Post-Game Talk: In which we praise Dan Bylsma, with straight faces.

[Al Smith]

I've been a fan of Scuderi but when Hooks comes back. I would be fine with sitting Scuderi for Bortuzzo. He quietly played a great game. I don't think I saw him make one mistake or stupid turnover.

Well, he iced the puck on an attempted stretch pass early in the first period, so I don't think his game was perfect. He did a good job in his first playoff game as a bottom pair D. I'd say he'll be back in the press box once Bruce is over whatever is ailing him. In management's mind, with 44 in last night it would have been 4-0.

 

[Fire Shero*]

I can't imagine how much better this team would be if Glass, Adams and Scuds sat just for one game.

I will never understand discos obsession with these fools.

 

[Koempel]

How'd you come up with this. The entire PGH hockey media sans Dejan cannot wait to unload on geno, Sid is untouchable and never ever questioned or criticized

here on this board Sid does get some criticism but what's wrong with that...
He had a decent game, crap first period, picked up in second and third, still nowhere closet to Sid level, why is thatt so hard to accept. One game, one series is not going to make him a bad player, we all want him to score five each night.

I don't get this sensitivity it gets so annoying, same for Geno, Geno was totally out of it last night, many of us said the worst game of the series, he was useless, did not seem to have an idea what to do, I am worrying just because we won, HCDB will continue to roll them same way...I just don't think that is a good idea...for either Geno or Sid (at this point)

Sid is hurt. For a while I was thinking he had enough of Bylsma and was dogging it, then he molested Kunitz during the celebration of his goal. Crosby cares, but judging by the available evidence his wrist isn't close to 100%, which would explain a lot.

 

[ColePens]

What bugs me about the Pens...

Stl had like 50+ hits the other night and Chicago had less than 20. They didn't get sucked into a hitting game. They played hard and fought/battled, but they never get away from their skill game. You can play mean and skilled. Chicago shows you how it's done. Pittsburgh should follow.

 

[HMPens]

Did anyone notice that in post-game comments by players and today in the presser with Bylsma, they made a point to say how much they miss Orpik and how important he is.

It seemed to me that the team played their best defensive hockey, and the d-pairs all had solid games, Letang having his best in the series. Letang even bailed Martin out twice early on in the game.

I'm not sure if Orpik was missed all that much. Maybe if he's out a longer time, his absense may show, but I didn't miss him last night.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Orpik's absence makes us a better team. Bortuzzo might not be outright better than Orpik right now, but Bortuzzo is a better 3rd pairing d-man than Orpik is a shutdown pairing d-man.

 

[Fleury3434*]

Orpik wasn't missed much last game. But IMO, overall this series orpik was pretty decent. Now I don't know if that's cause I have low standards for him or if he really was playing good hockey haha.

Playing bort says a lot about despres. Despres isn't in the pens future; pretty clear he will most likely be a centerpiece in a trade come the draft.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Orpik wasn't missed much last game. But IMO, overall this series orpik was pretty decent. Now I don't know if that's cause I have low standards for him or if he really was playing good hockey haha.

Playing bort says a lot about despres. Despres isn't in the pens future; pretty clear he will most likely be a centerpiece in a trade come the draft.

If Disco is still here, I agree on Despres sadly. If not, I hope a new coach knows what he is doing and tells Shero he wants him around. Trading him will be a mistake because he just doesn't have the trade value to bring back something worth moving him for.

As for Orpik, he hasn't been our worst d-man this series. But him being out shifted the d-pairings and made them much more effective.

 

[NMK11]

Orpik's absence makes us a better team. Bortuzzo might not be outright better than Orpik right now, but Bortuzzo is a better 3rd pairing d-man than Orpik is a shutdown pairing d-man.

This about sums it up. I'm not ready to say Bort is better than Orpik right now, but that's not the question. If Orpik was playing third or even low second pairing minutes (and getting paid like it) he'd be fine.

I'm still imagining Despres-Bort on the bottom pair with Orpik and Scuds out. Would give the Pens some snarl against a tough team, and maybe see if it's a pairing they can keep running with in the playoffs.

 

[Fire Shero*]

Playing bort says a lot about despres. Despres isn't in the pens future; pretty clear he will most likely be a centerpiece in a trade come the draft.

Hopefully we get more than Brenden Morrow when Shero donates Despres to another team this summer. They are still young, but you have to question Shero's drafting strategy. Espisito, Morrow and soon Despres.

Yikes

 

[IcedCapp]

I'm fully on board the "Bylsma irrationally hates Despres" train, but playing Bortuzzo last night had nothing to do with that, in my opinion.

1) You were missing a physical presence with Orpik out, that's what Bort brings (yes, I know that Despres brings it, too, but Bort brings it different).

2) Handedness - Bylsma's pretty big on having balanced pairs from a L/R shot perspective. Orpik/Martin seems to be the only pair he's comfortable loading up that way. With Orpik out, it makes sense to bring in a LHS

3) Despres/Scuderi hasn't been good this year. I don't blame Despres in the slightest, but it's not like Bylsma could look back and say, 'when those two were on the ice, it was dynamite."

4) Bortuzzo played the least amount of minutes among Dmen. That's what they think of Bortuzzo/Engelland/Despres. They aren't playing because they don't think they are better than Scuderi/Orpik.

If you're only going to play your #6 13 minutes, it makes more sense, from an asset-management standpoint, to play Despres his 20 minutes or whatever in WBS, and give the 13 minutes to one of the guys eating nachos.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

You just can't win with young blueliners in this league, especially come playoff time, just look at how those 4 kids in Boston are struggling.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

you know who else both letang and Scuderi have looked good with?

Lookin' mighty slim, Simon.

boom baba boom baba

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I missed the game cause I was drunk in Baltimore.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I missed the game cause I was drunk in Baltimore.

I was in Baltimore twice. First for a Steelers game where I got kicked out of line for a port-a-john before the game and had garbage thrown at me in the game. Second for a work conference and the car I rode in got broken into. Its a lovely place.

 

[Michael8771*]

Sutter had a monster game. Look at what he can do with good wingers...

I was pretty sour on the guy for the better part of the regular season, but he has really picked up his game and is arguably our best forward this series. Yes he has better line mates now but even more than that he seems more engaged in the offensive zone, goin to the net and creating a lot which he wasn't doing until march or so. It's great to see.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I was pretty sour on the guy for the better part of the regular season, but he has really picked up his game and is arguably our best forward this series. Yes he has better line mates now but even more than that he seems more engaged in the offensive zone and creating plays.

well he has players who he can actually make plays with, and he actually gets to play in the offensive zone

But ya, last night he seemed to find a new gear even beyond his improved play with better wingers. This is the player I thought we were getting when we traded for him.

 

[Michael8771*]

pens played camly and dictated the pace of this game. it was slow, but it was an authoritative win. definitely shifted the confidence back in our direction.

I don't know, TBH I wasn't overly impressed. The game was still in doubt until the EN. I expected this series to have ended by now. Against a really good team this sort of effort and level of execution won't be good enough.

 

[Michael8771*]

well he has players who he can actually make plays with, and he actually gets to play in the offensive zone

But ya, last night he seemed to find a new gear even beyond his improved play with better wingers. This is the player I thought we were getting when we traded for him.

Yep, no argument there, he's definitely been a key cog in any success we've enjoyed of late.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

I was pretty sour on the guy for the better part of the regular season, but he has really picked up his game and is arguably our best forward this series. Yes he has better line mates now but even more than that he seems more engaged in the offensive zone, goin to the net and creating a lot which he wasn't doing until march or so. It's great to see.

Sutter spent the entire year as the F3 watching a couple of idiots below the red line losing a puck battle and forechecking a D man after the puck was gone, you'd get a little disengaged too.

During a contract year. If I was him, I'd be pretty pissed at DB and Shero. But the kid kept his mouth shut and played. I give him credit.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

What bugs me about the Pens...

Stl had like 50+ hits the other night and Chicago had less than 20. They didn't get sucked into a hitting game. They played hard and fought/battled, but they never get away from their skill game. You can play mean and skilled. Chicago shows you how it's done. Pittsburgh should follow.

Chicago has depth, speed, and plays solid both ways as a team. None of which we excel at...but I agree with you.

 

[billybudd]

I was pretty sour on the guy for the better part of the regular season, but he has really picked up his game and is arguably our best forward this series. Yes he has better line mates now but even more than that he seems more engaged in the offensive zone, goin to the net and creating a lot which he wasn't doing until march or so. It's great to see.

In a contract year, it's rare not to see a high level of effort from a player. That Sutter was napping until two weeks before the playoffs began makes me incredibly skeptical about the idea he will not immediately backslide into uselessness once the ink on his new SPC dries.

 

[Ogrezilla]

In a contract year, it's rare not to see a high level of effort from a player. That Sutter was napping until two weeks before the playoffs began makes me incredibly skeptical about the idea he will not immediately backslide into uselessness once the ink on his new SPC dries.

I don't believe that he was napping. I think he was playing with absolutely horrible compliments to the game he plays, and he simply isn't good enough to be effective on an island.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Considering the improvement from how he looked in last playoffs, Sutter has really given me hope that he can grow into the player we expected. It isn't just a few games either, this goes back to the deadline.

More experience, add some weight, put some skill on his wings, maybe a new coach , and he could have a big season next year.



His sudden improvement makes me think of this


"We think that maybe Dan just hasn't challenged him enough"

 

[Ogrezilla]

"We think that maybe Dan just hasn't challenged him enough"

What would you say, you do here?