Thoughts from the Morning After - Game 2 vs Philly

[Penspal]

Pens lose 5-2

- A better game, but with the same result. Getting down by 3 that early is the best recipe for a slow cooked loss
- Can't be good for Jarry mentally, his stats are rancid... but most were not his fault. DeSmith on the other hand, was great in relief
- Outside of the 3rd line, we've seen a few flashes from line 1, but that's it. More shakeups coming & I would suggest Bluegar see more more minutes? Paging KK, plz report to the 1st line.
- How about Chad! How many times was he in a scoring position last night or getting it on net. He deserves to stay for next game.
- Pens speed was more evident this game. Getting to loose pucks, breaking away from back checkers (Some was Philly protecting lead). Looking forward to facing slower team (like Caps
- Dumo is starting to show that he remembers how good he can be. Marino is really looking confident (sometimes maybe too much Letang.... yikes
- How about that third line? Turbo and Jank are something else. Love how Jank just throws it in the soft areas and Turbo zips through with glue on blade. McCann fits too, but he's just all effort.
- Pen took too many penalties, that's obvious. One I didn't mind, after seeing McCann get roughed up, you gotta stick up for yourself. Too flagrant for sure, but get that hit in that you owe
- Outside the McCann penalty, the rest were hot garbage. Refs missed some on Philly too and imho, refs are also showing some signs of early season (no pre-season) decision making.
- Couldn't bring myself to say so in TFTMA post 1, but today I cannot go without saying the the Flyers are a quality club, and they will be very tough to beat this year
- Hart was great. Can't say he stole the game, but he made a couple more stops through traffic than Jarry did on both nights.

[murphydump55]

Your leader in ice time 5v5 after two games?

Evan Rodrigues

None of this is his fault. He’s being played where he shouldn’t and more than he should. You can’t get mad at him, but you can at the coaching staff.

[Southern Fan]

Flyers are a really good team that take advantage of their moments, have a good goalie, and are well coached. They were outplayed last night but still looked like they controlled the outcome the whole way. Pens need a bigger sample size to determine what they are all about. But...

Thank god Crosby’s winger has cleared protocol. Fast and unskilled doesn’t work Evan.

Rust and Zucker need an effective center.

Number 1 defense pairing need to apologize to Jarry. Looked like the defense settled in after the horrible start and goalie change.

Jarry and the defense need to figure out how to clear a puck after the initial save.

[Ericf]

We’re going to be giving Minnesota a top 3 pick in the 2021 draft right behind Detroit and Chicago...

[KG]

McCann meeting with player safety today over his stupid elbow.

Short season. Tough division. Going to be very challenging to make the playoffs this year. Wonder what ownership is thinking. If they lose tomorrow to the Caps. 0-3 . No bueno.

[FLPensFan]

Sorry to sound like a whiny, pessimistic bandwagon fan here but, quite honestly....I'm tired of the everlasting string of excuses from this team.

When you are touting hot goalies and bad puck luck 3 years in a row, there is a serious issue.

The Flyers are a good team. The Penguins are supposed to be, too. And just like the past 2 years, the Penguins continue to play about 40 minutes of hockey a game and blame it on hot goalies, puck luck and execution.

The Flyers had the same delay the Penguins had. Roughly same short camp. The Penguins have a few more new players to integrate, but if you cant do that quickly, then I guess you shouldn't be having that much roster turnover.

This team will get better. It's only 2 games. But the excuses are running on 3 years. They are as worn out as Sid's basement dryer at this point. Stop with the words and start with the actions on the ice.

[sjnhiils]

Flyers are a really good team that take advantage of their moments, have a good goalie, and are well coached. They were outplayed last night but still looked like they controlled the outcome the whole way. Pens need a bigger sample size to determine what they are all about. But...

Thank god Crosby’s winger has cleared protocol. Fast and unskilled doesn’t work Evan.

Rust and Zucker need an effective center.

Number 1 defense pairing need to apologize to Jarry. Looked like the defense settled in after the horrible start and goalie change.

Jarry and the defense need to figure out how to clear a puck after the initial save.

Kapanen will be an upgrade over Rodriques. Just how much of a "skilled" one remains to be seen. The pk should at least be better.

[penny lane]

They had to be at practice early today. Probably to remind them of a Noon start for Sunday.
Body language; I think Sullivan could be the first penguin coach who gives up on the them.

The caps; they'll get us .500!

[FLPensFan]

O'Connor rotating with Jared McCann on 3rd line. Sounds like Penguins are expecting McCann to get a suspension for the elbow last night. Kapanen is not practicing, which means it is highly doubtful he plays tomorrow, with it being a noon start. Sullivan isn't going to play him without getting in at least one on ice practice.

UPDATE: Sullivan says Kapanen has taken his final COVID test today. Results due back today. If it is negative, he is free to join the team. Sullivan wouldn't commit to Kapanen playing or not, basically saying we will wait for the test and then make a decision.

[RisslingsMissingTeeth]

After 2 games I'm still struggling to make out what exactly it is that is hurting us. One glaring problem is Letang who is out of position almost permanently and gives the puck away every chance he can. Jarry just not sharp but we're not losing because of the goalie.

We're getting chances. That Marino pass to Zucker which he, naturally, didn't score on, was just amazing.

After 2 games I am thinking thumbs down on Rust, Geno, Rodrigues, Sceviour and Lafferty. Need ZAR back for the 4th line. A semi thumbs down for Guentzel who really has muffed a lot of chances and is losing puck battles. Letang I would outright bench but I would've gotten rid of him 2 years ago so that is no surprise.

Thumbs up for Marino and Ruhwedel and the entire 3rd line in particular. Caps may really kill us so let's see what we get tomorrow.

[murphydump55]

Ruhwedel continues to prove that he might be able to hold down that 6th spot, it's too bad he'll never get the opportunity full time with Sullivan at the helm. The guy was unbelievable last night. Since 2017, Ruhwedel has a 51.55 CF%, ranking 4th of ALL defensemen to play for the Pens during that time. (For reference, Johnson is dead last and Letang is 1st.) His expected GF% is also above 50% during this time. His on ice SH% is quite low over this time when compared to others, leading me to believe that a lot of bad luck has crept in. Has he been sheltered? Yes, but that's what you do with your 3rd pairings more often than not. The point here is that Ruhwedel gets the job done when he gets a chance. A large number of his metrics are in the positive.

Chad should be playing until proven otherwise.

Jarry has to be better. Many will say that the goals were not his fault, but when you have a .710 save% and 7.57 GAA through 2 games, he can't be completely absolved. There are going to be breakdowns, there are going to be errors made, but that's what you pay your goaltender to do....bail you out. Sure he won't stop every single breakdown or turnover, but he needs to stop a few. That hasn't happened. Yes he was screened on a few, but when Murray was screened, some were shouting that it's his job to battle through and find a view. The same goes for Jarry. Hats off to DeSmith, he entered this game having not been in the NHL since 2019 and immediately stopped a breakaway for his first shot and gave his team a chance to win. If Jarry or DeSmith can't give this team at minimum league average goaltending, then nothing else matters. People are getting their wish with him in the starting role and now we have to roll with it. I think he'll find his way, but there's going to be a lot of bumps along the way.

People need to lay off Rodrigues personally. Stop slagging him, stop complaining about his play, etc. He's NOT a top 6 player, especially not a 1st line player playing with two high level talents. That's not his game. Yes he had a little run with Eichel, but there's a reason he didn't stay in that role. It's not his fault he's been put in the top 6. It's not his fault that Sullivan keeps trotting him out there with more minutes than he should get. It's not his fault he's on Sid's wing. This is on the coaching staff. Rodrigues is being crammed into a role that he's not meant for and that's not his fault. He's a serviceable player for bottom 6, mostly 4th line. I think we'll see an effective player when he's slotted propertly. The hate for this guy is ridiculous when it's not his fault.

3rd line - Not much more to say than wow. I don't think you can move Tanev back to the 4th line when the team is healthy. Jankowski looks much more confident and engaged than he did last year in Calgary. McCann is shooting the puck and flying like he was when he came over and Tanev is complimenting the two of them with his crash and bang play, not to mention his speed. Having these two provide outside speed is making up for Jankowski's lack thereof. Keep it the same.

Sceviour should be out when healthy. Let Blueger play with ZAR and Rodrigues and see what happens. Sceviour is just vanilla.

I picked up some milk today, finally saw Malkin. This team needs to eliminate the meltdowns. They'll look great 5 on 5 and then just breakdown completely and give up a goal or two. Philly is a good team, but you'd hope by losing the defending Selke winner that the Pens could get something going and take the second game. Unfortunately Tanev's bad pass killed that chance.

[FLPensFan]

McCann received the maximum allowed fine of 10K for his elbow. No suspension.

[Penguins Knight]

Negatives from the previous season have carried over and have not been resolved. Missing are goals scored and games won. Present are shots not finishing in the net for goals scored, finesse passing, giveaways, skaters invisible/no show to play/floating and coasting, goaltending lacking presence, lack of urgency, and coaching in need to be coached in how to coach. If the Penguins can find what all is missing and resolve the issues that are present, they will win.

[Penspal]

Chad should be playing until proven otherwise. Yurp, so few defenseman are playing good, Chad is, keep him in.

People need to lay off Rodrigues personally. Stop slagging him, stop complaining about his play, etc. He's NOT a top 6 player, especially not a 1st line player playing with two high level talents. That's not his game. Yes he had a little run with Eichel, but there's a reason he didn't stay in that role. It's not his fault he's been put in the top 6. It's not his fault that Sullivan keeps trotting him out there with more minutes than he should get. It's not his fault he's on Sid's wing. This is on the coaching staff. Rodrigues is being crammed into a role that he's not meant for and that's not his fault. He's a serviceable player for bottom 6, mostly 4th line. I think we'll see an effective player when he's slotted propertly. The hate for this guy is ridiculous when it's not his fault. Yurp, well said and the open minded Pens fan should put this in the back of their mind and let it play out over a few games. The emo/always right crowd though.... they gotta have their scapegoat.

3rd line - Not much more to say than wow. I don't think you can move Tanev back to the 4th line when the team is healthy. Jankowski looks much more confident and engaged than he did last year in Calgary. McCann is shooting the puck and flying like he was when he came over and Tanev is complimenting the two of them with his crash and bang play, not to mention his speed. Having these two provide outside speed is making up for Jankowski's lack thereof. Keep it the same. How bad would things look right now without these guys giving the team life and production?

Sceviour is just vanilla. I really didn't like his first couple periods, but now he's showing me a little of the "Craig Adams go through the wall" mentality. Its a 4th line skill, more playoff valuable, but I'd give him a few more games to see what else he has. Thought I saw some actual sandpaper and grit when he bumped a couple guys on the same shift last game.

I picked up some milk today, finally saw Malkin. This made me lol and spit coffee on my keyboard, thank you! And its true btw, which sorta makes me

[penny lane]

Josh Yohe reporting that Casey DeSmith starts today. Good luck to him, they need a victory.