| Pens vs Rangers | Loss | Yucky, lets just move on.

[Gurglesons]

Do some posters not know there's a multi-post button? I had to read an entire page of posts on here from one person bitching about the players in a dozen separate posts in a row.

Hey. I’m not smart okay.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

GCR has heavily outscored the opponent this year. It's not the same as last season. You guys complain about them too much.

It will be the same as last year if we don't spread the wealth between Crosby and Malkin.

It doesn't matter how good the 1st line is if the 2nd line isn't maximized.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

It will be the same as last year if we don't spread the wealth between Crosby and Malkin.

It doesn't matter how good the 1st line is if the 2nd line isn't maximized.

What? Of course it matters how good they are. L1 had 2 goals for and 5 against in the playoffs. That's a massive reason we lost. 2 of those losses were by one goal.
They had concerning analytics going into the playoffs, and the board was practically unanimous in wanting them disbanded before we started that series.

This year they have 30 goals for and 17 against. Very worthy of an L1. Not maybe done in the most conventional way, but they've gotten the job done and people here should acknowledge their improvement.

Malkin's line was similarly disappointing. 2 goals for and 4 against, and they didn't have to deal with the top pair.

---

It's true that Rust has really good chemistry with Malkin. You may be correct in wanting them split up. But that depends on how Rakell will gel with whoever he gets, for me.
Who are we using on RW with Sid if Malkin gets Rakell and Rust? What if that RW'er renders the line inert?

Is it still worth it at that point to spread the wealth? I'm not so sure.

We know that ERod's not the answer.

 

[ColePens]

Meh... Pens played a bad game. Shit happens. But I don't understand why we keep talking about offensive pairings when the issue last night was nowhere near that.

 

[The Old Master]

Do some posters not know there's a multi-post button? I had to read an entire page of posts on here from one person bitching about the players in a dozen separate posts in a row.

never used it and never will....i'm here to hear other view points not hide from them. although some have come close

 

[ChaosAgent]

never used it and never will....i'm here to hear other view points not hide from them. although some have come close

You are grandstanding about the "ignore" button when @Sidney the Kidney was referencing multi-post.

 

[Ugene Magic]

The obligatory, wait until Malkin, Zucker and McGinn return.

The Pens can't let it sink in the Rangers own them. They need to be more diligent in recognizing trick scenarios the Rangers bench employs (delayed change) and WTF Ruhwedel. <----Pens true achilles heel.

If he's the #6 they are as good as cooked. No matter how much you all want to claim he's a good #6. I fully expect 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----> across the board once again come playoff time. I'm just about ready to claim those who did will once again come away with zero's across the board. The team clearly has no depth unless healthy.

@Dipsy Doodle, The 2nd line was fine, it's the fact line #3/#4 without Malkin in the lineup needs to do more, but when you dress 7-D and 11 forwards kind of throws a monkey wrench in there last second. For that only will I give this game a pass.

Heinen-Blueger-E-Rod
Zohorna-Boyle

The depth is just bad and when you dress 2 of the 11 less than 10 minutes that leaves 50 minutes for 9 players.

Being that they dressed 7-D makes it just that much more infuriating that defense is what cost them the game. Who puts Ruwedel behind the Crosby line?

The next game is going to tell the tale if they can manage to be healthy to post a near full roster.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

What? Of course it matters how good they are. L1 had 2 goals for and 5 against in the playoffs. That's a massive reason we lost. 2 of those losses were by one goal.
They had concerning analytics going into the playoffs, and the board was practically unanimous in wanting them disbanded before we started that series.

This year they have 30 goals for and 17 against. Very worthy of an L1. Not maybe done in the most conventional way, but they've gotten the job done and people here should acknowledge their improvement.

Malkin's line was similarly disappointing. 2 goals for and 4 against, and they didn't have to deal with the top pair.

---

It's true that Rust has really good chemistry with Malkin. You may be correct in wanting them split up. But that depends on how Rakell will gel with whoever he gets, for me.
Who are we using on RW with Sid if Malkin gets Rakell and Rust? What if that RW'er renders the line inert?

Is it still worth it at that point to spread the wealth? I'm not so sure.

We know that ERod's not the answer.

No, it doesn't...we're not going to ride any one line to success. Both Crosby and Malkin's lines have to be clicking.

Rust is a known factor - he's still our 2nd best winger by a longshot and we know he and Malkin work very well together. Rakell is an unknown, and simply expecting him to be the go-to winger for Malkin and find chemistry is a disaster waiting to happen.

I don't care who's on Crosby RW - spin the wheel. He has the best winger on his other side, which is already a huge advantage. Malkin needs one winger he can depend on if L2 is going to be the sort of consistent threat we need.

 

[Pancakes]

Honestly though after thinking about it some more and having a cooler head about things....how do you even change the system up mid game? How do you plan for having no skating legs? How do you even know when you will or won't have skating legs?

The answer is: you don't. There's no way to plan for having shit legs. You can try to adjust mid game if your team looks sloggy maybe and then have them change things up. But the Pens gave up 3 goals in like 5 minutes in this one. There was no time for that. The game was effectively over before the Pens could blink.

 

[metalan2]

This game leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I don't care about the three games in four nights; this was an important one. Beyond seeing a new glimpse into the team falling apart, this was from the likely executioner. I'm not confident against the Rangers at all.

The new Rangers are immensely better than they were before the trade deadline. Their acquisitions have changed their team. They were being carried by a goalie before, now they are dangerous offensively.

 

[Icarium]

If he's the #6 they are as good as cooked.

The Avs seem to do alright with Jack Johnson playing as #6. Complaining a lot about the #6 or ZAR or whoever the next bottom six whipping boy is going to be when the entire team doesn't bother playing defense is just weird to me. Sure, these players could be better. But they are rarely losing games for us and we usually get what we pay for them, i.e. not a lot but at least our money's worth. We tend to "get cooked" in the playoffs because either nobody can score or nobody plays good defense, this happens way too often for a team that is considered a contender. It's not just the Ruhwedels of this world who struggle, it's the whole team (sometimes with an exception or two). Is it going to happen this year again? I don't know, but it's seems pretty likely.

 

[Flying Dego]

Honestly though after thinking about it some more and having a cooler head about things....how do you even change the system up mid game? How do you plan for having no skating legs? How do you even know when you will or won't have skating legs?

The answer is: you don't. There's no way to plan for having shit legs. You can try to adjust mid game if your team looks sloggy maybe and then have them change things up. But the Pens gave up 3 goals in like 5 minutes in this one. There was no time for that. The game was effectively over before the Pens could blink.

Like others mentioned, again not advocating for Mark Madden but he had a point. Coming into a 3rd game in 4 days against a fresh team and then going to 11 forwards. A coach should already have an adapted approach.

Not that I condone boring hockey, but much like our cup run when Letang was out we had to sit back more and counter strike. It shouldn't be that difficult to tell your players to alter attack strategies on the fly IF they have already been taught schemes.

 

[Pancakes]

Like others mentioned, again not advocating for Mark Madden but he had a point. Coming into a 3rd game in 4 days against a fresh team and then going to 11 forwards. A coach should already have an adapted approach.

Not that I condone boring hockey, but much like our cup run when Letang was out we had to sit back more and counter strike. It shouldn't be that difficult to tell your players to alter attack strategies on the fly IF they have already been taught schemes.

It just depends on if you have the time to do it. Altering the approach on the fly in this one wouldn't have done jack shit, because by the time the Pens could have made that decision, they were already down 3-0 and the game was effectively over.

 

[Ugene Magic]

The Avs seem to do alright with Jack Johnson playing as #6. Complaining a lot about the #6 or ZAR or whoever the next bottom six whipping boy is going to be when the entire team doesn't bother playing defense is just weird to me. Sure, these players could be better. But they are rarely losing games for us and we usually get what we pay for them, i.e. not a lot but at least our money's worth. We tend to "get cooked" in the playoffs because either nobody can score or nobody plays good defense, this happens way too often for a team that is considered a contender. It's not just the Ruhwedels of this world who struggle, it's the whole team (sometimes with an exception or two). Is it going to happen this year again? I don't know, but it's seems pretty likely.

Are you really comparing what the Avs are to what the current Pens are?

It is a problem because, the depth does need to do more, period. That's what takes the pressure off the top players and makes it harder on the opposition. Come playoff time they get literally nothing so teams can isolate on the stars and make them much less affective. The Islanders had better depth they moved around to that effect last playoffs.

This year, unless Zucker/McGinn come back and light a fire with their play (which isn't impossible) to help drive the teams depth into another level, they will not be able to compete with these younger, more depth driven teams. I didn't think this team would hitch themselves this tightly to Ruh, but they have. When you attach yourself to more than one is certainly where the Pens have faltered.

They have time to wash away that, but they ultimately won't be fully proven until those games that matter.

The Avs have a much more opposing defense and a far more opposing offense.

I'm guessing we agree more than we disagree.

 

[Angrrus]

I do, but they also are two of the only Penguins that actually contribute in the scoring department for the team.

... only on PP
... and when the opponent isn't really strong
... and only in 1 game out of 2or 3 (at best)

Other than that - yes they are extremely valuable for the team, yes [sarcasm].

 

[Angrrus]

They don't.

They do.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You just want me to stop watching hockey, don't you?

Heinen, Crosby, Rodrigues is Mike Sullivan's pornhub dream.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

This could have been a statement game for the Penguins but turned out to be one for the Rangers. Yikes.

Game 20 or so, fine a bad loss, move on.

Game 66, with 12 games left in the season where you should be ironing out these issues after being a joke in the first round 3 straight years, against the potential first round match up? Yeah that shit is embarrassing. Tomorrow could be more game footage for GG to own Sully in the first round.

 

[Ryder71]

Pittsburghs problem is that they can't consistently play with structure, veracity and focus for more than a game or two in a row. They can't stay health either which is a huge strike against them. They can beat anyone on a given night, but they can't maintain that intensity through a long and arduous playoff run. That's going to be the undoing of this team. And our aging stars have been through so many wars, nagging injuries and miles upon miles, they just don't have the ability to play at a high level through four playoff rounds.

 

[BeatenLikeRentedMule]

If Pens are out in round one yet again, I don't see the point in going on with this core.

We might as well let Malkin and Letang leave or sign and trade them for something. Fire the coach in the off season and bring in fresh eyes. Burkstall ought to leave as well.

Should nothing be done, this team will be like the 2002-2005 Penguins soon.

There is no point being a regular season pretender. The East is only getting stronger.

 

[DearDiary]

3rd game in 4 days with a defender playing forward, can't expect teams to put in 100% effort with schedules like this.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Heinen, Crosby, Rodrigues is Mike Sullivan's pornhub dream.

Ironically enough, the first guy wouldn't bother me nearly as much as the last guy. At least while Zucker is out.

Personally when Zucker's back I really wish they'd go something like this in the top 6:
Guentzel/Crosby/Zucker
Rakell/Malkin/Rust

But I'm fully expecting the following when Z returns:
Guentzel/Crosby/E-Rod
Zucker/Malkin/Rust

With Rakell on L3 with Carter and Kapanen.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Ironically enough, the first guy wouldn't bother me nearly as much as the last guy. At least while Zucker is out.

Personally when Zucker's back I really wish they'd go something like this in the top 6:
Guentzel/Crosby/Zucker
Rakell/Malkin/Rust

But I'm fully expecting the following when Z returns:
Guentzel/Crosby/E-Rod
Zucker/Malkin/Rust

With Rakell on L3 with Carter and Kapanen.

You speak the true true.

 

[Pens x]

Are we really going to continue to play Erod on line 1?