Official GDT: Game 2 - Penguins vs. Flyers - 4/13/2012

[Liverlips]

Abylsmal.

I saw what you did there. ;)

[KG]

This team needs Ken Hitchcock, or someone like him....

They have come to the point where they think they can run and gun and outscore anyone....that's all fine and dandy in the regular season. But come playoff time that style doesn't work...

I don't like our response in these games either. Don't just accept that we gave up 8 goals! get pissed. Get into a fight, do something. Let Philly know that you haven't given up!

[prez41]

Flyers PK had more odd-man rushes than we had tonight.

Well at least someone was scoring on the Pen's power play

[rgj]

Sorry if some don't like my "negativity." I could care less. This Pens team is overrated. They are not capable of playing a full offensive and defensive game. It's probably not their fault. The talent just isn't there.

Philly has exposed these Emperor Penguins for what they are....no clothes.

[Henry Hank]

At this point, I would gladly put Depres in over Martin. Dude is just a wreck out there.

And continue to play Lovejoy?

The call-ups aren't the answer. Strait was a liability in the last few games of the season and Despres is likely to get exposed too. I like the job Shero has done, but I'll echo what others have said. He blew it by not getting a D at the deadline. And isn't it funny that Philly picked up two solid D in Grossman and Kubina. They went for it. Shero didn't. The Pens D depth is garbage after the top six. You can put guys like Lovejoy and Strait or whoever in during the regular season and get by just fine, especially when you're scoring a lot of goals. Teams hone in on those weaknesses in the playoffs. Lovejoy got victimized on goals five and six against. He got victimized in the playoffs last year. Hopefully next year Shero pulls the trigger on deadline deals to shore up the D. They can't go into the playoffs again next year with AHL scrubs as their depth.

[Guinness]

If PGH were down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals right now, would everyone be freaking out, calling for Bylsma's, Shero's and (yes, even) Crosby's and Malkin's heads right now? Nope.

This IS the Eastern Conference Finals. It just happens to be being played in the first round, thanks to the seeding rules.

Philly is a helluva team, and it's no real embarrassment to be down to them, quite frankly. It would be an embarrassment to be down against Ottawa, Washington, or Florida; but they're playing the one team in the East that actually has a chance to beat them.

Calm down. I sure hope it's not as freaked out in the lockerroom as it is here.

[68forever]

Ahh but when Sid came back this team stopped playing whatever way they were when they were on the long winning streak. Everyone said when they lost the 2 in a row they would be able to "TURN IT ON" for the playoffs. Again whatever "IT" is and they haven't. For whatever reason this team just doesn't play the same with Sid in the line up as they do when he is out. That is waaaaaaaaaaaaay to many Whatever's to fix in 2 days. How each player will look as his own game and try to change for the better will only be known on Sunday. Hopefully each one takes a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong hard look in the mirror and says "Yeah you you have to do better!"

[bab81]

At this point, I would gladly put Depres in over Martin. Dude is just a wreck out there.

And continue to play Lovejoy?

The call-ups aren't the answer. Strait was a liability in the last few games of the season and Despres is likely to get exposed too. I like the job Shero has done, but I'll echo what others have said. He blew it by not getting a D at the deadline. And isn't it funny that Philly picked up two solid D in Grossman and Kubina. They went for it. Shero didn't. The Pens D depth is garbage after the top six. You can put guys like Lovejoy and Strait or whoever in during the regular season and get by just fine, especially when you're scoring a lot of goals. Teams hone in on those weaknesses in the playoffs. Lovejoy got victimized on goals five and six against. He got victimized in the playoffs last year. Hopefully next year Shero pulls the trigger on deadline deals to shore up the D. They can't go into the playoffs again next year with AHL scrubs as their depth.

What others are you talking about? I got laughed off the board for saying it was worth way overpaying to go after a defenseman at the deadline. To think what this series could look like if we had a solid veteran defenseman and a guy who gives a **** and can stand in front of the net.

[brwi]

Playing the 1st period like it is sudden death OT of Game 7 isn't working to well as the Flyers have absorbed the initial onslaught in the both games and had a lot more in the tank as the game continued on.

That also may have been the worst example of team defense I have seen in many years and might have been as bad as the stretch of games leading up to MT's famous rant. Really, really awful by both dmen individually and forwards alike.

Looking at how Giroux has totally dominated the Pens and is being allowed plenty of room to look like Gretzky and Mario combined and how Malkin has no room at all to maneuver also tells you something about the HC's and who can get their players to execute a gameplan better. In the first two games, Lavy has made DB look like a scrub.

[jwit]

The flyers have this figured out, they know it. The pens are coming to know it. Pens can't play playoff hockey. Two guys throwing checks will not get it. Flyers have no fear in our zone, nobody's getting hit, knocked down or held.

[shmenguin]

i'd feel a lot worse if i thought we deserved to be winning these games. but we haven't. so there's that.

lovejoy's taking cues from the rest of the club house. the culture is that it's ok to F around in your own end. bringing strait or depres up isn't going to change that viral attitude. i'm not saying bylsma has to go, but the "player's coach" needs to.

[columbia]

Hopefully next year Shero pulls the trigger on deadline deals to shore up the D. They can't go into the playoffs again next year with AHL scrubs as their depth.

He gets a mulligan for last year, but it is two years in a row that the CW was that Shero would shore up the D at the deadline.

We're still waiting.

[Eismann]

This game was lost on d-zone coverage. True, Flyers put good press on, but my goodness, there's just no muscle from the Pens to push out the box presence.

[nocera]

The flyers have this figured out, they know it. The pens are coming to know it. Pens can't play playoff hockey. Two guys throwing checks will not get it. Flyers have no fear in our zone, nobody's getting hit, knocked down or held.

Hrm.. I saw a lot of Flyers getting hit. No? I think the real problem is that the Flyers have scored more goals than the Penguins.

[skullman80]

If PGH were down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals right now, would everyone be freaking out, calling for Bylsma's, Shero's and (yes, even) Crosby's and Malkin's heads right now? Nope.

This IS the Eastern Conference Finals. It just happens to be being played in the first round, thanks to the seeding rules.

Philly is a helluva team, and it's no real embarrassment to be down to them, quite frankly. It would be an embarrassment to be down against Ottawa, Washington, or Florida; but they're playing the one team in the East that actually has a chance to beat them.

Calm down. I sure hope it's not as freaked out in the lockerroom as it is here.

If they were playing like garbage for those two games, then yes.

I mean honestly, out of 120 minutes of actual time, this team has played about 35-40 minutes of actual good hockey.

There is no way to sugar coat it. I don't see how you could not be concerned honestly.

[Waffles]

i'd feel a lot worse if i thought we deserved to be winning these games. but we haven't. so there's that.

lovejoy's taking cues from the rest of the club house. the culture is that it's ok to F around in your own end. bringing strait or depres up isn't going to change that viral attitude. i'm not saying bylsma has to go, but the "player's coach" needs to.

[GreenBlood10]

Hopefully I don't wake up in the morning. What a soul crushing loss.

[nocera]

There is no way to sugar coat it. I don't see how you could not be concerned honestly.

I'm sure it's just me, but my feeling is, what's the point? Nothing we do can change what's happened on the ice. You'll just drive yourself crazy. My plan is watch game 3 with the mindset that it's the first game of the Penguins comeback in the series. And that's that.

[Henry Hank]

At this point, I would gladly put Depres in over Martin. Dude is just a wreck out there.

And continue to play Lovejoy?

The call-ups aren't the answer. Strait was a liability in the last few games of the season and Despres is likely to get exposed too. I like the job Shero has done, but I'll echo what others have said. He blew it by not getting a D at the deadline. And isn't it funny that Philly picked up two solid D in Grossman and Kubina. They went for it. Shero didn't. The Pens D depth is garbage after the top six. You can put guys like Lovejoy and Strait or whoever in during the regular season and get by just fine, especially when you're scoring a lot of goals. Teams hone in on those weaknesses in the playoffs. Lovejoy got victimized on goals five and six against. He got victimized in the playoffs last year. Hopefully next year Shero pulls the trigger on deadline deals to shore up the D. They can't go into the playoffs again next year with AHL scrubs as their depth.

What others are you talking about? I got laughed off the board for saying it was worth way overpaying to go after a defenseman at the deadline. To think what this series could look like if we had a solid veteran defenseman and a guy who gives a **** and can stand in front of the net.

How about the guys Philly got? All it took were draft picks. The Pens have all of their picks plus Columbus' fourth. I know that the Pens had some cap limitations but they surely could have moved some guys around to create room. Philly does that masterfully.

I don't want to harp on that too much though because it's unlikely that one player makes that big a difference. This is a team issue. This is a style and mentality problem. The Pens can't play with a lead. They have one way that they play and they stick with it no matter what. Philly is a dynamic team, they can come at you aggressively but they can also shut down and protect a lead if they have to. That was so evident tonight. That's why they're a better team.

[Rocco]

This team needs Ken Hitchcock, or someone like him....

They have come to the point where they think they can run and gun and outscore anyone....that's all fine and dandy in the regular season. But come playoff time that style doesn't work...

I don't like our response in these games either. Don't just accept that we gave up 8 goals! get pissed. Get into a fight, do something. Let Philly know that you haven't given up!

This guy is alive and available.

[Tico Rick]

This team was built for the new NHL. The problem is that the new NHL is turning into the old NHL.

[iWonTheCup87]

i just dont get how they can repeatedly come out flying and play so good for 10 minutes then just fall apart completely. If they even played average defense they would have won that game. Gotta be the worst pens game ive seen in a long time

[jwit]

Brooks' hitting aside, which mostly occured near the blue line, we let guys protect the puck and come off the wall behind the cage and circle in front and just follwed them like puppies. Watch the highlights, even when we scored, our guys are on thier ass, shoved out of the front area. SHow me a flyer highlight where somebody got knocked down. The game turned in the second. Fleury froze a puck in front and the flyer who socred the ot winner last night jabbed him twice with the stick and nobody did anything to him. No shove, no jabs he just skated right way. Think we could have done that in thier zone. Mindset

[Guinness]

If PGH were down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals right now, would everyone be freaking out, calling for Bylsma's, Shero's and (yes, even) Crosby's and Malkin's heads right now? Nope.

This IS the Eastern Conference Finals. It just happens to be being played in the first round, thanks to the seeding rules.

Philly is a helluva team, and it's no real embarrassment to be down to them, quite frankly. It would be an embarrassment to be down against Ottawa, Washington, or Florida; but they're playing the one team in the East that actually has a chance to beat them.

Calm down. I sure hope it's not as freaked out in the lockerroom as it is here.

If they were playing like garbage for those two games, then yes.

I mean honestly, out of 120 minutes of actual time, this team has played about 35-40 minutes of actual good hockey.

There is no way to sugar coat it. I don't see how you could not be concerned honestly.

Philly is a damned good hockey team. PGH played pretty decent all night tonight; Philly just played better. Game one was given away, but tonight it was just a matter of Philly playing better all night long.

PGH still has life in this series. It's not good odds, but if you've watched playoff hockey for any amount of time, you know that 2 wins does not equal 4. Despite the score, PGH was not chased out of the building tonight.

[thehockeyguru]

This team was built for the new NHL. The problem is that the new NHL is turning into the old NHL.

Yeah, thats why Kunitz, Malkin, and Neal were -5, -4, and -4 respectively.