Post-Game Talk: City of Bridges | Hawks 10, Pens 1

[Pengu]

Well, the Penguins always gets the ass handed to them by the Hawks, but in the fashion it happened hurts.
The honeymoon is over and the team needs to wake up fast.

 

[Captain Hook]

Definitely one of the biggest ass kicking's we've taken in the Crosby/Malkin era. I suppose it's a lot easier to take early in the year coming off back to back Cups but still. This team has a long way to go to get back to the level they were at the past two years.

 

[molon labe]

Reaves? 10-1 and half the posts are about Reaves? Jesus Christ.


In any event, I came here to praise the least bad guy and that guy was Bryan Rust.

The discussion should begin with "Is a game like this evidence enough as to what Patric Hornqvist brings to the Pens?"

People here have very unique ways of approaching opinions (mainly about hockey of course).. But there needs to be blame. The lack of scoring and defense is clearly in Reaves wheel house. I mean, it's game 2 and he doesn't have a goal. The defense should be rallying behind him as well. Who cares we went back to back /home and away against the Blues and Hawks to start the season? NO EXCUSE! When we inevitably lose some of the next 3 against the Preds, Caps, and Lightening - 3 teams we've crushed hope for in the last 2 seasons it'll be more of the same. Freakin Reaves will be at fault and no external factors will matter.

 

[NMK11]

One thing in particular, as much as Sid and the Kids has a nice ring and can be fun to watch, once they lose the puck they might as well get off the ice. That line needs a Hornqvist, Hagelin, etc.

Still want to see Rust and Sheary be our third line for a chunk of time.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I think Letang's surgeon did something that messed with his sense of direction. He was all over the place tonight (and not in a good way).

I also wasn't a fan of Sullivan keeping Murray in the rest of the game. Why even risk it when the game is out of reach and he's got to start on Saturday? Imagine if he'd gotten hurt, the Pens would be toast.

But, yeah, I'm not sure what more you can say about that effort by the Pens tonight.

Or you know it could be he has not played full pace NHL hockey in what just shy of a year? Letang will be fine, she just has to stumble awhile to get back into his full game form.

 

[The Old Master]

The discussion should begin with "Is a game like this evidence enough as to what Patric Hornqvist brings to the pens
.

NO! I don't think 66 in his prime could not of helped the team we saw last night. it was a complete team effort.

 

[Coastal Kev]

 

[Rakell67]

Why I'm still positive:
-Pens lost a lot of Veteran leadership (Cullen, Bonino, Kunitz, Daley, Hainsey and Fleury) and it will take some time to adjust. You could even include Tocchet in there too.
-Letang has been out for awhile and it will take some time for him to get back to his elite (with some flaws) level of play.
-Pens have Cap Space to play with and have some youth that may push for playing time in the 2nd half of the season. JR will make the necessary adjustments.
-Adversity is a good thing. Look back to the first half of the 2015-16 season...Look at the injuries last season...
-Crosby

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Let me sum this up.

You had never seen Reaves play a shift before in your life yet you decided he was a terrible hockey player.

Then, you watched his first 2 games with the team. 2 games that went very poorly. While you were watching said games, you were watching them with your previously stated feelings on Reaves in mind.

So, you came to the conclusion that the player you thought was bad is indeed bad and that these 2 terrible games are the only evidence you need on the matter?

I'm stunned

I'm sure Reaves looked awesome in Hitch's slow ass defensive system in the slog that is the Western Conference. He will totally be the same player here!

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

That game was ugly, but the 7-1 drubbing from the Caps last year felt worse to me personally.

Probably because I know this is an evolving lineup still, and last season felt the roster was going to be more static. Oh, and I hate the Caps to.

 

[Pengu]

Worrying that our supposed leader at the back has been absolutely abysmal.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

I'm sure Reaves looked awesome in Hitch's slow ass defensive system in the slog that is the Western Conference. He will totally be the same player here!

I never even said Reaves was gonna be good or anything. I'm just advising others to wait longer than 2 games into the season to codemn him as the second coming of Tanner Glass.

I'm just shocked you made a post that wasn't a passive aggressive shot at the goaltenders.

 

[Coastal Kev]

That game was ugly, but the 7-1 drubbing from the Caps last year felt worse to me personally.

Probably because I know this is an evolving lineup still, and last season felt the roster was going to be more static. Oh, and I hate the Caps to.

I kinda expected a 7-1 loss last night heading into the game. So the reality is that the Pens were only 3 goals worse than my expectations.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Well, it's good to get all the stinkers out of the way early! Maybe now the players realize what they are up against this year. EVERY team in the NHL wants to do to us what Chicago was able to do to us. This is good that it happened in Game 2. Hopefully, we don't have to watch a haphazard team for half the season. The wake-up call came early. Wow.

We have two issues that need to be fixed, everything else will fall into place imho:

- we need a legit No. 3 center.
- we need Tristan Jarry to play this season IN THE NHL.

I feel for Nashville, they are going to see a much different squad Saturday night.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I didn't like how we got Reaves but I think he's a good player relatively speaking. If he looks like Glass 20 games from now I'll worry.

Pretty much goes for anything negative that happened in the past two games. The one thing I'm truly worried about is Niemi being washed up, but other than that let's wait and see.

 

[TimmyD]

Well that was something.

If I had to hazard a guess, the Pens are going to continue to look discombobulated and completely off their game until some time after the 10th of October. "Something" is causing a lot of outside distraction, stress, and possible emotional turmoil amongst the players

What would you be referring to exactly?

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

What would you be referring to exactly?

Crosby is just missing his good friend Colby Armstrong and it's bringing the whole team down.

 

[Beau Knows]

Well that was interesting.

It's funny to have the team go back to back with largely the same roster returning for the 3rd year but still have questions about the makeup of the top lines.
Sid and the Kids have their moments and have wonderful chemistry, but they don't work well in their own end. Horny has his own limitations but is another intriguing option for a Crosby line that worked well in the past.
Geno and Phil are still not really that great together.

I like Reaves, I think he's a good player. But I'm not sure that he will be able to fit in with the team we are trying to put together here. They have done a marvelous job the last couple years "just playing" and ignoring all the BS, I think having someone like Reaves might actually stir things up more than "police the game".

I have no confidence in Niemi, I think he's just a crummy goalie.

McKegg has been a nice surprise, he might actually be a good 4C option. If the team can get their act together and a good 3C in here we have an excellent shot at the Cup again.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

What would you be referring to exactly?

White House visit, and I actually do wonder if that's a distraction for them. It's very different kind of vitriol for athletes to deal with and the usual hockey shtick of being neutral and as inoffensive as possible was basically met with "haha, no. It's a stance and you're shitty people" from a lot of people. Instead of "so classy" they're politicized and there's every chance it will be worse after the visit. It's much more of people going in character as people than anything sports related.

 

[TimmyD]

White House visit, and I actually do wonder if that's a distraction for them. It's very different kind of vitriol for athletes to deal with and the usual hockey shtick of being neutral and as inoffensive as possible was basically met with "haha, no. It's a stance and you're ****ty people" from a lot of people. Instead of "so classy" they're politicized and there's every chance it will be worse after the visit. It's much more of people going in character as people than anything sports related.

Thank you for the clarification. I never really thought of that but I guess it is possible

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I was prepared for a bit of a down year but I sure hope they don't flat-out suck right after letting Fleury and Kunitz walk. The obnoxious fan/media narratives are pretty obvious.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Zero point handing out minuses in this one (and obviously nobody would get a plus). There's no insight to be gained on individual players from a game like that. Anyone trying is either agenda-driven or attempting an exercise in futility.

That said, the Pens have yet to play one good period in their own zone. Fixing that is Sullivan's first job.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

 

[EliteGoaltending]

Yep, team defense has been obviously the biggest issue the past two games.

And it's not only on the players and their effort. Yesterday, being down 4-0, the effort was there, but they continued to get break down every time.

They all, especially defensmen, looked messy/disorderly. I don't believe they're just collectively forgot what to do out there. Coaching staff needs to step up and to make adjustments. Seems it is exactly what they're doing today with canceling a practice and holding a lengthy video session meeting instead.

Also, most likely they'll need a better back up than Niemi down the road...

 

[Peat]

When everything goes wrong, you have to look at the coaches first and foremost. Maybe it was just Sullivan couldn't get through to them that day and the Hawks were all super fired up - we'll have more proof over the next few weeks - but I doubt it. That thrashing was totally in line with a number of other outings against good teams from last year; they wanted to boss it, we weren't that interested, and Sullivan's system falls apart rapidly when we're not the fastest, hardest working team on the ice. Throw in a bunch of guys failing to read each other and its a recipe for disaster. Sully's system is great for the play-offs - its a bit of a struggle in October.

My guess is he needs to simplify things and let the players work their way up to executing the full system.