Mar 14, 2013 - Penguins @ Maple Leafs Official GDT

[Kovy27]

anyone seen murphydump55?? Bylsma had to do something wrong to piss him off right??

Busy blaming America now.

[Digitalgypsy66]

Man, Linda Ronstadt can sing. Forgot about her.

[RxBandit66]

Am I alone thinking this was a solid team game even if we didn't win? I'd rather lose 1-0 playing a fundamentally sound game in regards to team defense than win a joke of a game we did last time.

There were good things tonight and vs the bruins. I'd like to see some goals earlier but add Malkin and maybe this isn't close?

Well, I'd also rather lose 1-0 in a fundamentally sound game as long as my team was creating scoring chances. In each of the past two games, the opposing goaltenders played well, and the Pens hit a few goal posts and didn't have much puck luck. Of course, when you outshoot a team by a 2-1 margin like they did to Boston, puck luck will eventually go your way.

If they stick to the formula and don't "lose their heads" these things will work themselves out. Patience paid off the past two games. Hard work can often trump talent, but having talent and a good work ethic is nearly unbeatable. The Pens don't always get this right, but they have been lately. An occasional 7-6 or 5-4 game will happen. It just shouldn't be the norm.

[MrBrightside]

According to Elias: The Penguins are the first team in NHL history to win consecutive regular-season games in regulation time after trailing while being shut out entering the third period in each game.

[PensFanInDC]

According to Elias: The Penguins are the first team in NHL history to win consecutive regular-season games in regulation time after trailing while being shut out entering the third period in each game.

...on a Thursday in March when the temperature is above 35 degrees and the pope is from Argentina

[murphydump55]

anyone seen murphydump55?? Bylsma had to do something wrong to piss him off right??

I'm right here cocky one. I was at the game last night, sorry to disappoint you with no posts.

Great win, great comeback and beautiful silence from the loser Leaf fans. MAF was spectacular last night and held us in it. For the most part it was a pretty quiet, low energy game, but I'll take it.

Bylsma again refuses to abandon the stretch pass and it resulted in a ton of icing calls. It doesn't have to stop, but it has to be at least cut back a bit. Toronto carried the pick through the neutral zone with ease and gained our zone many times. We rarely did that, it's always the stretch pass to a chip and we rarely won the race for it.

The fans were all chirping Sid, until of course he set up the tying goal. I asked the guys behind me to keep yelling at him because he plays better then.

Oh and our power play is a beauty. Watching it live was even worse haha. Just shambles, disorganized and full of poor decisions.

[The Snapshot]

Bylsma again refuses to abandon the stretch pass and it resulted in a ton of icing calls. It doesn't have to stop, but it has to be at least cut back a bit. Toronto carried the pick through the neutral zone with ease and gained our zone many times. We rarely did that, it's always the stretch pass to a chip and we rarely won the race for it.

Oh and our power play is a beauty. Watching it live was even worse haha. Just shambles, disorganized and full of poor decisions.

The stretch pass is here to stay. They want to establish a forecheck and it get the opponent's D turning their backs to retrieve with minimal effort. If there is a time when it doesn't work because of an icing call, then perhaps that is a poor decision or pass by the D? They just beat a bunch of good teams by scoring big time goals, and you think the stretch pass is an issue?

The "system" is a conglomeration of a bunch of situational pacifiers for every team. You can adjust certain areas here and there, but when you mess with some things you may have more negative outcomes than positive. The stretch pass if executed well is an easy way to flip the ice, and to defend it creates gap no matter what - and gap is genrally good for the Pens. The amount of faceoffs from icing is usually countered by the wearing down of the opponent's D. Winning the race is not the only positive outcome.

In terms of the PP, it has been pretty successful and the Leafs and Bruins were very aggressive in taking away space. The Pens were not crisp with the passes though, and every slight bobble was pounced on by the Leafs. I am not concerned about the PP at this point. Not everyone has the quickness on the PK that the Bs and Leafs have.

[murphydump55]

Bylsma again refuses to abandon the stretch pass and it resulted in a ton of icing calls. It doesn't have to stop, but it has to be at least cut back a bit. Toronto carried the pick through the neutral zone with ease and gained our zone many times. We rarely did that, it's always the stretch pass to a chip and we rarely won the race for it.

Oh and our power play is a beauty. Watching it live was even worse haha. Just shambles, disorganized and full of poor decisions.

The stretch pass is here to stay. They want to establish a forecheck and it get the opponent's D turning their backs to retrieve with minimal effort. If there is a time when it doesn't work because of an icing call, then perhaps that is a poor decision or pass by the D? They just beat a bunch of good teams by scoring big time goals, and you think the stretch pass is an issue?

The "system" is a conglomeration of a bunch of situational pacifiers for every team. You can adjust certain areas here and there, but when you mess with some things you may have more negative outcomes than positive. The stretch pass if executed well is an easy way to flip the ice, and to defend it creates gap no matter what - and gap is genrally good for the Pens. The amount of faceoffs from icing is usually countered by the wearing down of the opponent's D. Winning the race is not the only positive outcome.

In terms of the PP, it has been pretty successful and the Leafs and Bruins were very aggressive in taking away space. The Pens were not crisp with the passes though, and every slight bobble was pounced on by the Leafs. I am not concerned about the PP at this point. Not everyone has the quickness on the PK that the Bs and Leafs have.

Agree to an extent, moreso about the PP. We just seemed to whif and fan on a lot of pucks last night which didn't help the issue.

As for the stretch pass, I don't see the emphasis on having puck moving defensemen when we don't utilize them to their strengths. Although Letang does take advantage every so often by skating it. It just drives me nuts when teams give our D room to skate and instead they stand still and force a stretch pass. If we employed a hybrid system where the d read and reacted it might be effective. If its there, stretch it, if it's not, dont force it and skate it up.

As much as Sid says we're not dangerous on the rush, I disagree. I think we're very dangerous on the rush and just as dangerous on the cycle. I'd like to see us take advantage of both.

[RxBandit66]

According to Elias: The Penguins are the first team in NHL history to win consecutive regular-season games in regulation time after trailing while being shut out entering the third period in each game.

Wow, it's so odd that this hasn't happened before.

[mikey287]

I find that hard to believe considering some of the low-scoring eras in the golden era of the NHL...but I won't question Elias...

Impersonating Howard Cosell: Interesting, if true.

[TheHammer24]

Nobody puts Baby in a corner, and nobody puts Duper on the 3rd line. Duper making a statement to stay on the 1st line.

It would be absolutely insane to break up that line. Iginla >>>>> Dupuis + Kunitz, but the Crosby line quintessentially shows sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. None of those players produce the same on other lines.