Official GDT: Pens @ Preds 12/19/24

[Puck-Lurker]

My heart can't take this...

Thank you Rust

[Admin]

LOL Hot potato puck and Rust buries it.

[brwi]

Two bad teams play a really bad OT but one gets 2points regardless of the lack of beauty. Nice shot Rust though!

[stonewizard51]

What a snipe. RUSTY !!!

[PenGator88]

The Preds have yet to win a game in OT?

[Antonio]

Great game for rust. He's been cooking

[Puck-Lurker]

Don't look now, but we're officially at .500

[KG]

1 game over .500 all of a sudden. Nice run they’ve been on.

[Zalapski33]

Another OT Win.Overall terrible effort somehow got a fortunate result due to a terrible Preds Team.
Jarry was awful.Gave up rebounds all night,soft goals with no reaction.
Sid was outstanding.A force all night.Rust and Rakell again were productive.These 3 are carrying this Team.
Letang and Malkin with poor games(in spite of Geno setting up the GWG).Core Leadership guys can't be that bad with this Roster and its holes.
Pickering was quietly solid for most of this game.He does subtle effective things out there.

To get a Win after this lackluster performance is definitely a gift.The slow start,early Goal allowed,countless giveaways,terrible Goaltending.The credit for this Win should go to Crosby and the way he continued to get chances that eventually got this game evened up.

[Puck-Lurker]

I'd been focusing on watching our D corps this game.

Some trends everyone has seen continue. Bad pinching - though not as bad as it has been early this season. Defencemen chasing pucks behind the net, without support to cover the net front. Pretty much all our guys are guilty of it; there's a good time to chase the puck even with two D-men and a bad time. Wasn't as aggregious this game as before, but it was too much.


Pickering.. he has looked solid. Dependable. Doesn't seem to make brilliant plays or exceptional outlet passes. But he covers his position, plays it simple and smart, uses his body pretty well. Lots of room for him to grow and he will improve with experience. I had my doubts about him, but those are gone. We need Pickering in Pittsburgh.

Karlsson.. mixed, mixed bag. On one hand, he'll just seemingly give up on a play, take a stupid penalty.. But then, there's him carrying a few pucks across the line, that shotpass that gave Crosby his deflection goal, and rifling one home himself. Okay, I'll take it, I'm not overjoyed, but fine.

Letang seemed to be fighting the puck a bit. Doesn't help if your partner is Grzelcyk.. they weren't terrible either of them, just kind of middle of the road.

Graves looks different. He's playing a far more simple game, stop the puck or take the body. He's getting better and actually manages to help clear the puck now. In front of net, he does seem to be a bit 'loose' around whatever forward parks in front of Jarry. Everytime I was watching him there, it looked like he'd lose sight (and touch) with the NSH forward in the blink of an eye. I'd kind of prefer he keeps within contact, bump the forward a bit. You know where he is if you make contact and you make it more difficult to make a play.

Shea did not look good. Just.. no. I don't want to be hard on the guy, he's Ryan Shea and playing his off side, you need to temper your expectations. But he looked out of place, got pressured and made errors accordingly. Right now, I'd take him out of the lineup, provided another lefty can play RD better than he does. I expect he doesn't come out of the lineup just yet, but I imagine POJ will get a shot sooner rather than later if this keeps up.

There were a loooot of stretch passes. From the circle in our end, through the neutral zone and into the o-zone at times. More and more the later in the game it got, Preds looked tired and mostly didn't have a good answer to it. If it works, it works.



Also.. Jarry absolutely, completely sucked. Giving up soft goal after soft goal, letting in that first one off the second shot AGAIN. He's done that in I believe 12 out of his 14 starts. How is that a possible statistic?! How in Mario's name is he still getting starts in the NHL? Waive him to Wilkes-Barre and call up Joel Blomqvist or any of the other 3 goalies. I don't even care if he's any better just as long as he doesn't let in that first fricking shot.
.846 save % against the worst team in the league. Doesn't help that Ned is not doing any better, but for the love of Lemieux call up Blomqvist...

[KG]

Did OC get hurt or was he benched? He only played 8 minutes. Beauvillier with 5 minutes, I know he was benched.

I know there was a lot of penalties but looking at the game stats I never want to see Acciari with 16:51 of ice time and Sid with 17:24. The game went to OT. That means Acciari played ore than Sid in regulation. Yikes.

[hahnski86]

JARRY SUCKS! He's 6-1-1 in his last 8 starts. What a bum! LOL...he's looked so much better since his stint in WBS. Definitely needs to clean up the first goal jitters but it's actually helped the pens of late because lets be honest when they were blowing those 2-0 leads it wasn't all Jarry...it was lapses in defense, etc. Fans are homers. What you all should be up in arms about is Jesse Puljvarvi not getting any playing time. What the hell dude? How he's not in over Matt Nieto is beyond me. Also...why is Lizotte on the 4th line? And seriously Ryan Graves is still playing? Ship him off for a bag of pucks and retain salary for all I care...dude is a BUM and SOFT! Worst signing maybe ever. Also...SCRATCH DOC for the love of God...he needs a wakeup call. He's a good two way player but he can't finish recently to save his life.

[ahawk9]

Jarry (especially lately) has put himself horribly out of position when guys swing behind the net with the puck. He'll end up flopped about 5 feet to the side of the net, leaving a gaping area exposed. He or someone else has bailed him out several times but he's also given up an easy goal several times when he's done it. It's been more prevalent than usual lately.

[Pens4Life]

1 game over .500 all of a sudden. Nice run they’ve been on.

Kinda.. but overall,won 15 - lost 19

[hahnski86]

Still not sure this team has what it takes to make the playoffs, let alone win 4 games against a tough opponent but hey it's been a lot more fun to watch as of late! Since November 27th they are 8-2-1 and have scored more goals during that stretch than any other team (46). NJD always seem to have the Pens number but it would be a whole lotta fun to win a divisional game against the top dawg! LETS GO PENS!

[Pens4Life]

I wonder how much more time that scoreless third line will get? Whst did Jesse do to Sully to threat him like ****??

Get Jesse in, put Lizzo back to 3rd line!

[Puck-Lurker]

After this game, I've no doubt people will again tell me Jarry wasn't the problem. He made some huge saves.

JARRY SUCKS! He's 6-1-1 in his last 8 starts. What a bum! LOL...he's looked so much better since his stint in WBS. Definitely needs to clean up the first goal jitters but it's actually helped the pens of late because lets be honest when they were blowing those 2-0 leads it wasn't all Jarry...it was lapses in defense, etc.

I'm a prophet.

[Antonio]

Nieto doesn't even belong in the NHL and acciari is barely an NHL caliber player in my book. You can't seriously tell me we are putting out the best lineup every night. Sullivan genuinely thinks nieto over pool party is the best possible lineup? Not saying pool party is the difference maker or anything but isn't the idea to put out the best collection of players every night?

[stonewizard51]

Poolparty will be tradebait at the deadline, if he isn't already. That's too bad because he's more than earned the right for TOI.

[Puck-Lurker]

Nieto doesn't even belong in the NHL and acciari is barely an NHL caliber player in my book. You can't seriously tell me we are putting out the best lineup every night. Sullivan genuinely thinks nieto over pool party is the best possible lineup? Not saying pool party is the difference maker or anything but isn't the idea to put out the best collection of players every night?

Nieto is an empty sweater. Has been since he got here. Acciari does nothing on that fourth line that anyone in WBS can't do as well. Yet they keep getting dressed..

[FLPensFan]

Nieto doesn't even belong in the NHL and acciari is barely an NHL caliber player in my book. You can't seriously tell me we are putting out the best lineup every night. Sullivan genuinely thinks nieto over pool party is the best possible lineup? Not saying pool party is the difference maker or anything but isn't the idea to put out the best collection of players every night?

Nieto is an empty sweater. Has been since he got here. Acciari does nothing on that fourth line that anyone in WBS can't do as well. Yet they keep getting dressed..

Matt Nieto - 13 games this season, positive Corsi 3 games, even 2 games, negative 8 games; positive shots 5 games, even 1 game, negative 7 games; postive scoring chances 4 games, even 1 game, negative 8 games; Worst games...LA (4f-12a in Corsi, 0f-6a in shots, 0f-6a in chances) and FLA (2f-14a corsi, 1f-9a shots, 0f-11a chances)

Jesse Puljujarvi - 21 games this season, positive Corsi 9 games, even 4 games, negative 8 games; positive shots 9 games, negative shots 12 games; positive scoring chances 7 games, even chances 5 games, negative chances 9 games; Worst game CAR (3f-21a corsi, 0f-11a shots, 2f-14a chances)

Puljujarvi tends to be fairly even. He'll have his negative games, but he has much more positive and even games compared to Nieto. I'll also add almost half of JPs bad games came in October, where the team as a whole only went 4-8.

[penscup]

Also.. Jarry absolutely, completely sucked. Giving up soft goal after soft goal, letting in that first one off the second shot AGAIN. He's done that in I believe 12 out of his 14 starts. How is that a possible statistic?! How in Mario's name is he still getting starts in the NHL? Waive him to Wilkes-Barre and call up Joel Blomqvist or any of the other 3 goalies. I don't even care if he's any better just as long as he doesn't let in that first fricking shot.
.846 save % against the worst team in the league. Doesn't help that Ned is not doing any better, but for the love of Lemieux call up Blomqvist...

I know you seem to think I am some sort of die-hard Jarry defender, but I am not. Let's get that out of the way first.

I have not been pleased with his past playoff performances and have not seen or heard from him what I would judge as "high I.Q." goalie
intelligence or a great teammate leader in the locker room. I certainly did not approve of his 5-year contract the Pens gave him and do
not think he will ever fulfill the expectations the Pens once had for him. I hope he proves me wrong. I honestly much prefer Nedeljikovic's mindset and approach to goaltending but understand most do not see him capable of handling the full load of starter, even though he proved most wrong with his strong play down the stretch last season. I understand that Jarry still will get at least 50% of the starts while still here due to his salary expectations and will hope for the best.

All that being said, I still try to look at each game performance and each goal allowed objectively as possible and will defend any player I see being unfairly criticized especially at the goaltender position which is very often misunderstood (just look at the early years of MAF's career where he was routinely criticized for a lack of focus and many doubted whether he would ever deliver a Championship to this town, and is now currently wrapping up one of the most impressive and respected NHL careers in history).

I was unable to watch the entire game against Nashville but did see bits and pieces, and did watch the full highlights later on youtube and
would say I disagree with many blaming Jarry for the majority of goals allowed. His problem with first shot goals (or first 5 min. goals) has been well documented and is certainly a problem that must be fixed somehow and I have stated this before like many others.

How in Mario's name is he still getting starts in the NHL?

As someone already pointed out the answer to this question is his 6-1-1 record in his last 8 starts. How do you argue with that?? I don't really understand what happened to Jarry at the start of this season and how the coaching staff and he himself lost confidence in his ability to play the position deteriorated so rapidly that he was sent to the minors to correct things, but for now it appears he is at least back on track. I don't get why you are so upset about that. I think many observers on here (you included) would testify how bad the Penguins as a team have looked at times so far this year (and last year) since the addition of Karlsson, so which is it?? The horrible defense which we know leaves goalies out to dry because it clearly happens whether it is Jarry, Ned, or Blomqvist in net...or is it the poor goaltending who you and others think should stop every shot on net 100% of the time.

I counted numerous "high-quality scoring chances" saved by Jarry throughout the night to keep the game close.
Here is my objective breakdown of each goal & save...

--- just 3 mins. into the game the Pens allowed a 2-on-1 with a prime scoring chance that Jarry had to make a huge save sliding across the
crease on a beautiful one-timer shot to keep the game scoreless.
--- the Preds would score on an almost identical 2-on-1 by deflection Forsberg just a minute later. This is not an easy stop to make. How many 2-on-1's do you want Jarry to stop in the first 5 mins. of a game? He just stopped one less than a minute before this.
--- Jarry makes a high quality save at point blank range on the PP at the 12 min. mark of the period to keep the game 0-1.
--- Jarry allows another PP goal at the 18 min. mark where he is completely screened and is having major difficulty seeing the initial shot. He makes the initial save which is a good one, but kicks the puck out into the slot where Evangalista fires home the rebound. I hear some people state Jarry needs to control this rebound better...please get a clue. Major traffic blocking his view, he makes the first save which was a difficult one, can't expect him to control that rebound, Preds get to the rebound first +++because they have an extra player on the ice for the PP+++, cannot put any major blame on Jarry for this goal.
--- big save on another PP rebound chance just 3 mins. into the 2nd period to keep the game 1-2.
--- Stamkos scores later as the same PP is expiring so essentially another PP goal. Jarry again makes initial save and gives up a rebound. Could he control this rebound better...I dunno...maybe but can't really expect much here. He put the rebound out directly in front of him decently. There are predators all over the ice, ++they have an extra guy out there++. Forsberg gets to it first and makes a tremendous play to one-time the rebound out of mid-air basically across the crease to a waiting Stamkos who buries the puck on the backdoor. Jarry makes a slide across the crease to attempt a save but he really has no chance here. Where exactly do people want him to put the rebound from the initial save here??
--- 4th goal is on yet ANOTHER 2-on-1 allowed where O'Reilly makes a brilliant air pass to Skjei who controls the puck off his skate and roofs a quick shot. Pickering fails to take away the pass option which is always the main goal of the defender here. Jarry makes a good push across the crease and is in good position as Skjei controls the pass off his skate but then makes a great shot to top right corner shelf which surprises Jarry a bit because there is so little room to score there. I guess you could blame Jarry for this one, but it is still a great shot and pass on a 2-on-1 where Pickering could have blocked this pass and given Jarry a much better chance to make the save on just the shooter.
--- less than a minute later Jarry makes a good save on yet ANOTHER PP to keep the game 3-4.
--- another high quality save with 6 mins. left in the game on a curl-and-drag from O'Reilly directly in the slot to keep the game tied at four.

So 2 goals on the PP and 2 goals on 2-on-1 breaks. Objectively, I don't really see much blame going on Jarry for any of these goals against. Maybe he could have made and incredible top-10-save of the year on one of them, but he didn't. Just because he allowed 4 goals does not mean he had an awful game, but it's just one game. He could give up 4 next game and I would have no problem calling them soft goals if they truly are soft, but lets not put all the blame on him if it is not deserved. And of course the same critics of Jarry want to ignore every big save he makes like they never happen.

It is a long season though, so we'll see how things go for the next 6 weeks, but I at least give Jarry some credit for getting his head back in the game. The Pens are finally playing a bit better defensively as a whole team currently as you broke down in a good post above, so lets see how Jarry does now the team in front of him is finally playing a bit smarter.

[Tico Rick]

I'm glad Jarry is playing well. That means we can actually dump him for more than a bag of pucks at the trade deadline.

[Antonio]

I'm glad Jarry is playing well. That means we can actually dump him for more than a bag of pucks at the trade deadline.

Yeah if we're lucky we could get a roll of stick tape added in as well.

[Admin]

I’m willing to sweeten the Jarry trade by sending some of my rolls of tape with him.