Emergency GDT Pens vs Islanders (take II)

[smoothmoneyb]

I remember my first 2 game losing streak.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is worse reaction than the 6 game streak

Two ugly losses in a row to the Islanders might be worse than the 6 game losing streak.

Thanks for proving my point.

Just pointing out that it's how they lost, who they lost to, and the circumstances surrounding the loss (opportunity to take 1st seed) that make this a bit worse than any other two game losing streak. It's also losing 3 out of the last 4, and not really playing well in that one win either. Just saying..

[MRandall25]

DM reports Sid is still bleeding from his nose, but no stitches needed.

He's still bleeding after 2 hours?

Either that or he bumped it taking off his jersey after the game (I don't have a feed, so I don't know if it was bleeding when he came back)?

[llipgh2]

DM reports Sid is still bleeding from his nose, but no stitches needed.

He's still bleeding after 2 hours?

If he broke his nose I wouldn't doubt it.

If it is a nosebleed, yes. But since he said no stitches, I assumed it was a cut.

[Bioshock]

DM reports Sid is still bleeding from his nose, but no stitches needed.

He's still bleeding after 2 hours?

If he broke his nose I wouldn't doubt it.

Yep, he was breathing with his mouth open the whole rest of the game. Looked like Geno, lol.

[penny lane]

letang was trending on twitter in pgh...

Sid sounds like his nose is broke; hope it doesn't swell up too much.

[MRandall25]

I remember my first 2 game losing streak.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is worse reaction than the 6 game streak

Two ugly losses in a row to the Islanders might be worse than the 6 game losing streak.

Thanks for proving my point.

Just pointing out that it's how they lost, who they lost to, and the circumstances surrounding the last (opportunity to take 1st seed) that make this a bit worse than any other two game losing streak. It's also losing 3 out of the last 4, and not really playing well in that one win either. Just saying..

The Blue Jackets beat the Wings last night.

Any team can win or lose on any given night. That's why they play the games...

In the long run, these last two games are nowhere near the 6 game losing streak in terms of affecting things down the stretch. They're professionals. They can shake it off.

Also, what does it matter if they get 1st or 8th? As a fan, as long as they make the playoffs, I'm happy. You guys have your expectations WAAAAAYYYY too high, then when something small (like a loss or a bad game) happens, it's like the end of the world. Every time.

Lower your expectations a little bit. Enjoy the game. Watch the sport because you love it. Remind yourself that you have no effect on the game whatsoever. You'll have a much better time watching the games and you won't feel like crap when it doesn't go their way.

[Henry Hank]

I think it's just more the way they're playing. If they won the last two games 8-4 I'd have just as much concern. They're giving up an alarming number of goals and they're going to get burned in the playoffs if they don't get away from playing this way very soon. They've got a really tough first round match-up and they've been heading in the wrong direction. It's not panic, it's just concern for the way the team is looking. They've gotten away from what made them good while Sid was out. Not just one or two losses.

[CERV96]

letang was trending on twitter in pgh...

Sid sounds like his nose is broke; hope it doesn't swell up too much.

Like this?

[smoothmoneyb]

I'm honestly not too worried about it. I'm also still able to see the positive side of things (great season, likely Hart winner, upcoming playoffs, finally healthy team, Dupuis point steak) so no bridge jumping here. But I disagree that it doesn't really matter what seed they end up with. Reading through some of theses posts, I can see that it has already been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not going to repeat every point. But I'm sure the players want the higher seed, and I'd imagine ownership does as well. (More home playoff games=more revenue right?) Playing at home is a huge advantage, and as has already been discussed, playing washington in the 1st round would be highly preferable to playing Philly. I don't even think that's debatable. Finishing 4th means having to go through Philly then most likely NY and/or Boston which is not an easy route to have to take.

[MRandall25]

I'm honestly not really too worried about it. I'm also still able to see the positive side of things (great season, likely Hart winner, upcoming playoffs, finally healthy team, Dupuis point steak) so no bridge jumping here. But I disagree that it doesn't really matter what seed they end up with. Reading through some of theses posts, I can see that it has already been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not going to repeat every point. But I'm sure the players want the higher seed, and I'd imagine ownership does as well. (More home playoff games=more revenue right?) Playing at home is a huge advantage, and as has already been discussed, playing washington in the 1st round would be highly preferable to playing Philly. I don't even think that's debatable. Finishing 4th means having to go through Philly then NY and/or Boston which is not an easy route to have to take.

James Neal: "We don't care about that (catching the Rangers). We just need to find our game."

Seems like people here care more than they do.

[duke66]

The Blue Jackets beat the Wings last night.

Any team can win or lose on any given night. That's why they play the games...

In the long run, these last two games are nowhere near the 6 game losing streak in terms of affecting things down the stretch. They're professionals. They can shake it off.

Also, what does it matter if they get 1st or 8th? As a fan, as long as they make the playoffs, I'm happy. You guys have your expectations WAAAAAYYYY too high, then when something small (like a loss or a bad game) happens, it's like the end of the world. Every time.

Lower your expectations a little bit. Enjoy the game. Watch the sport because you love it. Remind yourself that you have no effect on the game whatsoever. You'll have a much better time watching the games and you won't feel like crap when it doesn't go their way.

well said. although i do still have pretty high expectations for this team. we'll see how it plays out over the next 10+ weeks!!

[smoothmoneyb]

I'm honestly not really too worried about it. I'm also still able to see the positive side of things (great season, likely Hart winner, upcoming playoffs, finally healthy team, Dupuis point steak) so no bridge jumping here. But I disagree that it doesn't really matter what seed they end up with. Reading through some of theses posts, I can see that it has already been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not going to repeat every point. But I'm sure the players want the higher seed, and I'd imagine ownership does as well. (More home playoff games=more revenue right?) Playing at home is a huge advantage, and as has already been discussed, playing washington in the 1st round would be highly preferable to playing Philly. I don't even think that's debatable. Finishing 4th means having to go through Philly then NY and/or Boston which is not an easy route to have to take.

James Neal: "We don't care about that (catching the Rangers). We just need to find our game."

Seems like people here care more than they do.

Well regardless of how all of the players feel, or say that they feel about it, the one thing that we can all agree on is that they definitely need to find their game.

[Staggy]

Wow, remind me to never read the boards on espn.com again

[MRandall25]

Wow, remind me to never read the boards on espn.com again

I highly doubt they're worse than Yahoo Puck Daddy boards.

[smoothmoneyb]

I'm honestly not really too worried about it. I'm also still able to see the positive side of things (great season, likely Hart winner, upcoming playoffs, finally healthy team, Dupuis point steak) so no bridge jumping here. But I disagree that it doesn't really matter what seed they end up with. Reading through some of theses posts, I can see that it has already been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not going to repeat every point. But I'm sure the players want the higher seed, and I'd imagine ownership does as well. (More home playoff games=more revenue right?) Playing at home is a huge advantage, and as has already been discussed, playing washington in the 1st round would be highly preferable to playing Philly. I don't even think that's debatable. Finishing 4th means having to go through Philly then NY and/or Boston which is not an easy route to have to take.

James Neal: "We don't care about that (catching the Rangers). We just need to find our game."

Seems like people here care more than they do.

Well regardless of how all of the players feel, or say that they feel about it, the one thing that we can all agree on is that they definitely need to find their game.

And in all honesty, I am still pretty confident that they will be able to figure it out before the playoffs start.

[Staggy]

Wow, remind me to never read the boards on espn.com again

I highly doubt they're worse than Yahoo Puck Daddy boards.

No, not quite to that level. Yahoo and Youtube comments are a step above the rest

[pens2005]

I'm honestly not really too worried about it. I'm also still able to see the positive side of things (great season, likely Hart winner, upcoming playoffs, finally healthy team, Dupuis point steak) so no bridge jumping here. But I disagree that it doesn't really matter what seed they end up with. Reading through some of theses posts, I can see that it has already been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not going to repeat every point. But I'm sure the players want the higher seed, and I'd imagine ownership does as well. (More home playoff games=more revenue right?) Playing at home is a huge advantage, and as has already been discussed, playing washington in the 1st round would be highly preferable to playing Philly. I don't even think that's debatable. Finishing 4th means having to go through Philly then NY and/or Boston which is not an easy route to have to take.

James Neal: "We don't care about that (catching the Rangers). We just need to find our game."

Seems like people here care more than they do.

Well regardless of how all of the players feel, or say that they feel about it, the one thing that we can all agree on is that they definitely need to find their game.

And in all honesty, I am still pretty confident that they will be able to figure it out before the playoffs start.

They know what their game is, but their coach is tinkering with it. That's what is kinda confusing.

[KG]

I went to the game tonight and Billy Guerin and Ray Shero were in the sky box next to mine...that was cool...

Guerin was texting all night...he looked like he was in game shape though.

Shero did not look to pleased, he took a lot of notes. I left him alone!!

[Nizzy]

I went to the game tonight and Billy Guerin and Ray Shero were in the sky box next to mine...that was cool...

Guerin was texting all night...he looked like he was in game shape though.

Shero did not look to pleased, he took a lot of notes. I left him alone!!

Wow thats so cool KG got any pics?

[KG]

I went to the game tonight and Billy Guerin and Ray Shero were in the sky box next to mine...that was cool...

Guerin was texting all night...he looked like he was in game shape though.

Shero did not look to pleased, he took a lot of notes. I left him alone!!

Wow thats so cool KG got any pics?

No I didn't take any pics, I was with work related people so I couldn't get all school boy on them I did peek over to see who else was in the box, didn't see anyone else I recognized...

Mike Bossy walked by in the hall way as well. I wanted to give him a hip check but wimped out...

[booboo]

DM reports Sid is still bleeding from his nose, but no stitches needed.

He's still bleeding after 2 hours?

If he broke his nose I wouldn't doubt it.

Yep, he was breathing with his mouth open the whole rest of the game. Looked like Geno, lol.

You would also breath with your mouth open and perhaps even bleed after lying such an enormous egg!

[supermario]

I also just want to say that five forwards on the pp is such a bad idea. No good can come of it.

They don't really have a choice, at the moment.

LOL. OK maybe I just can't stop thinking about 93. I really do hate the isles.

[Malkamaniac]

Man, I left this thread and it got awesome. I CAN'T BELIEVE DB DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE DIVISON!

[The Snapshot]

It seemed all but a certainty that the Pens would catch the Rangers. Bylsma stated it openly as a goal for over a month now. James Neal saying that they don't care about catching the Rangers is an easy out.

They crapped the bed against a terrible team. Twice in three nights.

The Flyers will target Letang even more now because it is apparent that he may be the team MVP. There seems to be a slim chance that Letang finishes the 1st round base on his either inability or unwillingness to avoid a hit. Erik Karlsson is 160lbs and almost never gets hit. Letang may be too brave for his average size.

As you can tell, I am not at all taking the "we'll be fine" pill. These losses were more than just the score. They seemed to tell me that the Pens were reading their clippings and ignoring the cracks in their game when they were winning while teams missed open nets and they were filling them.

The Ottawa loss and then these two disasters came a little too close together for me to write them all off. There are serious defensive issues and now Fleury seems to be struggling too. They have two with the Flyers, one with the Rangers, one with the Bruins and one with the red-hot desperate Sabres. They better get it together now, or we could be starting the Playoffs in Philly.

I desperately hope that this was just an opponent getting in their heads, and that they will turn this around in Buffalo. It is hard for me to get over my premonition of Ennis, Stafford, Vanek, Roy and Pomminville torturing the Pens.

[Mr. Colby]

It's easy to tell the Pens do not care about the #1 seed. If they did, they never would have re-configured the lines tonight, nor would they have started Thiessen in Ottawa, nor would Letang be sitting out right now.

As soon as the Pens clinched the playoffs, their sole focus is to be healthy and prepared for the playoffs. They know they can beat anyone and do not care who they are matched up with. Nor do i.