Game 4 vs. Winnipeg - Thoughts from the morning after

[Penspal]

Pens lose 4-2

- I was not able to see all of this game, so not too many thoughts this morning.
- Sid's two goals were the perfect start for this team
- Liked what I have seen from Vokoun so far, goals against were not his fault
- Jets are an improved team, Coach Noel has them playing a smart game
- Arena - Fans were pretty loud, but also were pretty quiet after Pens 2nd goal.
- I'm beginning to think the Pens will make a deal to get 1 more D and 1 more forward

[Gaucho]

I feel like the Pens defensive troubles truly start with the forwards, because every D corps will look like crap when their forwards needlessly and mindlessly turn the puck over on every other shift. The Pens for some reason seem to lose their attention to detail at some point in every f***ing game. That point more often than not being the first intermission. I don't know if DB "lost the players" or whatever, but this is not a new trend and I would like to see some improvement rather sooner than later. Get a lead and hang on for dear love doesn't seem like a very promising strategy to me.

[Bioshock]

-Sid was awesome. Seems to be heating up. Dupuis and Kunitz shouldn't be far behind.
-Geno still needs to adjust to the North American style of hockey (Smaller Rinks) i think. He seems to think he has more time out there than he really does.
-Liked Kennedy but hated the domino effect. Kennedy playing out of position made Cooke play out of position and it showed via turnovers.
-Neal played a very lazy game in his own end. Lovejoy suffered because of this on the Ladd goal.
-Vokoun was good. Just got overwhelmed at the end.
-Sloppy play overall was the pens undoing at their own end. And most of it in my opinion falls on the forwards.

[Gaucho]

-Liked Kennedy but hated the domino effect. Kennedy playing out of position made Cooke play out of position and it showed via turnovers.

Whatever you do, do not mess with 24-16-48.

[IMFC]

Mixed feelings on this one.

- with no training camp, you've gotta try things in real games; yes, moving TK basically jacked up 3rd & 4th lines that already looked good, but Geno's line got like 15 shots; if even one of those goes in it's at least a tie and it doesn't look like a disaster.

- don't see the team getting any better; seems like it's just a game of 'trying to find chemistry' - 'if we just find the right chemistry, the wonky decisions and bad turnovers will stop' - while possible, I think the odds on finding the 'magic combinations' are lower than having the discipline to make fundamentally sound plays right now.

- we got 35 shots - were they all lame? or do you give Pavs some credit.

- overall I'm not as bugged about this game as I thought i'd be, but only because there was no training camp and they made a horrible to decision to 'hope' Cran-gradi would work out - the fact that they blew it out after 2 1/2 games showed they knew better but did it anyway.

[Eismann]

Wpg played a really right dbox twss that resulted in loads of shots not getting through. Very similar to mtl in the playoffs.

Sutter had a bad game. Lots of flubs.

Wpg did a decent job keeping the pens on the boards.

Vokoun was solid.

[darkstar57]

Didn't get a chance to see the game, but i would insert Jeffery over Tangradi slide glass back down to the 4th line and put jeffery into the 3rd line spot

[DelPen]

Forwards acting stupid and forced to be out of position was a big reason for the loss. Defenseman were fine aside from Letang looking lost a few times but that's just Letang. Lovejoy wasn't totally aware covering the cross ice pass and his guy score, should have got a stick on the puck or the man, did neither. But that happens.

Kennedy showed he deserves another chance to ay top 6 so get him back to RW with Sid, Jefffrey to 3rd line RW and get things back to normal on Sunday fr everyone else:

9-87-48
14-71-18
24-16-15
10-46-27

Get Bortuzzo in the lineup ASAP.

[shmenguin]

Yeah that works for me. But I'd almost rather see vitale on line 3

[DelPen]

Yeah that works for me. But I'd almost rather see vitale on line 3

In what capacity? Where does Sutter go? Vitale is the perfect 4th liner right now. No need to force him over his head. Him Adams and Glass drew a penalty and put sorting pressure on the other team, don't mess with that.

[Eismann]

Wpg played a really right dbox twss that resulted in loads of shots not getting through. Very similar to mtl in the playoffs.

Sutter had a bad game. Lots of flubs.

Wpg did a decent job keeping the pens on the boards.

Vokoun was solid.

[DocEmrick]

[Lesky]

Was Kennedy on LW really that bad? I think he did a good job!

[KG]

Nothing we all haven't been saying for a while. This team needs at least 1 more top 6 forward and 1 top 4 defensman. They are not deep enough currently to have a sustained playoff run.

Moving Kennedy up to the 2nd line only makes the 3rd line weaker...I think this will be the last year of the Crosby/Dupuis/Kunitz line. Kunitz is getting old quick...probably shouldn't be taking 1st line duty much longer. If he was with Sutter and Cooke that's a different story. But he is making big coin to be playing on that kind of line.

[firepower]

Hmmm. Won two, and blew two leads. Got mixed feelings so far, but it's early.
I do have to agree that the Pens just seem to collapse around the second period and it's killing them.

[iceolater]

Thought TK was excellent on Geno's line. That is our Speed line which generate opportunitites. Sid looked great out there but still and never will be sold on why we have Duper playing on his wing. Never thought Duper was a solid 1st liner. Great speed but hands of stone to handle a pass from stick to stick. Sutter felt the pressure from the trade and although I always thought Staal was overrated, Sutter in time will fill in nicely in his role. Just a bad game last night. As far as the defense goes, we need to get more physical back there and move bodies away from the net. Vokoun was exceptional but no excuse for LoveJoy and Engelland to be out of position on that goal. There is no discipline on the D except for Orpik who stays at home and moves the puck. Look for a big trade for a stay at home defensemen and a winger for Sid. Duper needs to go to the 3rd line with Sutter. Should be interesting to see what RS does. I just wonder how MAF would have been last night in goal? At least we can say we do look solid in this area. Let's Go Pens!

[Pitt87]

-Sid was awesome. Seems to be heating up. Dupuis and Kunitz shouldn't be far behind.
-Geno still needs to adjust to the North American style of hockey (Smaller Rinks) i think. He seems to think he has more time out there than he really does.
-Liked Kennedy but hated the domino effect. Kennedy playing out of position made Cooke play out of position and it showed via turnovers.
-Neal played a very lazy game in his own end. Lovejoy suffered because of this on the Ladd goal.
-Vokoun was good. Just got overwhelmed at the end.
-Sloppy play overall was the pens undoing at their own end. And most of it in my opinion falls on the forwards.

Geno line in general was so close to blowing it up multiple times. When Geno does it, I think to myself "Meh, he'll get it", but when TK does it, I can't help but think of how familiar it is to see him have to settle puck he needs to get on net faster. Starting to think Kunitz is a far better passer than I gave him credit for, or at least in comparison.

Also, the last two games indicate that we still struggle to defend against the rush.

[Froggy]

the problem i have with kennedy on geno's line (and this is coming from someone who actually LIKES kennedy) is that he's at his best when the puck is on his stick, and the offense goes through him. that is obviously not his ideal role out there with two much more offensively gifted players. i almost get the feeling like the puck should never ever be on his stick when he's out there, and that really doesn't play into his strengths.

however, he has always been way underrated at finding pockets of space on the ice, and that is a good skill to have when playing with geno and neal.

not sure what else we can do at the moment, though. i don't want dusty geoffrey in a pens uniform, and tangradi seems to be an anchor for that line. I guess kennedy does a better job of staying out of malkin and neal's way?

[Luckybreak]

-Vokoun is a fantastic addition, loss not his fault
-Duper is still Super, Kunitz not so much
-Malkin and Neal combined 8pts -7. ET/TK not the answer... Bennett or trade?
-PP is not a skills exhibition, Neal should be in his old spot. Neal-Malkin-Kunitz, Sid-Sutter/TK/ET. Anything to cut out the forced passes and SH breaks against.
-Bortuzzo should have played, really want to see what he can bring in terms of a different style D
-Cooke needs to flip his stupid switch to OFF
-Sutter needs a 'break out' game, I'm rooting for him

[DelPen]

Was Kennedy on LW really that bad? I think he did a good job!

He drifted to the right a lot and ended up on tip of Neal a few times. In th 3rd, Malkin sent a puck to the crease and Kennedy was in the right corner with Neal. There is no need to force him to the RW when Kunitz can move to Malkins line and Dupuis or Coole can play Lw with Sid and TK.

[murphydump55]

- Kunitz is handling the puck like a grenade, and it seems to get getting worse. He turned the puck over multiple times last night with simple puck handling errors. That has to be better.
- Sid is starting to look like Sid and Dupuis is starting to do the little things.
- Geno seems to be pouting everytime he gets checked hard or knocked over. Take note how long it takes him to get up. Our most talented player, but our biggest headcase....outside of Fleury
- TK looked fine on that line, but he needs to be on the 3rd line to complete it.
- Vokoun is the least of our worries, but some support would be nice.
- Martin kept up his decent play, save for a couple bonehead decisions and turnovers...but with what we saw the last two years, I'll take his play right now
- There is zero reason for Tangradi to be in this lineup, zero.
- Bortuzzo needs a chance, asap.
- Bylsma is looking worse by the day.

Once again I'll ask, why are we forcing the puck to the middle of the ice off the boards in our zone? I still don't understand this.

[sniper]

-Vokoun played well
-Didn't have a problem with any of the defenseman
-Have scored first every game. If they can continue to do that they'll win more often than they lose.
-First periods in general have been great.
-Second periods have been awful.
-Forwards need to back check and not make stupid turnovers.
-In the first game of the year against the Flyers in the third period the pens made sure they had 4 guys back and made the flyers earn their chances. The last two games the Pens get the lead and they play like they are the team losing. They take unnecessary chances which result in giveaways and eventually goals against. Had they played the last two games once they got the lead the same way they did against the Flyers in the third period they would be 4-0 right now.
-It seems like the Pens can only play the style they want to play for one period and then it falls apart. Maybe they aren't in game shape yet and being tired is resulting in the mistakes. When you send two forwards in they got to be in good enough shape to get back. Perhaps it gets magnified in the second period when the change is longer.
-I thought Tangradi played his best game of the season. I know that's not saying much.
-Refs are still inconsistent. Thought Pens should have had a two man advantage when Letang got tripped, right before Malkin got the hooking penalty. Then in the third period they didn't seem to want to call anything. One of the pens tripped a jet early in the third and there was a potential boarding penalty they missed. Not the reason they lost though.

[Rylan]

I thought the team sucked...cause I seem to remember numerous threads explaining how overrated this team was and that the pundits were stupid. This team plays to your expectations and you get angry. Quite comical.

Writer's note: That is a universal "you" not directed at any one individual.

[Bioshock]

I thought the team sucked...cause I seem to remember numerous threads explaining how overrated this team was and that the pundits were stupid. This team plays to your expectations and you get angry. Quite comical.

Writer's note: That is a universal "you" not directed at any one individual.

I think people (Including myself) got their expectations skewed when they beat the Flyers and Rangers like they did.

If there is anything i can definitively say about this team through 4 games, it's this: This team can be beat by teams that push the pace and can attack with speed off the rush. Toronto was able to and so was Winnipeg until they decided to trap in the third period.

[shmenguin]

I thought the team sucked...cause I seem to remember numerous threads explaining how overrated this team was and that the pundits were stupid. This team plays to your expectations and you get angry. Quite comical.

Writer's note: That is a universal "you" not directed at any one individual.

So if "they" were pleased with a loss, that would be better?