With an off day on Monday, one area of criticism expected to be thrown at Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma will be the limited ice time for star forward Sidney Crosby (19:36).
In the magnitude of the Stanley Cup Finals, Crosby’s ice time is much lower than the ice time 2008 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Henrik Zetterberg is getting.
In game 2, Zetterberg had 23:18 minutes of ice time including 21:14 minutes at even strength compared to Crosby who had 18:54 minutes of ice time at even strength.
The playoffs are all about matchups, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock has used Henrik Zetterberg to matchup against Crosby for nearly even shift of Crosby’s.
The Crosby – Zetterberg matchup got into Bylsma’s head in game 2 as he tried to stay away from that matchup and it resulted in Crosby only getting 18:54 minutes of ice time at even strength.
Crosby wasn’t the only player not to get enough ice time in game 2.
NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin who was the best player on the ice for the Penguins in game 2, only had 19:41 minutes of ice time at even strength.
A slight increase over Crosby’s even strength minutes but Crosby and Malkin should be getting 21-23 minutes at even strength.
Mike Babcock is using his star forward the right way, Bylsma isn’t.