Game 22 vs Habs - Thoughts from the morning after

[Penspal]

Pens win 7-6

- Despres looked well, skating, passing, hits, everything. There will be rookie mistakes, but he should continue to see icetime
- Vokoun looked better than on previous outings... the stats don't lie, he only have up 6 goals
- 2 pts is two points. Much easier to look at the game this morning than it was last night.
- How many leads were blown in this game?
- Eaton looked a little slow, but he had some crafty plays. Not noticing Eaton usually means he did good
- Late Crosscheck call on TK was total crap. TK really doesn't need to be given phantom calls
- How either coach never pulled their goalie sort of baffles me.
- Neal brought a physical element without penalties, good to see.
- Any word on how bad Martin is hurt?

[Gaucho]

- Vokoun had two starts on the road trip and went 1-0-0. Fleury had one start and went 0-2-0. Clearly, Vokoun is the better goaltender.

[Bioshock]

-Martin is day to day. Nothing serious
-Vokoun wasn't good but the defense in front of him on most of the goals was horrendous.
-TK was the only dude all night who cleared the crease and he got a penalty for it. Total garbage. You know the defense plays awful when TK is doing the best job at a certain defensive skill.
-Pens defense is amazing with the puck. A total nightmare without the puck.
-The pairing of Orpik and Letang was an absolute trainwreck. They were on the ice for the first 4 goals and once that pairing was split up, things got better, especially for Letang.
-Sutter was an absolute monster all game
-Crosby and Kunitz played out of their minds
-Despres played very well and was instrumental in the whole sequence that lead to the last goal from Sutter.
-Eaton played well from what i could tell! Was very surprised by that. If i'm wrong about that statement, please, someone point out my stupidity. I tried watching him as closely as possible.

[Fire0nice228]

Just because we won 7-6 doesnt mean all is good in Penguin land..

get a winger for Sid

[Gaucho]

-Vokoun wasn't good but the defense in front of him on most of the goals was horrendous.

I'd say the defense wasn't good, but Vokoun was horrendous. He made some big saves, but allowed at least three questionable goals. You can't expect your D to always be on the lookout for rebounds that shouldn't be there.

[meow]

Just because we won 7-6 doesnt mean all is good in Penguin land..

get a winger for Sid

Look at the league leaders in points. Someone you might know is number three.

[Fire0nice228]

Just because we won 7-6 doesnt mean all is good in Penguin land..

get a winger for Sid

Look at the league leaders in points. Someone you might know is number three.

/sarcasm (I forgot to put that in there!)

I've been saying for months and months screw Parise, screw a winger, get a defenseman

[dbizzle66]

-Martin is day to day. Nothing serious
-Vokoun wasn't good but the defense in front of him on most of the goals was horrendous.
-TK was the only dude all night who cleared the crease and he got a penalty for it. Total garbage. You know the defense plays awful when TK is doing the best job at a certain defensive skill.
-Pens defense is amazing with the puck. A total nightmare without the puck.
-The pairing of Orpik and Letang was an absolute trainwreck. They were on the ice for the first 4 goals and once that pairing was split up, things got better, especially for Letang.
-Sutter was an absolute monster all game
-Crosby and Kunitz played out of their minds
-Despres played very well and was instrumental in the whole sequence that lead to the last goal from Sutter.
-Eaton played well from what i could tell! Was very surprised by that. If i'm wrong about that statement, please, someone point out my stupidity. I tried watching him as closely as possible.

- This. This. This. This is the biggest improvement this team needs to make. How many times did I see dudes just standing around when they didn't have the puck? If they can shore this up - things look bright.

Also: I don't buy into the whole "winger for Sid" thing. That's not a long term fix for anything. Kunitz and Duper are good enough. Scoring goals ain't the problem with the Pens this year folks.

[Kovy27]

Brandon Sutter was definitely the player of the game. 2 Goals (GWG), 7 shots, +2, 64% Face-off Percentage. I like the Sutter-Staal trade more and more everyday.
PK went 3/3 which makes things a little better in a bad defensive game.
Vokoun was horrendous. Second time in two weeks that we've either tied or took the lead, and he lets in a terrible goal to take all the momentum away. Honestly, we should have beat Philly and not given a point to Montreal tonight and that is squarely on the shoulders of Vokoun. Yes, the defense was bad on the goals, but the 6th goals for Philly and Montreal were just terrible.

Kunitz is 3rd in scoring. #CrosbyFactor

[columbia]

Anyone else ready to have an aneurysm whenever they see Engelland below the faceoff dots in the offensive zone?

[Fire0nice228]

Yes, the defense was bad on the goals, but the 6th goals for Philly and Montreal were just terrible.

The fact that games are even getting to 6th goals is what i'm really concerned about

[pens_CT]

-Entertaining regular season game if you like goal scoring.
-Terrible game for the Pens D. Montreal has one of the smaller forward groups, and yet we allowed numerous goals/chances around the net.
-Shero has some work to do with this roster, and I believe there will there will be changes both at forward and defense come the trade deadline.
- I understand what the coaching staff is trying to do with Despres, keeping his minutes down and letting him achieve some success at the NHL level
before putting him in the top 4. However at some point your best 4 defensemen have to play together, and based on ability Despres belongs in that group.
-Any team with Engelland in its top 6 isn't a Stanley Cup contender.

[Kovy27]

Yes, the defense was bad on the goals, but the 6th goals for Philly and Montreal were just terrible.

The fact that games are even getting to 6th goals is what i'm really concerned about

That's a major problem. We need a shot blocking defenseman.

Would you take the following:

Last 3 years --
82 games, 3 goals, 16 assists, +3, 173 blocked shots
56 games, 0 goals, 10 assists, +9, 133 blocked shots
21 games, 0 goals, 7 assists, +2, 58 blocked shots

[darkstar57]

-one game, but if we can't acquire a physical d-men at the deadline i am fine with Eaton-Depress as a third pairing (i know they didn't play together this game) but i feel depress can cover ground for eaton, plus eaton is always going to stay back or eaton and nisky and letang-depress
-amazing how solid martin has been you notice his absent the past two game + games. Panthers score 2 in the third (martin did not play the third period), carolina pots 4 and Canadians pot 6.
-Cooke deserves 2nd lines minutes with Neal & Malkin when he returns. he is playing extremely well right now reward him
-1st line of Sid/Kuniz/Dupius is fine, they play so well together
-leave jeffery in the lineup when malkin returns. Jeffery-Sutter-Bennett as the third line, line has decent size and scoring ability. Jeffery/Sutter play well defensively
-shift kennedy to 4th line, Vitale always needs to play, interchange glass/adams/kennedy. Kennedy/Vitale with their speed and forecheck are good.

[stonewizard51]

The fact that games are even getting to 6th goals is what i'm really concerned about

Another concern, for me anyhow, is the squandered lead part as in Last night we took a 2 goal lead and then tripped over ourselves trying to protect it.

[meow]

- I thought I heard Martin skated yesterday on his own...? I might be wrong.
- Kunitz and Crosby were unreal
- I love the Sutter-Staal trade more and more each game. Each team filled a need. Good hockey trade
- I've never seen a NHL defenseman so disconnected in the middle of a game as Orpik was last night. Something seems off with him
- Vokoun played ok. D didn't help him out. He didn't help himself out.
- Montreal is good

[mac5155]

If the idea is to play vokoun to give fleury rest, you can't be pulling him all the time. I was fine with leaving him in.

[bhaw]

I didn't see much wrong with the way Engelland played last night. I like what Despres is doing. He's trying to be physical and use his body (something people have been begging a defenseman on our team to do). He's going to make some mistakes, but overall, I was impressed with how he played and didn't hold back. Despres also showed the awareness to jump into the OT play and help end the game.

Orpik and Letang just can't play together. Doesn't make either one individually bad (read my tirade in the FireDB thread for why this is happening). Sometimes guys just can't figure out how to work with each other and this appears to be a pairing that has never really been amazing. The continued breakdown of a nonexistent defensive system makes the pairing even worse as neither guy seems to understand where they are supposed to be at any given time.

Having Vokoun shut us down for years where he'd make countless ridiculous stops is causing this crap show of a year for him to seem even worse.

At this point, if people can't see that our coach and style of play is going to sink this team, I don't know what to say. You can't bank on scoring 6+ every game.

[shmenguin]

Yes, the defense was bad on the goals, but the 6th goals for Philly and Montreal were just terrible.

The fact that games are even getting to 6th goals is what i'm really concerned about

That's a major problem. We need a shot blocking defenseman.

Would you take the following:

Last 3 years --
82 games, 3 goals, 16 assists, +3, 173 blocked shots
56 games, 0 goals, 10 assists, +9, 133 blocked shots
21 games, 0 goals, 7 assists, +2, 58 blocked shots

That's michalek right? He would unquestionably help this team this year.

But shero is such a sweet heart for letting him go home at the expense of our PK

[The Snapshot]

Vokoun was horrendous. Second time in two weeks that we've either tied or took the lead, and he lets in a terrible goal to take all the momentum away. Honestly, we should have beat Philly and not given a point to Montreal tonight and that is squarely on the shoulders of Vokoun. Yes, the defense was bad on the goals, but the 6th goals for Philly and Montreal were just terrible.

I totally agree with you, but I don't see why this statement is even necessary. One was a goal from below the goal line in the corner, and the other was on a clear shot from just inside the blueline that results in my beer league goalie not getting any beer after the game.

As Gaucho said above, your D cannot prevent goals on rebounds that should not be there. There are rules that prevent D from grappling onto everything that moves without the puck out there - but a lot of people here seem to hold this idea that our D can't just prevent anyone without the puck from ever getting near the crease.

Vokoun has been horrific.

Teams all over the league have trouble protecting leads because the rules make it so. You can barely hit someone out there without getting a penalty, yet our D is supposed to be hitting people without the puck but not taking "undisciplined" penalties. I think too many folks here think that stating vague criticisms like "our D is terrible" makes them sound like they know what they are talking about. It's quite the contrary. To blame the D last night, or the coach is dumb.

The ONLY thing you can blame Bylsma for is going with Vokoun. The decision most-likely is because he wants to get him going a little and Vokoun has always been great against the Habs.

[The Snapshot]

Last 3 years --
82 games, 3 goals, 16 assists, +3, 173 blocked shots
56 games, 0 goals, 10 assists, +9, 133 blocked shots
21 games, 0 goals, 7 assists, +2, 58 blocked shots

That's michalek right? He would unquestionably help this team this year.

But shero is such a sweet heart for letting him go home at the expense of our PK

Michalek made this D worse. Softer. More receptive than aggressive. He almost ruined Paul Martin by being his partner. No thanks. If we get a D, we need someone in the mold of Brad Stuart. Good skater, physical and a winner.

Not surprising Michalek fares well on a team where their goalie cannot be beaten from in tight. No other goalie plays farther back on his line than Mike Smith, which makes Michalek's snow angel routine effective.

[Shakes]

I tend to by an optimistic fan, and there were a lot of positives last night, stated by everyone above.

But the one thought I have this morning is that the Pens are just not a consistently good defensive team. They've got about 6 weeks to figure things out.

[Gaucho]

Btw, how Sid yet again received a pass in full stride with his skate before the 4th goals was just awesome, and the same should be said for Sutter's nifty little play before his OT goal.

[shmenguin]

We've been through this before but ZM is perfectly acceptable as a 5/6 getting insulated ES minutes and a ton of PK minutes. The staff didn't think Eaton's relative softness was a deal breaker, so I think michalek would certainly have a place on this team.

[The Snapshot]

We've been through this before but ZM is perfectly acceptable as a 5/6 getting insulated ES minutes and a ton of PK minutes. The staff didn't think Eaton's relative softness was a deal breaker, so I think michalek would certainly have a place on this team.

I am not happy to see Eaton on this team. I cannot stand Bambi either.