Game 25 vs. Leafs - Thoughts from the Morning After

[canaan]

Looks like somebody's posts were submitted around the same time as the board indexing this am

[pugilist13]

Another highly entertaining game for most hockey folks where the Penguins played exactly the kind of game they want to play.

This This This This This

[Gaucho]

This This This This This is BS

[pugilist13]

This This This This This is BS

Yup, firewagon hockey,defense be damned. Good luck with that in the playoffs boys. This ain't the 90's.

[pcm]

The problems with the PK last night definitely looked to be on the forwards. Playing too passive, letting guys skate in, not laying down the body, not winning faceoffs. Tanner Glass looks like he's played for Vancouver for too many years.

Bennett ~ so fun to watch young kids gain their confidence and bring their game. Hopefully, he's soaring by the time the playoffs roll around.

[Lt. Dish]

Despres was beast.

Do you have the Beatles' White Album? Never mind, just bring me a cup of hot fat. And the head of Alfredo Garcia while you're at it.

[Gaucho]

This This This This This is BS

Yup, firewagon hockey,defense be damned. Good luck with that in the playoffs boys. This ain't the 90's.

It takes, to put it mildly, some serious arrogance to assume that being happy about a win and at the same time recognizing the team's deficiencies is mutually exclusive.

[no name]

Bennett really is looking like a good fit on that line, he does have good vision. Made a few real nice soft passes , one real nice one to Geno crashing the net.

[Gaucho]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

[penny lane]

2 points for the good, 1 to keep the flyers out of the play-offs.
I hope Evgeni is just sore today. Leave it to the filthy ex flyer to lead with elbow to push Gene into the boards.
Sid getting all of his extra skills back; the never stopping feet is what I noticed first about his play oh so long ago.

The difficult things I see opponents being worried about when playing the penguins are : their ability to score goals, power play, and Sid/Gene. I don't know what happen to the defense from the first couple of weeks. Defense is work and pain. They need someone who can inflict pain and/or thought of pain when parking themselves in front of Marc Andre Fleury.

Dear Pens do not overlook the islanders tonight!

[Froggy]

4th line summed up in one fell swoop on the Leafs 4th goal... 4th line has puck possession late in the game, skates into leafs zone. INSTEAD of getting the puck deep and trying to cycle, whomever it was decides to fire a low easy no screen shot that is kicked out by the goaltender with no problem. Leafs pickup the puck and go in transition the other way, tick tack toe goal. Complete and utter stupidity from the 4th line.

i disagree. the 4th line did more right offensively than they did bad defensively on that shift. they established possession, and got a decent scoring chance, and then later, a really just awful bounce led to the 4th goal. just because the result was bad doesn't mean the effort was bad.

[shmenguin]

Our 4th line was better than usual last night. Still nothing to write home about, but glass was delivering some big blows and they got caught in their own end less than expected.

[MRandall25]

What Foggy said. They did just about everything right. The only problem was a blocked shot by Paul Martin going right to Kessel's stick.

[penny lane]

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG
NYI coach Jack Capuano, assessing the Penguins: "They’re fast, they’re quick. They’ve got veteran guys. They don’t change a whole lot."

[farnham16]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

I'm happy they won of course. But I know for sure that if they continue to play like this they are going nowhere in the playoffs.

[Gaucho]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

I'm happy they won of course. But I know for sure that if they continue to play like this they are going nowhere in the playoffs.

We all know that. They even know it themselves.

[Lt. Dish]

I'm enjoying last night's win, for sure, as it's a win, but I admit being a bit ticked off that it had to go past regulation.

Like many, i'd like to see Despres and Vitale in the lineup with increasing frequency. But for now, I'd be happy with not having the 4th line out vs. top lines in crucial late-game situations--yes, this is preaching to the choir. But beyond "DB is clueless," has anyone offered a plausible rationale for why this would be intentional? Is he trying to give them confidence? Force them to raise their game? Beat reporters, do your jobs in the pressers!

Sure, throwing newbie Beau out on a 5-3 awhile back seemed to have boosted his confidence, but that's apple/oranges. Yeah, it would be nice if we could count on any line we have being able to neutralize any line the other guys have. But you can't make a relatively sub-par 4th line (imo, made a bit poorer by not having Vitale in) be something they're not.

[farnham16]

I'm enjoying last night's win, for sure, as it's a win, but I admit being a bit ticked off that it had to go past regulation.

Like many, i'd like to see Despres and Vitale in the lineup with increasing frequency. But for now, I'd be happy with not having the 4th line out vs. top lines in crucial late-game situations--yes, this is preaching to the choir. But beyond "DB is clueless," has anyone offered a plausible rationale for why this would be intentional? Is he trying to give them confidence? Force them to raise their game? Beat reporters, do your jobs in the pressers!

Sure, throwing newbie Beau out on a 5-3 awhile back seemed to have boosted his confidence, but that's apple/oranges. Yeah, it would be nice if we could count on any line we have being able to neutralize any line the other guys have. But you can't make a relatively sub-par 4th line (imo, made a bit poorer by not having Vitale in) be something they're not.

Having the fourth line out last night with under 5 mins left is a very questionable decision to make. Its even worse considering how many goals the Pens fourth line has been on the ice for this season.

[Lt. Dish]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

I'm happy they won of course. But I know for sure that if they continue to play like this they are going nowhere in the playoffs.

We all know that. They even know it themselves.

I don't remember the last time I've been so anxious for a trade deadline...

[farnham16]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

I'm happy they won of course. But I know for sure that if they continue to play like this they are going nowhere in the playoffs.

We all know that. They even know it themselves.

Yet, they keep playing pond hockey every single game. Its not just a weird strech of games. This is how they play now. 34 goals in the last 10 games. 25th in goals allowed. 3 goals given up per game now.

I enjoy them winning no matter what. I had a big smile on my face after Sid scored in the shootout. But for me theres nothing wrong with people debating and calling out the Pens for their horrible defensive efforts when we all know what result this kind of play is going to get them come playoff time.

[Gaucho]

I enjoy them winning no matter what. I had a big smile on my face after Sid scored in the shootout. But for me theres nothing wrong with people debating and calling out the Pens for their horrible defensive efforts when we all know what result this kind of play is going to get them come playoff time.

I don't disagree with this at all.

[murphydump55]

2 points for the good, 1 to keep the flyers out of the play-offs.
I hope Evgeni is just sore today. Leave it to the filthy ex flyer to lead with elbow to push Gene into the boards.
Sid getting all of his extra skills back; the never stopping feet is what I noticed first about his play oh so long ago.

The difficult things I see opponents being worried about when playing the penguins are : their ability to score goals, power play, and Sid/Gene. I don't know what happen to the defense from the first couple of weeks. Defense is work and pain. They need someone who can inflict pain and/or thought of pain when parking themselves in front of Marc Andre Fleury.

Dear Pens do not overlook the islanders tonight!

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Sports/Highlig ... 341836536/

If that's an elbow, I'll eat my shorts. It might be the furthest thing from an elbow! Time to lose the Pens vision and see the game for what it is. Malkin got hit clean, simple as that.

If he had moved the puck instead of trying to skate it out of the zone with a guy on him, this may not have happened.

[Gaucho]

Looked clean to me.

[murphydump55]

The Pens have won 4 in a row, including wins in Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto. I thank my stars I'm not so miserable as to deny myself taking a little pleasure from that.

I'm happy they won of course. But I know for sure that if they continue to play like this they are going nowhere in the playoffs.

Shhhh, many people get mad when you say things like this. You're supposed to enjoy the win and take note that they've won 4 games in a row. We're not the Leafs, we're not just happy to make the playoffs, we want to go somewhere in the playoffs! Playing as we are now will take us nowhere come the post-season.

We proved that last year.

Here's some simple remedies for a couple problems we're having.

1. Scratch Tanner Glass - he's bringing nothing 5 on 5, or on the PK

2. Dress Joe Vitale - he can win draws on the PK and provides speed and a spark at even strength. He's our BEST FACEOFF man % wise!

3. Address the PK - the players we're using aren't working! Vitale, Sid, and Sutter should be taking the draws. Not Glass, not Adams. Start clearing guys from in front of the net. Was it not clear enough last night after Fleury kept letting in shots where he was screened as we ignored the Leafs player?

4. Dress Despres - EVERY GAME. No excuses to not have him and Vitale in the lineup every game.

5. Lastly, just HIT someone in our zone. Teams have free reign in our slot and high slot. We feather dust and wand wave, trying to knock the puck free and take off up the ice. Stand someone up! Play the body, impede their path, and stop poke checking and playing so soft.

I won't even talk about the PP, that's a whole other subject. These are 5 simple things that would greatly improve the areas we're struggling in! How Bylsma ignores this game after game is absolutely asinine.

edit: Btw Warren Peters is sitting in WBS, having NHL experience and an almost 60% success rate on faceoffs for the Wild last season. You want to address your PK woes? Here's a guy that might help, or at least light a fire under the guys that are failing.

[murphydump55]

Looked clean to me.

It couldn't get any cleaner. His elbow was almost at his hip! LOL