Post-Game Talk: Bolts 4, Pens 3 (OT): The Fleury Special

[66-30-33]

Man, John Hodgman was in attendance for his first hockey game rooting for the Pens for some reason. Shame it ended so cruelly.

[Tweet]734681346862415872[/MEDIA]

Who is he?

 

[tom_servo]

Who is he?

He was on the Daily Show, he played the PC in the old Mac vs PC ads, does comedy specials, podcasts, books.... all-around intellectual funnyman.

 

[PensPlz]

I really wish they would deal Fleury just so people can't use him as an easy scapegoat to why this team blows in the post season year after year.

But regardless, this season is going to be viewed as a "success" by upper management and nothing will change for next year. Same team just older.

 

[Whale Mingo]

It's not ****ing over boys. Jesus, look at all of you. Have they won the series yet? NO. There's A LOT of hockey to play still, we WILL win this series and if we don't? So what! We shattered expectations this year and we have a GREAT future ahead of ourselves.

No, of course it's not over. We've simply managed to turn a 2-1 lead and home ice advantage into a 78%-22% situation against us. Now, that 78% against us is if you just use random teams from the history of the NHL.

As you know, we are no random team. We find ways to get the absolute least amount possible out of most situations AND, exhibit B, they likely start MAF tomorrow because that is the type of arganizaion we have.

So, no, it's not OVER. NHL history would show we still have a 1 in 5 chance. Throw in our ability to **** things up and (I'm guessing here) that moves the number to closer to 90/10. Again, not over, we still have a 10% chance. 10% seems a far cry from how things were when it was 2-1 now doesn't it?

It's not over, but, it's over.

 

[66-30-33]

He was on the Daily Show, he played the PC in the old Mac vs PC ads, does comedy specials, podcasts, books.... all-around intellectual funnyman.

Only podcast i listen/watch is the JRE. How are his?

 

[Zero Pucks]

I really wish they would deal Fleury just so people can't use him as an easy scapegoat to why this team blows in the post season year after year.

But regardless, this season is going to be viewed as a "success" by upper management and nothing will change for next year. Same team just older.

Pretty strange how we've gotten to the conference finals twice without him in net. Isn't it?

 

[tom_servo]

Only podcast i listen/watch is the JRE. How are his?

I've listed to Judge John Hodgman only a couple times, but I typically like him in any format.

 

[PensPlz]

Pretty strange how we've gotten to the conference finals twice without him in net. Isn't it?

And to the same result both times?

Honestly, who did we beat to get to the ECF this year? A Rags team that had been on a downward spiral for months prior to the postseason and then another team that loves to disappoint their fans in the post season, more than the Pens love to, with Washington.

And now a Tampa team without Stamkos and Bishop are finally real resistance and we fold. If Bishop is in net then it's the Bruins series all over and we score 2 goals in 4 games. But that was also Fleury's fault.

 

[Pens17]

I really wish they would deal Fleury just so people can't use him as an easy scapegoat to why this team blows in the post season year after year.

But regardless, this season is going to be viewed as a "success" by upper management and nothing will change for next year. Same team just older.

"Blind support is little more than blatant obstructionism," Vince Lombardi.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Pretty strange how we've gotten to the conference finals twice without him in net. Isn't it?

So we're back here again, huh?

I was fine with Fleury coming into game 5. I could see the merits of going with either goalie. I was rooting for Fleury, and heck the fans were giving him tons of support as well.

We all thought his bad days were behind him, but here he went again.

Personally I'd be fine with never seeing him again, or if they can't move him, at least he can play backup duties to Murray for the season so Murray is fresh for the playoffs.

 

[Whale Mingo]

And to the same result both times?

Honestly, who did we beat to get to the ECF this year? A Rags team that had been on a downward spiral for months prior to the postseason and then another team that loves to disappoint their fans in the post season, more than the Pens love to, with Washington.

And now a Tampa team without Stamkos and Bishop are finally real resistance and we fold. If Bishop is in net then it's the Bruins series all over and we score 2 goals in 4 games. But that was also Fleury's fault.

That's a good bit of spin doctoring right there. The Caps were the President's trophy winners and a damn good team. Beating them should not be dismissed so easily.

 

[Shady Machine]

And to the same result both times?

Honestly, who did we beat to get to the ECF this year? A Rags team that had been on a downward spiral for months prior to the postseason and then another team that loves to disappoint their fans in the post season, more than the Pens love to, with Washington.

And now a Tampa team without Stamkos and Bishop are finally real resistance and we fold. If Bishop is in net then it's the Bruins series all over and we score 2 goals in 4 games. But that was also Fleury's fault.

Really you aren't going to give the Pens credit for beating that Caps team?

 

[Ugene Magic]

That's a good bit of spin doctoring right there. The Caps were the President's trophy winners and a damn good team. Beating them should not be dismissed so easily.

Their bottom six, man.

They screwed the pooch. They were rolling along "hey! why don't we add Winnik, then Weber and to top it off dumpster fire Richards."

They road a terribad conference at the beginning of the season, and coasted barely winning the rest of the way. They looked like crap and put the crap in Crapitals.

It was all smoke and mirrors. When you have to play a good team every single game how did they do? How much were they trying to destroy players because they knew they screwed up.

 

[PensPlz]

"Blind support is little more than blatant obstructionism," Vince Lombardi.

We lose when Fleury's in net, we lose when Fleury's not in net.

We lose with vets as forward depth, we lose with youth as forward depth.

We lose with Iginlas, we lose with Neals and Kessels.

Like... not blindly supporting... maybe we need to look a little harder at the constants. Mainly 87, 71, 58 just going through the motions of each EFC game. If it weren't for the HBK line and Chris ****ing Kunitz this series would be a blowout. Our offense would be anemic. No amount of goal tending would give us a slight chance.

 

[PensPlz]

Really you aren't going to give the Pens credit for beating that Caps team?

Not really

But if that series was the SCF for ya... cheers.

 

[vikingGoalie]

And to the same result both times?

Honestly, who did we beat to get to the ECF this year? A Rags team that had been on a downward spiral for months prior to the postseason and then another team that loves to disappoint their fans in the post season, more than the Pens love to, with Washington.

And now a Tampa team without Stamkos and Bishop are finally real resistance and we fold. If Bishop is in net then it's the Bruins series all over and we score 2 goals in 4 games. But that was also Fleury's fault.

if bishop is in net we are winning this series at this point.

We've chased him from net like 3x ? Vasilesky has been a tougher nut to crack for our team historically and now.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

If we had Sid or Geno playing like they're capable of, this series wouldn't be 3-2 Tampa.

 

[WhiteWalker*]

I'm not too worried. I think management forced Sullys hand. Give Murray a rest and hope Flower wins a game or two to boost his trade stock. There's nothing about Fleury's game that said he was ready for last night. I hope it wasn't the 7 saves when they were going to lose regardless of his play. He's a mental midget and flourishes in those times.

 

[Beauner]

We lose when Fleury's in net, we lose when Fleury's not in net.

We lose with vets as forward depth, we lose with youth as forward depth.

We lose with Iginlas, we lose with Neals and Kessels.

Like... not blindly supporting... maybe we need to look a little harder at the constants. Mainly 87, 71, 58 just going through the motions of each EFC game. If it weren't for the HBK line and Chris ****ing Kunitz this series would be a blowout. Our offense would be anemic. No amount of goal tending would give us a slight chance.

I'm slowly coming to agreement with this. I'll give Malkin some slack this year considering his elbow is still probably messed up and his linemates are absolute garbage. However it seems like when he's not physically 100%, he's not close to 100% mentally either.

But Crosby...I dunno. He'll have spurts of good play. Like his work on Horny's goal last night. Great puck protection, great vision and a great pass. But that's not Sidney Crosby. One great play a game is not who he is. He's the best player in the world and he should be taking over games, racking up points and making guys look silly like he usually does. But nothing. I'm waiting for him to go crazy and take over a game or series but it hasn't come yet, and I'm not sure it ever will again. He's not getting any younger and his style of play could have just caused him to not do what he was once able to.

58, you take the good with the bad. I'm fine with him though he has been rough since about game 2.

 

[dvonfunk]

I thought Kuhny was a demon on the forecheck last night.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

We lose when Fleury's in net, we lose when Fleury's not in net.

We lose with vets as forward depth, we lose with youth as forward depth.

We lose with Iginlas, we lose with Neals and Kessels.

Like... not blindly supporting... maybe we need to look a little harder at the constants. Mainly 87, 71, 58 just going through the motions of each EFC game. If it weren't for the HBK line and Chris ****ing Kunitz this series would be a blowout. Our offense would be anemic. No amount of goal tending would give us a slight chance.

The problem is you're arguing something different than what the majority of folks have an issue with this past game.

Do Crosby and Malkin have to be better? Yes. Am I disappointed in their overall production? Yes. They can't continue to be simply "good" and expect the Pens to win the Cup.

However ...

This is a GDT to discuss what happened in last night's game. It wasn't Crosby or Malkin's lack of production that lost the game for the Pens. It was Fleury's letting in a bad angle goal when it was 2-0 Pens to suddenly give Tampa life, and it was Fleury's horrible rebound control that allowed Tampa to tie it with just over 3 minutes left in the game.

If you want to discuss the series as a whole and wanting more out of them (although Crosby has both game winning goals, so I guess he should have 3 or 4 game winners instead of just 2 to satisfy you), fine. But in THIS game, with the Pens having both a 2-0 lead and dominating play AND a 3-2 lead with only about 3 minutes left in the game, Fleury's inability to even make average NHL stops is the issue.

If Fleury had made saves even an average #1 goalie in the NHL could make, we'd be discussing whether the Pens could wrap up the series in Tampa or if we should be worried about a game 7. Instead, we have to wonder if the Pens' season is done after a game they should have won.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

We lose when Fleury's in net, we lose when Fleury's not in net.

We lose with vets as forward depth, we lose with youth as forward depth.

We lose with Iginlas, we lose with Neals and Kessels.

Like... not blindly supporting... maybe we need to look a little harder at the constants. Mainly 87, 71, 58 just going through the motions of each EFC game. If it weren't for the HBK line and Chris ****ing Kunitz this series would be a blowout. Our offense would be anemic. No amount of goal tending would give us a slight chance.

Crosby created goal #2 and Malkin created goal #3. Could they be better? Quite obviously. The reality is Malkin hasn't been playing Malkin hockey all playoffs, Crosby hasn't been playing Crosby hockey since the Rangers series, and Letang hasn't been playing Letang hockey since he had his brains scrambled in game 1.

Even with all that working against them supposedly, the team was still in a position to take a 3-2 series lead, with a 3-2 score with 3 minutes to go. All they needed was a routine save or 2 from MAF. He failed to do so as he has so many times before.

Worst of all, the team had exactly the kind of goalie who could have done just that and he had already gotten them 10 of the 16 wins needed for a cup. I cannot recall a team ever changing up their goalie situation this deep into a playoff run with any success (Off the top of my head I can think of 2 rookie goalies who took over the leading role - Roy and Ward).

I get pulling Murray to spark the team in the 3rd of game 4. Not starting Murray in game 5 was a huge mistake, never mind that the goalie they put in had a long history of inconsistent showings in big games and hadn't played in a starting role in over a month.

 

[Zero Pucks]

And to the same result both times?

Honestly, who did we beat to get to the ECF this year? A Rags team that had been on a downward spiral for months prior to the postseason and then another team that loves to disappoint their fans in the post season, more than the Pens love to, with Washington.

And now a Tampa team without Stamkos and Bishop are finally real resistance and we fold. If Bishop is in net then it's the Bruins series all over and we score 2 goals in 4 games. But that was also Fleury's fault.

Win or lose this series. I'll give this team a lot more credit than the previous years, despite Fleury not being to step it up when he's called upon. Everything isn't Fleury's fault, but if you don't think his post season play is a giant factor in these playoff games, then feel free to keep burying your head in the sand I guess.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I'm slowly coming to agreement with this. I'll give Malkin some slack this year considering his elbow is still probably messed up and his linemates are absolute garbage. However it seems like when he's not physically 100%, he's not close to 100% mentally either.

But Crosby...I dunno. He'll have spurts of good play. Like his work on Horny's goal last night. Great puck protection, great vision and a great pass. But that's not Sidney Crosby. One great play a game is not who he is. He's the best player in the world and he should be taking over games, racking up points and making guys look silly like he usually does. But nothing. I'm waiting for him to go crazy and take over a game or series but it hasn't come yet, and I'm not sure it ever will again. He's not getting any younger and his style of play could have just caused him to not do what he was once able to.

58, you take the good with the bad. I'm fine with him though he has been rough since about game 2.

This isn't 2009 anymore. The league has changed drastically since Crosby and Malkin were at their peak.

Of the NHL players who played at least 60 games this year, six averaged a point per game or more. Only Kane and Benn were better than Crosby's 1.06 per game. Only Kane scored more than 90 points this season.

In 2009, seven players scored 90 points or more. Malkin won the scoring title with 113. Ovheckin had 110, Crosby had 103. Twenty players averaged a point per game.

The league is suffocating its stars, and that includes Crosby and Malkin.

 

[BeatenLikeRentedMule]

The problem is you're arguing something different than what the majority of folks have an issue with this past game.

Do Crosby and Malkin have to be better? Yes. Am I disappointed in their overall production? Yes. They can't continue to be simply "good" and expect the Pens to win the Cup.

However ...

This is a GDT to discuss what happened in last night's game. It wasn't Crosby or Malkin's lack of production that lost the game for the Pens. It was Fleury's letting in a bad angle goal when it was 2-0 Pens to suddenly give Tampa life, and it was Fleury's horrible rebound control that allowed Tampa to tie it with just over 3 minutes left in the game.

If you want to discuss the series as a whole and wanting more out of them (although Crosby has both game winning goals, so I guess he should have 3 or 4 game winners instead of just 2 to satisfy you), fine. But in THIS game, with the Pens having both a 2-0 lead and dominating play AND a 3-2 lead with only about 3 minutes left in the game, Fleury's inability to even make average NHL stops is the issue.

If Fleury had made saves even an average #1 goalie in the NHL could make, we'd be discussing whether the Pens could wrap up the series in Tampa or if we should be worried about a game 7. Instead, we have to wonder if the Pens' season is done after a game they should have won.

Keep in mind one of the Pens' goals were from Dumoulin. That happens as often as an solar eclipse.

If your star players aren't your best players, chances are you lose the game but Fleury only made matters much worse.