Official Gameday Thread - Penguins vs Flyers - 20/2/2013

[iWonTheCup87]

not going to lie i am furious with vokoun right not but after watching his face after he let in the goal i feel terrible for him. I know it was awful but geez hes played so good and that was also extremely lucky.

[Metalmike]

FreeCandy44 wrote:

Will every pens vs flyers thread have this many pages?

Moar!

Metal Mike, Canada's #1 Penguins Fan.

[joopen]

I feel like HCDB is a lot like Bruce Arians. They can craft a nice gameplan that can expose another team. The problem is the other teams adjust and they keep smashing their head against the wall when it stops working. BA was great at this as an OC.

[Mr. Colby]

This isn't PeeWee hockey... these guys don't need motivation, they need focus. Focus comes from more than a coach saying something in between periods in a locker room. It's a mentality. It needs to last all season long, not every once in a while, hit-or-miss, within a single game

[shmenguin]

So tonight was a confirmation of last years playoffs, but game 1 against the Flyers was an aberration?

That's what I'm reading from this thread.

the flyers baiting the pens into the nuthouse is a major component to the whole thing. let me know if they did that in game 1.

I'm convinced that they had a bad game.
You're convinced of what?

it's not clear by now? the flyers live inside this team's brain. they know how to exploit that, and when they lost their grip on the game in the 1st, that's what they did. and it worked.

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

If you guys didn't see a change in the way the team played and handled themselves in the 3rd period (besides the Malkin penalty), I don't know what else to tell you.

Since you've asked, please tell me why they changed the way they played and handled themselves when they were 2 goals up in the first period?

I didn't ask, but I'll bite.

They didn't change the way they played. They let the Flyers get to them. We pretty much controlled the play for at least 65-75 percent of the game. The only difference was, they started playing down to the Flyers.

BUT.

Something was said in the locker room in between the 2nd and 3rd periods, because the team in the 3rd was completely different mentally than the team in the 1st. Aside from the Malkin penalty, they were much, much more composed, and look at the result. Came back from a 2 goal deficit.

I'd say that's encouraging, but I'm also not a pessimist.

I actually completely disagree with first premise. We got out played severely in that last 15 minutes or so of the 1st. They out shot us 14 - 1 in that span. The Pens started the 2nd pretty good but then the Flyers actually got to their game. The Pens played on the outside, the Flyers had stages of actual cycle. It looks like we have zone time but it accomplishes nothing.

We didnt play down to the Flyers, they adjusted to attack our guy with the puck forcing an earlier dump in, in which they rotated a guy back to easily pick it off. Its why it was easy to tell HCDB's big secret was out of them playing behind the next = we gave up 4 straight goals.

I do agree we played more composed other than the Malkin penalty and am not sure we ever lost our composure in the game and why people keep claiming that. Its like a sickness now. We. Are. Robots. Flyers cant Beat Us. Must. Be. Reason.

They go get the puck, they attack the net. They made their own luck.

[columbia]

This isn't PeeWee hockey... these guys don't need motivation, they need focus. Focus comes from more than a coach saying something in between periods in a locker room. It's a mentality. It needs to last all season long, not every once in a while, hit-or-miss, within a single game

I tend to agree, though most always lay that at the feet of the coach. I've never worked for anyone that succeeded in motivating me; it all comes from within.

[BleuLineLady]

The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

[The Snapshot]

Vokoun had a bad game. For those drawing comparisons to last year's playoff, the similarity was bad goaltending on our side. Vokoun needs a little more consistent work I think.

Goals 1, 2 and the last one at least were all bad. Simmonds made a simple move and tucked it right around him. He was way too scrambly tonight.

Pens did take a few penalties out of a lack of discipline, but I don't think that was the major story.

[wondermoose]

It's stupid that DB is the worst coach in the world against the Flyers. Don't know how he can justify playing Orpik so much while watching him get burned over and over and over and over, and then turn around have Sutter on the ice for only 12 minutes. Boggles the mind how Laviolette has **** Bylsma into retardism.

[Rocco]

...was the first goal waived because the puck was in the glove and they couldn't determine the glove was over or they couldn't see the puck???

They couldn't see for certain that the puck was over the line. Even though the puck was in the glove, and the glove clearly went behind the goalpost, and object permanence is something that humans usually figure out by 1 year of birth, the rules say it's not a goal. It ended up being moot about a minute later.

[Mr. Colby]

Pens mentality is all wrong First period we worked the puck deep and were successful. But then we scored 2 goals and everyone turned into a superstar. No more working the puck deep and battling for chances. We just wanted to skate into the zone and make a pretty pass through 4 defenders for a pretty one-timer goal. Except it never works. They just don't feel like battling for chances.

[Rocco]

Perhaps the Pens may want to consider playing hard for more than just the first and last 10 minutes next game.

[booboo]

The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

That too, yes.

[columbia]

So tonight was a confirmation of last years playoffs, but game 1 against the Flyers was an aberration?

That's what I'm reading from this thread.

the flyers baiting the pens into the nuthouse is a major component to the whole thing. let me know if they did that in game 1.

I'm convinced that they had a bad game.
You're convinced of what?

it's not clear by now? the flyers live inside this team's brain. they know how to exploit that, and when they lost their grip on the game in the 1st, that's what they did. and it worked.

Maybe. Let's see how this season plays out.

[The U]

The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

Agreed. Pens were getting hit and harassed all over the ice in every zone. We played that way in 2009.

Philly doesn't play like this all the time, only against us.

Unfortunately for us they have our number right now. How many games they win or lose vs Florida, Caps, Toronto, etc...are meaningless. They play well vs the Penguins. Throw out seeds and records. We need to find a way to beat them and NJ.

Shero has 13 million to spend and we are coming off three incredibly disappointing playoff runs. Pressure is on.

Physical defensive dman, tough bottom 6 forward or two, and a top 6 scoring winger are all needed. Between now and April I wouldn't be surprised if 4 new guys are added and 3 or 4 current Pens are demoted or traded.

[PhantomJB93]

I'm more upset that we blew another 2 goal lead again than anything. I have nightmares about Laviolette's timeouts.

[shmenguin]

Vokoun had a bad game. For those drawing comparisons to last year's playoff, the similarity was bad goaltending on our side. Vokoun needs a little more consistent work I think.

Goals 1, 2 and the last one at least were all bad. Simmonds made a simple move and tucked it right around him. He was way too scrambly tonight.

Pens did take a few penalties out of a lack of discipline, but I don't think that was the major story.

taking penalties isn't the only indicator of issues with composure. going for unnecessary big hits and more importantly, getting distracted by the theatrics is pretty significant. not to mention, every time you give the flyers the pleasure of engaging in the garbage, the ****-eating grins on their faces get wider, and they start playing better.

the red wings never used to give you an inch. and they drove everyone nuts. that's the attitude this team should be focusing towards.

[MRandall25]

I'm more upset that we blew another 2 goal lead again than anything. I have nightmares about Laviolette's timeouts.

Laviolette's timeout was after the first goal. They promptly boarded Bortuzzo, leading to another Pens goal

[Henry Hank]

Pens mentality is all wrong First period we worked the puck deep and were successful. But then we scored 2 goals and everyone turned into a superstar. No more working the puck deep and battling for chances. We just wanted to skate into the zone and make a pretty pass through 4 defenders for a pretty one-timer goal. Except it never works. They just don't feel like battling for chances.

That's spot on. I thought it was a bad sign when, in a 2-0 game, they gave the Flyers a 3-on-1 break that they fortunately didn't score on. I think it was off a Crosby turnover in an attempt to make a really pretty passing play. When will they learn to play with a lead? They don't need to go into lockdown and stifle their creativity and attack but it makes no sense to push that hard, that recklessly, when they already have a multi goal lead. For as great as they are, Crosby and Malkin are constantly guilty of it and they need to figure out how to stop doing it. They are the leaders, if the team is ever going to be able to play with a lead, if this is ever going to be more than a middle of the pack GAA team, they need to make a commitment to playing responsible hockey even if it cuts down a bit on their scoring.

[shmenguin]

So tonight was a confirmation of last years playoffs, but game 1 against the Flyers was an aberration?

That's what I'm reading from this thread.

the flyers baiting the pens into the nuthouse is a major component to the whole thing. let me know if they did that in game 1.

I'm convinced that they had a bad game.
You're convinced of what?

it's not clear by now? the flyers live inside this team's brain. they know how to exploit that, and when they lost their grip on the game in the 1st, that's what they did. and it worked.

Maybe. Let's see how this season plays out.

yeah, sure. no use panic firing anyone now or trading the bad seeds (since the main one won kinda won league mvp last year).

[Cagsjr724]

Fire DB! Hire Gary Roberts as the next HC. Gary will give this team exactly what it needs...A kick in the ass.

[bh]

Motivation, Focus, in our heads, have our number... I think that right now, the Flyers have great confidence when playing us and I think the Pens play with a lack of confidence.

[Mr. Colby]

Teams have to be catching on. Pens come out guns-a-blazin for the first 10 minutes. All you gotta do is weather the storm, keep the game within reach, and then capitalize on one of their many ill-advised mistakes.

[Steve]

I missed the third period, had a hockey game.

Just checking the box score - 27 minutes of ice time for Sid - is that due to powerplays etc? Also, 27 faceoff wins to 7 losses - Sid has definately come along way there.