4/23/13 Sabres v. Penguins- Official Game Thread

[Dan H]

Terrible call. How do they miss that even given replay?

It was close.

It was right at the cross bar.

It was right at the crossbar with a camera that was 10 feet high.
Common sense - which I won't argue is absent from most hockey people in Toronto - tells you that it's easily a few inches above the crossbar.

Yeah, the crossbar is 4 feet high, and although Ott's body position definitely lowered his head from its usual height, his head wasn't lowered by 2 1/2 feet. He's 6'0" when he's not wearing skates. The replay made it clear he contacted the puck above the top of his head. In skates, the top of his head is about 6'4" minus however much he crouched. So he needs to have his head lowered at least about 2 1/2 feet for that puck to be below the crossbar when he hits it.

I think it was about 6 inches above the bar. The camera angle they showed on my crappy video feed was from an angle, but even I found it pretty conclusive.

Doesn't really matter in the long run. The game was meaningless for both teams. What's important is if the Pens are getting ready to play playoff hockey and that nobody gets hurt.

[wondermoose]

< sprints in one side of the thread >

OMGZ!!!! THE SABRES HAZ THE BLUEPRINT FOR BEATING THE PENS!!!! RUININ THE HISTORICALS!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!


< sprints out the other side >

Did anybody say anything remotely resembling that?

I think this is someone who is actually pissed about the loss but tries to mask it with sarcasm.

[Shakes]

Kennedy stinks but he better be in the lineup over Jeffrey Thursday night. That was as stupid a play as you can make.

That's a great example of a play that might work in the "A" but hardly ever works in the NHL.

That said, big who cares. I was glad to see the boys go hard to try to tie it down 2-1 and again down 3-2. On another night, either (or both) of Bennett's and Letang's chances go in, and we're all Pitbulling and like crazy.

Just hope Brooksie is OK.

[MarioLives]

I am assuming Brooks has a groin or knee injury? Anyone know? That will hurt if that is the case

[Lt. Dish]

< sprints in one side of the thread >

OMGZ!!!! THE SABRES HAZ THE BLUEPRINT FOR BEATING THE PENS!!!! RUININ THE HISTORICALS!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!


< sprints out the other side >

Did anybody say anything remotely resembling that?

I think this is someone who is actually pissed about the loss but tries to mask it with sarcasm.

Oh, no, no, not pissed off and not at all making fun of anyone. I'm just playing around. Eh, the Pens were due and Miller was bound to have a good game vs. the Pens sometime.

Sorry for any misunderstanding. /nosarcasm

[The U]

Hopefully Orpik staying out was precautionary. Meaningless games...if I got a splinter I'd take the night off.

[Shakes]

Pittsburgh Penguins ‏@penguins 2m
Orpik left after the 1st period with lower-body injury. Being re-evaluated, per #Pens coach Bylsma

[taz71]

Perfect time for a loss..... 2nd game of a back to back.... Malkin, Letang, and Fleury return.... playing a team not in the playoffs

lets the coaches get on the players that just because they have more talent they cant just go through the motions and beat teams.... they gotta play intense hockey for 60 minutes..... and that 1 bad play/mistake or selfish play can lose a game..... not that that will be a problem in the playoffs

but still good for the coaches to be able to get on the players....

I'm ready for the playoffs to start..... and you know the players feel the exact same way..... I cant wait for the first game..... they are going to come out with their heads on fire and are going to be hitting everybody

the past few games have been nice, but its nothing compared to what this team is going to look like come playoff time

amen

[FreeCandy44]

Keeps us humble....you can't win them all.

[littlemoonboot]

Giving up on ever seeing a healthy roster, seriously. At least there's depth but this is getting old.

[Shakes]

Giving up on ever seeing a healthy roster, seriously. At least there's depth but this is getting old.

Yep, I think Shero feels the same way. That's why he just traded for the whole league this year.

[DelPen]

Keeps us humble....you can't win them all.

Well you could if the war room doesn't give the other team a bogus goal

[BurghThing]

Horrible call but what can you expect, given the state of officiating lately.

[DocEmrick]

That was 100% a high stick and everyone in that arena knew it. Dunno what the official story was but it must be a conspiracy to keep us out of the - oh wait...

[BleuLineLady]

Maybe this is anecdotal but here are the numbers on the Pens with and without Malkin this year.

This season the Penguins without Malkin are:

15-2

With Malkin this season they are:

20-9

9 of the Penguins 11 loses were when Malkin was playing. Of the 20 wins with Malkin-the 3 shootout wins they accrued this season were within that 20 as well. Both winning streaks ended on his first night back from layoffs (granted by the same team). You read into those numbers however you want. He has good numbers, a point per game-no one is questioning his skill, but it does make you wonder how far does his offensive contributions outweigh his weakness in other parts of his game. I still think he is great, but he hasnt been playing like he used to a few years ago during the cup run. He plays alot more east-west. Unlike Crosby who rarely loses a battle in the corners, Malkin isnt as good along the boards this past year and often times he tries to make the difficult pass/play instead of keeping it simple. He gets frustrated easily and takes penalties. He used not to be like this. I feel like his skill is so high, that it may be carrying him a bit this year despite perhaps having developed some bad habits. Maybe I'm being hard on Geno and maybe he will step it up a notch in the playoffs, but I have to be honest I'm a little concerned. He's the only guy on the team I honestly feel like who's style is less compatible and harder to play with compared to everybody else who for the most part have proven to be interchangeable parts and can play with whoever they get slotted with.

[DocEmrick]

...

[MRandall25]

Saying the Pens lose more when Malkin is in the lineup is just as wrong as saying the Pens win more with Despres.

The Pens sat Tyler Kennedy and we lost. Maybe we should play TK more.

[BleuLineLady]

Saying the Pens lose more when Malkin is in the lineup is just as wrong as saying the Pens win more with Despres.

The Pens sat Tyler Kennedy and we lost. Maybe we should play TK more.

I would have to look at the record, I dont know what the record is with or without Despres. People are talking about the winning percentage with Eaton in the lineup. You can read into it and attribute the numbers however you want regarding any one player really. Some may have some meaning behind them, some will not. I'm just putting out a statistic, the number is what is. I have my concerns which I think are legitimate. Heres another stat to look at: Malkin is a +3. Yes, he is a plus player right now, but barely. When you are scoring a point per game playing on a virtual all star team that nearly wins all of its games-it says to me the obvious. Malkin accrues points and contributes offensively but he is also on the ice alot of times when the other team scores. That's the only explanation you can have for that. Pascal Dupuis is less than a point per game player and he is +30. Beau Bennett, the same with a +7. Just using a couple examples.

[RxBandit66]

Saying the Pens lose more when Malkin is in the lineup is just as wrong as saying the Pens win more with Despres.

The Pens sat Tyler Kennedy and we lost. Maybe we should play TK more.

I would have to look at the record, I dont know what the record is with or without Despres. People are talking about the winning percentage with Eaton in the lineup. You can read into it and attribute the numbers however you want regarding any one player really. Some may have some meaning behind them, some will not. I'm just putting out a statistic, the number is what is. I have my concerns which I think are legitimate. Heres another stat to look at: Malkin is a +3. Yes, he is a plus player right now, but barely. When you are scoring a point per game playing on a virtual all star team that nearly wins all of its games-it says to me the obvious. Malkin accrues points and contributes offensively but he is also on the ice alot of times when the other team scores. That's the only explanation you can have for that. Pascal Dupuis is less than a point per game player and he is +30. Beau Bennett, the same with a +7. Just using a couple examples.

I'm not a huge Geno fan, and going back to the Philly series last year, one can argue that at times he has hurt his team as much or even more than he has helped it. However, the Pens are 65-20 in their last 85 games, excluding playoffs. Geno was in the lineup for many of those games. He does need to have a good playoff run this year, because his stats from 2010 to present (excluding that insane stretch he had during last regular season) are not those of a $9 million franchise player. If the Pens don't go far this year, Shero may decide that having three oft-injured superstars on the payroll is one two many.

[penny lane]

Who is the 3rd oft -injured superstar ? James Neal?
How easy for some, to dismiss last year from the lazy russian. No pgh penguins' play-offs since 2009 have been noteworthy, except failure as a team.

On the brightside, buffalo isn't in the play-offs

[luv66]

Who is the 3rd oft -injured superstar ?

I was thinking he meant Letang , idk.

[Shakes]

I'm not a huge Geno fan, and going back to the Philly series last year, one can argue that at times he has hurt his team as much or even more than he has helped it. However, the Pens are 65-20 in their last 85 games, excluding playoffs. Geno was in the lineup for many of those games. He does need to have a good playoff run this year, because his stats from 2010 to present (excluding that insane stretch he had during last regular season) are not those of a $9 million franchise player. If the Pens don't go far this year, Shero may decide that having three oft-injured superstars on the payroll is one two many.

I'm not saying the man doesn't have consistency issues, but I love when this gets tossed into the argument as if it was a hot streak.

He dominated the league for 75 games immediately after coming back from a serious injury. Regardless of what happens, Shero would be a fool to disregard last season as an "insane stretch."

[penny lane]

Who is the 3rd oft -injured superstar ?

I was thinking he meant Letang , idk.

? okay, I could only think of james neal .

[BleuLineLady]

I'm not a huge Geno fan, and going back to the Philly series last year, one can argue that at times he has hurt his team as much or even more than he has helped it. However, the Pens are 65-20 in their last 85 games, excluding playoffs. Geno was in the lineup for many of those games. He does need to have a good playoff run this year, because his stats from 2010 to present (excluding that insane stretch he had during last regular season) are not those of a $9 million franchise player. If the Pens don't go far this year, Shero may decide that having three oft-injured superstars on the payroll is one two many.

I'm not saying the man doesn't have consistency issues, but I love when this gets tossed into the argument as if it was a hot streak.

He dominated the league for 75 games immediately after coming back from a serious injury. Regardless of what happens, Shero would be a fool to disregard last season as an "insane stretch."

Nobody is discounting what Geno did last season. Shero should and will resign Geno long term. He will most likely be a Penguin for life. Everybody knows how talented he is, he has rare world class skill and nobody doubts that. But its not picking on Geno to question whether or not the positive net impact he has on this team is as great as it once as. His positive net impact on the team is nowhere near the net impact Crosby has on the team. Crosby is the model of consistency, he's physically dominant, imposes his will on others, defensively responsible, disciplined in not taking stupid penalties, and almost always makes the smart pass. Yes, I know he's Crosby and you may say don't compare Malkin to Crosby, but you have to for 2 reasons:

1) They get paid the same amount of money
2) The difference in impact between Crosby and Malkin was much much slimmer in 2009. Malkin was pretty much on par with Crosby in terms of play.


The year they won the cup, he was a different player, younger, but more sound defensively, more well-rounded, more physically imposing in his play. People often said that the big difference between Malkin and Ovechkin (besides one being a center and one being a wing) was that Malkin actually played defense and played it pretty well. I'm not asking him to try to be the Selke candidate but he needs to clean up his game a bit in my opinion.

[Shakes]

I'm not a huge Geno fan, and going back to the Philly series last year, one can argue that at times he has hurt his team as much or even more than he has helped it. However, the Pens are 65-20 in their last 85 games, excluding playoffs. Geno was in the lineup for many of those games. He does need to have a good playoff run this year, because his stats from 2010 to present (excluding that insane stretch he had during last regular season) are not those of a $9 million franchise player. If the Pens don't go far this year, Shero may decide that having three oft-injured superstars on the payroll is one two many.

I'm not saying the man doesn't have consistency issues, but I love when this gets tossed into the argument as if it was a hot streak.

He dominated the league for 75 games immediately after coming back from a serious injury. Regardless of what happens, Shero would be a fool to disregard last season as an "insane stretch."

Nobody is discounting what Geno did last season.

What? Look at the bold above. What is that, if it's not discounting last season? I don't mean to single out Rx. I've seen several posts calculating Malkin's averages by "excluding" last season's Hart/Ross/Pearson/50-goal season.

I admit I didn't read the rest of your post. I welcome the Malkin threads that are sure to come after the season, of which I'm sure there will be plenty, whatever happens.

For now, I'm just ready to enjoy/stress out some playoff hockey.