Games 29 & 30 Rags/Bruins - Thoughts from the morning after

[Penspal]

Pens win 3-0 over Rags, 2-1 over Bruins

- Apologies for missing out Sunday morning, late night bday celebrations made posting impossible
- Consecutive victories make NINE in a row. With a total of 30 games played, that one hell of a run.
- MAF/Vokoun impressive. Great goaltending wins games, right now they both are solid
- Paul Martin has to be the Pens comeback player of the year, two great games, one close to 30 mins with Letang out
- Letang being out will hurt, but opportunity for Despres to gain additional experience. Any deserving callups????
- Vitale finally gets a bone. He was overdue and it was the kind you'd expect Sid/Geno to score. Love his honest answer - ".. lucky.."
- Pens #1 line is the best line the Pens have had since Straka - Lang- Kovalev. Sid, Duper, Kunitz each brings something that causes confusion, and they simplify and capitalize
- Kunitz rushes with puck and speed has really impressed. I think he's always been good at doing it, he's just buried deep down on the Pens as a puck mover
- Crosby battled with Chara early on and caught him with a solid hit knocking him to one knee. How strong is Sid? Fully believe he's playing his best hockey ever.
- looking back over the streak and at some of the games.... tons of puck luck, thank you hockey gods.

[Shakes]

Pens win 3-0 over Rags, 2-1 over Bruins

- Apologies for missing out Sunday morning, late night bday celebrations made posting impossible
- Consecutive victories make NINE in a row. With a total of 30 games played, that one hell of a run.
- MAF/Vokoun impressive. Great goaltending wins games, right now they both are solid
- Paul Martin has to be the Pens comeback player of the year, two great games, one close to 30 mins with Letang out
- Letang being out will hurt, but opportunity for Despres to gain additional experience. Any deserving callups????
- Vitale finally gets a bone. He was overdue and it was the kind you'd expect Sid/Geno to score. Love his honest answer - ".. lucky.."
- Pens #1 line is the best line the Pens have had since Straka - Lang- Kovalev. Sid, Duper, Kunitz each brings something that causes confusion, and they simplify and capitalize
- Kunitz rushes with puck and speed has really impressed. I think he's always been good at doing it, he's just buried deep down on the Pens as a puck mover
- Crosby battled with Chara early on and caught him with a solid hit knocking him to one knee. How strong is Sid? Fully believe he's playing his best hockey ever.
- looking back over the streak and at some of the games.... tons of puck luck, thank you hockey gods.

To me, PM was the 1st star yesterday. He played half the game and put on a defensive clinic.

Spoiler:

In before "peaking too early" talk

[Digitalgypsy66]

I thought Orpik played an inspired brand of hockey for most of the Bruins game. Physical, blocking shots (leads the league!), and even an assist. Maybe he needs more minutes to get engaged in the game? At any rate, good to see him step up in Letang's absence.

Enjoyed the work of the fourth line, even without scoring. Good cycling and board work.

Man, I wish Sid had scored after splitting Lurch and Boychuk. Really sweet move and SO close.

[sil]

Pierre made mention during the game, but Niskanen was another who had a pretty solid game, especially in Letang's absense. When the B's had that Lucic line out, they gave him fits and caused some trouble on the forecheck, but other than those few forced turnovers/errors, Nisky had a stellar game. His breakouts were fantastic.

[sil]

It's really too bad Sid didn't cash in on that play he made to get around McDonough on Saturday. McD gets some major hype as one of the better shutdown D-men in the league, and Sid basically made him look silly on that play.

[Penspal]

It's really too bad Sid didn't cash in on that play he made to get around McDonough on Saturday. McD gets some major hype as one of the better shutdown D-men in the league, and Sid basically made him look silly on that play.

Right now, Sid with speed and 2 seconds of decision time, everyone is looking silly.

[penny lane]

Belated birthday wishes!

It is great that all lines are producing points.
Yesterday and last tuesday, I am shocked that P Bergeron played quiet games. He usually is a given to score points against the pens.
B Sutter with that sweet move from the corner to in front of Trask; that would have been a sweet goal.
The five defensemen deserve a star for maintaining the level of play. Brooks & Martin were very good.

It doesn't get easy for them, but again, last week's schedule was full of traps ; came through with all points!

Maybe tomorrow work on face offs~ per Pierre and Edzo.
Quick healing vibes to Kristopher Letang.

[Pitt87]

Injury bug is biting, but sitting on top of the league right now, and winning in a lot of different ways. Thats what good teams do; win despite their issues.

[SoupOrSam]

Spoiler:

Lol. Love watching that after a Bs loss.

[Shakes]

Belated birthday wishes!

It is great that all lines are producing points.
Yesterday and last tuesday, I am shocked that P Bergeron played quiet games. He usually is a given to score points against the pens.
B Sutter with that sweet move from the corner to in front of Trask; that would have been a sweet goal.
The five defensemen deserve a star for maintaining the level of play. Brooks & Martin were very good.

It doesn't get easy for them, but again, last week's schedule was full of traps ; came through with all points!

Maybe tomorrow work on face offs~ per Pierre and Edzo.
Quick healing vibes to Kristopher Letang.

It's fun to watch the faceoff chess match between Bergeron and Sid. He killed Sid last week, but Sid took 5 of 8 against him yesterday, including that clear on the PK that caught Bergy off guard and sent Pierre into spasms.

"He's not gonna let that happen often, is he, Edzo?

[Kaizer]

my thoughts: there are a lot less new threads this week.

[Steve Dave]

Spoiler:

Lol. Love watching that after a Bs loss.

Looks like Julien should lay off those Dunkin' Donuts.

[Penspal]

Couple of other thoughts have come to mind...

- Brooks taking the shot off the visor... talk about coincidence and good luck.
- Sutter is consistently creating good scoring chances using his speed & shot, a couple of shorties would do wonders for the PK (be seen as a threat to score shorties)
- TK had a good game vs. Rags, he was due

[slipshod]

I disagree (with Vitale) that his goal was luck. The dude earned that goal with hustle. If he somehow develops hands (similar to how Dupes has improved) he could be deadly. Always looks like the fastest guy on the ice by a large margin and a non-stop motor.

[Pavel Bure]

Sutter did not look good in the B's game had at least 3 boneheaded give aways. And the line of Cooke, Sutter, Kennedy has zero chemistry.

[shafnutz05]

I disagree (with Vitale) that his goal was luck. The dude earned that goal with hustle. If he somehow develops hands (similar to how Dupes has improved) he could be deadly. Always looks like the fastest guy on the ice by a large margin and a non-stop motor.

This. I'm amazed at how often he beats defenders flying down the side boards. His hands aren't really terrible, as I've noticed his puck possession (especially during the aforementioned rushes). Just needs a bit of a scoring touch (and of course, having Tanner Glass on your line isn't exactly a recipe for goals).

[bh]

Sutter did not look good in the B's game had at least 3 boneheaded give aways. And the line of Cooke, Sutter, Kennedy has zero chemistry.

I noticed this as well. He looks like he has some swagger on offense but he had a few head scratchers in his own end yesterday.

[Gaucho]

Spoiler:

Lol. Love watching that after a Bs loss.

Never seen it before, thanks.

[IntangibleBeer]

Spoiler:

Lol. Love watching that after a Bs loss.

This was great. Especially showing Marchand - Mr. Slewfoot.

So Claude Julien, how much fried chicken can you eat?

[Luckybreak]

-Belated Happy Bday Penspal!
-Sid throwing his weight around, 1st line all stepped up with some big hits on the forecheck.
-Bennett playing strong on his skates, very good board work and puck protection from the youngster.
-Sutter's was the only line the B's seemed to get chances on. TK playing much better but the chemistry just isn't there.
-WELL DONE VITALE! He earns every point and scored a beauty! Cue 'Get Vitale a Wing' thread...
-4th line played some much improved hockey, if only Glass and Adams could keep up with JV that line could do so much more damage.
-Whole team playing D like when Sid n Geno were both out, love the commitment - props to Disco.

[largegarlic]

I was lucky enough to go to both games this weekend. Here are my thoughts...

1.) The Rangers looked flat and disinterested. Even though it was 1-0 until the 3rd period, it never felt like the Rangers were a serious threat to win the game. The Pens certainly deserve some credit for that, but they really didn't look like a playoff team.

2.) Neal really misses Malkin. It's abundantly clear at this point that Neal can't create scoring opportunities for himself and needs a high-end center to draw defensive coverage and serve up passes on a platter. Nothing wrong with this, but it would be nice if it weren't the case.

3.) Bennett looks adequate out there and certainly has potential, but I'm not sure he's good enough right now to play a top-6 role during a Cup run. He's stronger on the puck and much better on the boards than I expected, but still loses a fair number of physical battles. Similarly, his decision making under pressure is better than I expected, but still struggles a bit when time and space are really limited (like they were yesterday by the Bruins).

4.) Eaton also looks adequate, but barely. He's obviously getting the job done, but from my vantage point looked to be on the verge of getting beat on a regular basis. I guess you can't complain if he doesn't actually get beat too often, but it also makes me wonder if he'll be good enough to be playing as many minutes during a Cup run.

5.) Martin looked really good.

6.) The Bruins had lots of possession and offensive zone time yesterday, but I thought the Pens did a reasonably good job of keeping them to the outside and limiting prime scoring chances in close.

[The Snapshot]

Bennett's one touch pass to Jeffrey at the opposite blueline was just an amazing showcase of his vision and passing ability. Should have been a breakaway, and if you replace Jeffrey with Malkin that would have been. There was another play a few games back where he saucered a pass from the right boards just across our own blueline and landed it flat - prefectly leading Malkin into space behind the D. This kid is special.

I am so jazzed on his potential. He plays and works HARD yet he has such a mellow Cali personality off the ice. I think that is the perfect combination for this team and for him to be a very good one.

There are two other players on this team that would have read those two plays that way AND had the touch to make those passes. They would be Malkin and Crosby.

[Idoit40fans]

And Tyler Kennedy.

[The Snapshot]

2.) Neal really misses Malkin. It's abundantly clear at this point that Neal can't create scoring opportunities for himself and needs a high-end center to draw defensive coverage and serve up passes on a platter. Nothing wrong with this, but it would be nice if it weren't the case.

3.) Bennett looks adequate out there and certainly has potential, but I'm not sure he's good enough right now to play a top-6 role during a Cup run. He's stronger on the puck and much better on the boards than I expected, but still loses a fair number of physical battles. Similarly, his decision making under pressure is better than I expected, but still struggles a bit when time and space are really limited (like they were yesterday by the Bruins).

4.) Eaton also looks adequate, but barely. He's obviously getting the job done, but from my vantage point looked to be on the verge of getting beat on a regular basis. I guess you can't complain if he doesn't actually get beat too often, but it also makes me wonder if he'll be good enough to be playing as many minutes during a Cup run.

5.) Martin looked really good.
.

I was at both as well, and to the points above - Yes, NO, No and Yes.

I have no idea what you are talking about with Bennett. He made a pass to Jeffrey at the opposite blueline on a single touch on the off-boards that was an absolute laser right on his tape. He made a superstar level decision there. He is easily one of our best defensive forward at this point. He is surgical with his stick, always getting a piece and separating pucks, sometimes outright picking them clean. He had not been overmatched in the corners at all.

As much as I made fun of the pick-up of Eaton, he has had a huge impact on the D.

[Idoit40fans]

I'm not sure how you can be "on the verge of getting beat" on a regular basis. When you're a defender in the NHL, you're either getting beat or you're not. You are always a half step from being undressed. If its not happening, you're doing your job.