Post-Game Talk: Cole's Plus/Minus: black & gold vs. black & gold

[Tom Hanks]

I would honestly rather see them just play Kevin Czuczman. Matheson & Riikola are on LTIR, Matheson just started skating, Petterson is just listed as "out" so not sure what that means, the boards are lonely without him being smacked up against it by every player in the league.

But if Dumoulin is out, jeez. What are we going to be looking at with this Defense? The Taxi Squad just has KC. Do they have the sack to call up Cameron Lee? Almari is more of a defensive defenseman, might be something this blueline can use with who we've seen lost but he's on loan to Finland and I doubt they bring him back for this.

POJ, Letang
Czuczman, Marino
Feces, Ruhwedel

Lol, that's almost X Gen bad.

No ones on LTIR yet. So everyone will either be back before 10 games/24 days or it’ll be done retroactively (I assume they can maximize the cap this way).

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The loss of Dumo isn't even that bad. I have no idea what happened to him, but his defensive play reminds me of Scuds for the past 15 games or so. Dude just plops down on the ice near the crease at the slightest hint of any danger. No desire or attempt to close gaps, or take the body. He just instantly drops to a knee or his belly and that's that for his effort.

 

[Gurglesons]

The loss of Dumo isn't even that bad. I have no idea what happened to him, but his defensive play reminds me of Scuds for the past 15 games or so. Dude just plops down on the ice near the crease at the slightest hint of any danger. No desire or attempt to close gaps, or take the body. He just instantly drops to a knee or his belly and that's that for his effort.

Yeah, this team gets Pettersson back and I'd argue I like our top four as:

Marino - Letang
Pettersson - Ruhwedel

better than

Dumo - Letang
Matheson - Marino

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I would honestly rather see them just play Kevin Czuczman. Matheson & Riikola are on LTIR, Matheson just started skating, Petterson is just listed as "out" so not sure what that means, the boards are lonely without him being smacked up against it by every player in the league.

But if Dumoulin is out, jeez. What are we going to be looking at with this Defense? The Taxi Squad just has KC. Do they have the sack to call up Cameron Lee? Almari is more of a defensive defenseman, might be something this blueline can use with who we've seen lost but he's on loan to Finland and I doubt they bring him back for this.

POJ, Letang
Czuczman, Marino
Feces, Ruhwedel

Lol, that's almost X Gen bad.

Have you watched Dumoulin this year? They aren't going to miss much.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Have you watched Dumoulin this year? They aren't going to miss much.

Trust me, I've been on the Dumoulin has been ass for over a season. I wasn't a fan of him rushing from injury to start last season, since then he's just been mostly awful.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Anybody have a video of that 3-0 f***-up?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Anybody have a video of that 3-0 f***-up?

It's still in use in Malkin's head.
Meanwhile in Letang's head...

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Who was 100% sure not only was Malkin and Letang not going to score on that 3-0, that they weren't going to get a shot?

The way they played that, I wouldn't have been surprised if somehow, against the laws of physics, they managed to score on their own net there. That's how comically bad they executed that.

 

[Gurglesons]

It's still in use in Malkin's head.
Meanwhile in Letang's head...

What did you want Letang to do here?

 

[ronduguayshair]

The loss of Dumo isn't even that bad. I have no idea what happened to him, but his defensive play reminds me of Scuds for the past 15 games or so. Dude just plops down on the ice near the crease at the slightest hint of any danger. No desire or attempt to close gaps, or take the body. He just instantly drops to a knee or his belly and that's that for his effort.

more like hal gill

 

[Ryder71]

Again, you're down by two goals to the B's entering the 3rd period and you garner a point. To me that's a good outcome.

 

[EightyOne]

Again, you're down by two goals to the B's entering the 3rd period and you garner a point. To me that's a good outcome.

Totally. Everyone expected to be destroyed. Pens hung on.

 

[Shady Machine]

What did you want Letang to do here?

yeah Malkin messed that up. Skated too far ahead of Letang and the last pass was too in tight as a result. If he could have roofed a shot after Letang pass it’s a goal.

Letang could have faked a shot better but he was trying to catch up.

 

[Daeni10]

Nah. He is just being poor on his own defensively.

No denying that. But if you struggle on your own it definetly doesn't help to have no consistency from the outside, especially at that age/experience level. In a stable environment you can really focus on your own play only and get back to the basics. If you struggle but have to play on your offside, with always changing d partners, you will never get the rhythm that allows you to only focus on your own game as you have to deal with outside factors as well.

But he needs to be better on his own, no doubt

 

[Al Smith]

No ones on LTIR yet. So everyone will either be back before 10 games/24 days or it’ll be done retroactively (I assume they can maximize the cap this way).

On the nhl Game Center, Riiko was a scratch but Matheson was not. I assumed that meant Matheson was on IR but Riiko was not.

 

[Jesse]

@ColePens, one more plus. You could see Kapanen getting on the same page as Malkin as the game wore on, and as the comfort and confidence grew with those two, it grew a little by extension with Zucker. Still not sure it's a whole greater than sum of parts style combo, but you could see the steps in the right direction. It's too bad there's a thread that says @Jesse wrote an article saying Malkin is broken, because he didn't exactly look like it tonight.

Joke aside, the big concern for me is the Bruins play with structure and support, from top to bottom and all over the ice. They play a five man game and the Pens don't, and that's a competitive disadvantage that's hard to overcome.

EDIT: Agree 100% on Jarry. And frankly I think he really needed one like this, against a top team like this.

If that 2-0 isn't evidence of Malkin over thinking the game I'm not sure what evidence I can produce to convince people of that.

 

[ronduguayshair]

The 2-0 "attempt" was so embarrassing the official Penguins youtube highlight omits it.

 

[ronduguayshair]

yeah Malkin messed that up. Skated too far ahead of Letang and the last pass was too in tight as a result. If he could have roofed a shot after Letang pass it’s a goal.

Letang could have faked a shot better but he was trying to catch up.

Exactly. If favorite player would have just stopped it would have worked even bumbled.

 

[madinsomniac]

I missed this game due to work... the Pens record is horrendous the past 25 years when I work through a game... if i were superstitious, id probably be unemployed and homeless but the Pens winning percentage would be slightly higher...

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Frustrating end to an otherwise decent game by the Pens. And of course that's what most everyone is focusing on.

+Marino looked better.
+Blueger continues to impress.
+Zucker has seemingly come to life.
+Rust continues to be a top 6 forward.
+Jarry looking way better.

-The powerplay is a joke.
-Sid, Geno, and Jake don't look right.
-The Pens were dominated on faceoffs.
-Injuries are still a thing.

 

[Tom Hanks]

On the nhl Game Center, Riiko was a scratch but Matheson was not. I assumed that meant Matheson was on IR but Riiko was not.

Yeah, Cap Friendly says it’s just ZAR and Matheson on IR for the moment.

 

[Icarium]

We actually outplayed a team for the first time but found a way to lose in OT, sounds like Penguins hockey, all right. PP1 was back to being an abomination - okay Boston has a great PK but PP2 managed to create chances, one of which led to a goal. Malkin and Letang in OT - shades of Kunitz is Game 6 of the finals in 2016 but without the happy ending. I guess they were just stunned there was no call for a trip but this isn't an excuse.
It's great that we are getting points with Geno playing like crap for the most part and Sid being nowhere near his best for the most part but on the other hand you gotta wonder if we can keep erasing those deficits. Would be nice to take a good lead early on for once and then win comfortably because I don't think my heart is going to handle a season full of drama like this.

 

[NastyNick]

Malkin and Letang are probably the two worst players to have on the ice in OT. Malkin has never grasped the concept of 3 on 3 and Letang is a moron in general.

When i saw that 3 on 0.. i knew they weren't going to score - i just wanted them to NOT #### it up so bad that it ends up a 3 on 0 the other way. So kudos there.. i guess.

But man.. is there a worse job in the NHL than being that third man in a Malkin-Letang 3 on 0? Can't think of one..

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

What did you want Letang to do here?

Ugh, Malkin has like 2 feet of wide-open net there. Idiot.

 

[The Old Master]

That 3-0 at the end of the OT. What an infuriating display of overpassing. Augh. Still good to get a point out of this one.

the coach needs to show that film to the team every day for the rest of the season.