'13 Playoffs Game 4 vs Bos - Thoughts from the Morning After

[shmenguin]

How on earth could last night have ended differently?

We had one good rush and it was with the goalie pulled. At no point did it look like we were going to win that game.

[Henry Hank]

We had our Hossa year and lost. This year, we had Iginla and lost.

I think we regroup and come back stronger next year, just like after the Hossa year.

I think so too. Colorado didn't win the Cup the year they got Bourque, it took another year. Honestly, it was never a great feeling to me this year when the Pens were winning 15 straight and being called favorites before the regular season was over. Just had that too good to be true feeling.

[Gaucho]

I'm already sick of hearing about the broken leg. Nothing heroic about it.

Same feeling about Malone in '07 when his nose exploded?

Look, I applaud Campbell for having a big heart and guts to go with it, but there's not need to erect a effing stature for him. I don't know him personally, maybe he's just too dumb to know better.

[Lt. Dish]

Clutch and grab snuck back into the playoffs pretty quickly. It was there plenty in both series in the finals against Detroit. There's no complaining about it. What the Pens need to do is take advantage of it themselves. Boston did, another reason they're moving on and the Pens aren't.

Pens were already talking about the officiating after game one. Never a good sign when a team resorts to that.

I don't think the season really ended up that abruptly. They made it to the third round. Last year was abrupt. They were supposedly Cup favorites and a handful of days into the playoffs they're already down 3-0. Boston is really good. There's no shame in losing to them no matter what people were saying about the Pens being favorites. Getting swept is a bit much but they lost two one goal games to end the series. Those could have easily gone the other way and it's a 2-2 series. But the margin of error is slim when you're facing a team good enough to match what you can do. Again, Boston is a really good team.

Henry Hank, I still appreciate your comeback thread. I found it to be a bright spot in an otherwise craptastic week.

[malkinshair]

Dropped this in the GDT for those that don't think Geno got the shot off there at the end. And yes that's Chara.

http://i.imgur.com/hXEmvx7.gif

Oh my.
What a perfect little microcosm of this series. Effort definitely, but holy luck as well.

[Henry Hank]

How on earth could last night have ended differently?

We had one good rush and it was with the goalie pulled. At no point did it look like we were going to win that game.

It's not like Boston had many scoring chances the last two games either. McQuaid's shot hit a stick and found the perfect spot. Someone just posted a gif of Malkin being robbed by Chara desperation with about a minute left.

The way people are talking the Pens got blown out of the series. Game three, Adams hit a post moments before Boston won it. There wasn't much differentiating these games.

[skullman80]

Yeah I'm sorry. Boston dominated us. They dismantled us, and made it look easy doing so. The Pens were never a threat in the entire series.. not once. They never had the lead. They scored 2 goals in 14 periods of hockey. They were 0'fer on the powerplay.

Boston is damn good, but they should not have manhandled us like they did. No adjustments, no sense of urgency most of the series. Boston was in control the entire series from late in period 2 of game 1 the whole way until the end.

[Lt. Dish]

We had our Hossa year and lost. This year, we had Iginla and lost.

I think we regroup and come back stronger next year, just like after the Hossa year.

I think so too. Colorado didn't win the Cup the year they got Bourque, it took another year. Honestly, it was never a great feeling to me this year when the Pens were winning 15 straight and being called favorites before the regular season was over. Just had that too good to be true feeling.

I'll admit this, too. I did too good of a job quelling those nagging thoughts.

[Avyran]

You know... Boston was also shut out during the powerplay.

It wasn't as one-sided as people, or the 4-0, want to say (well, except for period 1 of game 1, and all of game 2).

[Caputi19]

No Bounces, Pens Hit 12 Post In 4 Games. Anything That Beat Rask Just Missed Or Caught Iron. Bruins Will Get What They Gave To Pitt From The Hawks

[SolidSnake]

Yea lol anyone saying the pens had a chance in this series are senile and trying to make themselves feel better.

[the riddler]

This was one of the toughest games to watch all year. It seemed that Boston was making it impossible to score and Pittsburgh wasn't trying anything different to get past them. Boston just gradually broke their will throughout the series. The Penguins played pretty well defensively all series but had absolutely no scoring punch, they let Boston dictate this entire series and Boston looked like more of a team than Pittsburgh. The moves to get Iginla and Morrow look like mistakes right now. Morrow is just too slow at this point of his career. Iginla wasn't used correctly his entire time in Pittsburgh. Why didn't they try using him with Crosby more? Putting a line of Cooke - Malkin - Neal out there, which didn't work all season long, was also a strange move. The line changes in the first period really prohibited the Penguins from getting into any offensively flow. They didn't have the 4 line depth that Boston had in this series. In hindsight, maybe the Penguins should have gotten some better suited players for the 3rd and 4th lines instead of the big name guys. I know Boston is a good defensive team but it's a shame Pittsburgh wasn't able to change their game in reaction to what Boston was doing. Getting to their game was not working.

[Lt. Dish]

This was one of the toughest games to watch all year. It seemed that Boston was making it impossible to score and Pittsburgh wasn't trying anything different to get past them. Boston just gradually broke their will throughout the series. The Penguins played pretty well defensively all series but had absolutely no scoring punch, they let Boston dictate this entire series and Boston looked like more of a team than Pittsburgh. The moves to get Iginla and Morrow look like mistakes right now. Morrow is just too slow at this point of his career. Iginla wasn't used correctly his entire time in Pittsburgh. Why didn't they try using him with Crosby more? Putting a line of Cooke - Malkin - Neal out there, which didn't work all season long, was also a strange move. The line changes in the first period really prohibited the Penguins from getting into any offensively flow. They didn't have the 4 line depth that Boston had in this series. In hindsight, maybe the Penguins should have gotten some better suited players for the 3rd and 4th lines instead of the big name guys. I know Boston is a good defensive team but it's a shame Pittsburgh wasn't able to change their game in reaction to what Boston was doing. Getting to their game was not working.

I keep coming back to this, and I'll never understand why, even in a moment of desperation, it wasn't tried anytime in this series. There's a difference between resoluteness and just willful obtuseness.

[pcm]

To the people saying that this series was closer than a sweep suggests, it's true that the Penguins and Bruins are pretty comparable teams. They're both darn good, talented, deep teams. But the difference is that the Bruins know they can win a championship, and the Penguins are losers. Thats why Boston could play patiently and let the bounces go there way. They scored just as much as they needed to. Last night, they got their 1 goal and played to win.

[shmenguin]

How on earth could last night have ended differently?

We had one good rush and it was with the goalie pulled. At no point did it look like we were going to win that game.

It's not like Boston had many scoring chances the last two games either.

That wasn't really their concern nor was it their gameplan. They executed what they wanted to do all series long. We didn't.

[Durbano]

As far as the team goes, they are babies, they can't stand adversity, crosby, malkin, orpik, letang = no leadership! The pens have created an atmosphere that pampers the players too much and these are the results you get.
One year of this stuff is a fluke, when it happens in some variation every year you have serious issues.

I wouldn't include Orpik there but I agree with the rest. It was obvious at the end of the second period of game one, these guys are fragile (still) and didn't fully learn the lessons of last year's Philly series. Combine that state with Bylsma's stubbornness and you get a sweep.

[Malkamaniac]

I'm already over this series/year. This offseason could be exciting.

[Sarcastic]

To the people saying that this series was closer than a sweep suggests, it's true that the Penguins and Bruins are pretty comparable teams. They're both darn good, talented, deep teams. But the difference is that the Bruins know they can win a championship, and the Penguins are losers. Thats why Boston could play patiently and let the bounces go there way. They scored just as much as they needed to. Last night, they got their 1 goal and played to win.

I'm starting to think that too and why I'm not excited for next year unless they change something. IMO, coaches need to go. But we don't seem to just lose in the playoffs, we do so in spectacular fashion.

[pens2005]

You know... Boston was also shut out during the powerplay.

It wasn't as one-sided as people, or the 4-0, want to say (well, except for period 1 of game 1, and all of game 2).

We were SWEPT! Hoy Christ, yes it was one-sided.

How blind are some of you? Denial is thick in some of your bones.

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

How on earth could last night have ended differently?

We had one good rush and it was with the goalie pulled. At no point did it look like we were going to win that game.

It's not like Boston had many scoring chances the last two games either. McQuaid's shot hit a stick and found the perfect spot. Someone just posted a gif of Malkin being robbed by Chara desperation with about a minute left.

The way people are talking the Pens got blown out of the series. Game three, Adams hit a post moments before Boston won it. There wasn't much differentiating these games.

And Horton hit a post before Adams? In game 3 the Bruins had a handful of odd man breaks, posts an chances. More real chances than us. We never got near their goalie.

Teams create their own breaks. We lost badly. I just find it funny people only remember the pens posts or close chances as if the Bruins scored on all of their chances.

[Pitts]

How on earth could last night have ended differently?

We had one good rush and it was with the goalie pulled. At no point did it look like we were going to win that game.

Are you serious?? The Pens controlled probably 85% of that game. They threw dozens of shots at the net. All they needed was the 1st goal. They just didn't get it.

[shmenguin]

Yes, they aimlessly threw dozens of shots at the net. Bylsma probably mentioned this at the pizza party after the game before handing out the participation trophies.

[Malkamaniac]

I don't find moral high ground because the Pens almost won, or outplayed their opponent. This team should have never of been down 3 games in the first place.

[SolidSnake]

Yes, they aimlessly threw dozens of shots at the net. Bylsma probably mentioned this at the pizza party after the game before handing out the participation trophies.

And one last thing team: "Always remember to get to your game"

[Kaizer]

I blame shero. I was all for the iginla trade, and it blew up in my face. The amount of moves at the deadline totally destabilized a team that was smashing opponents to crumbs.