he had to make a change?"
The odds-makers have made the Penguins the Stanley Cup favorites, but Olczyk is not ready to agree with that.
"I'm not ready to say that," Edzo said. "I still think the Blues are the team to beat."
LISTEN to the full interview here:
