Post-Game Talk: Cole's Plus/Minus: Muzz/Letang are STARS tonight!

[EightyOne]

Great job, team.

I like the low amount of penalties.

 

[Common Sense]

Loved the power play tonight even though it didn’t score. Everything to the net.

 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrots]

An eng that was NOT scored by McCann

that second goal was a ****in beaut, my word

I'll take more of just about all of this, thank you

When they put up 9 on Calgary last year at roughly this time, as much fun as that was to be there for, I still never thought in that game that they looked cohesive. It's early days of course, but this looks like a team that deserves to win. Dallas has a shockingly bad record rn, a desperate team, which was an almost guaranteed loss last year.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Apparently tomorrow is a measuring stick game. Ugh.

They are a good team.

Let the Fleury affect go.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The only negatives I'd say about this game is that I thought Marino had a pretty poor game overall and Simon was absolutely awful. Everything else was good IMO.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Also when they get healthy who sits?

I believe BobbyMac said Chucky would be back first so out comes AJ.
Bjugs back ='s Blandisi comes out.
Rust back SHOULD mean the worst playing out of Kahun, ZAR, Simon comes out but i fear Lafferty may come out...

Theres certainly some fear there that the good structure they've built up defending and playing fast with fast players up and down the lineup gets downshifted with Bjugs/ZAR/Simon, etc. going back to wonky.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

The only negatives I'd say about this game is that I thought Marino had a pretty poor game overall and Simon was absolutely awful. Everything else was good IMO.

True, but even in a game like this, Simon reacts quickly to win the race to the puck and get it to Letang for his 1st goal.
He does little things like this all the time that many don't appreciate.

 

[Ugene Magic]

True, but even in a game like this, Simon reacts quickly to win the race to the puck and get it to Letang for his 1st goal.
He does little things like this all the time that many don't appreciate.

That's fair.

The issue are the games where he doesn't even do that. He's prone to long bad stretches. You can't be that invisible where he's posting his spot in the lineup.

 

[66-30-33]

Pretty crazy Pens are 1st in metro division despite how beat up we are. Second in the conference.

 

[Night Shift]

I’m with you here. Really seems like he fights the puck at times. Has been pretty frequent this year, at least lately. I wouldn’t mind him being resigned but hopefully it’s not some stupid Vasilevskiy type contract. That’s just way too much.

With 2 cups I think a deal similar but deserving, especially if he has a solid year this year. I think you have to rid Guds/JJ or Bjugs and I would still give him the money.

 

[ColePens]

Pretty crazy Pens are 1st in metro division despite how beat up we are. Second in the conference.

Standings/that stuff doesn't really matter. Pens struggled in 2016 and won the Cup. Injured to high hell in 2017 - won the Cup. Tampa DOMINATED and lost in the first round. St Louis was last place - win the Cup.

BUT... finding an identity and finding this type of chemistry is monster. We aren't just winning based on skill. We aren't just winning because Sid is on fire, albeit he is. This team is finding chemistry and playing with speed. They are playing with tenacity. And we are finding young cheap players who can deliver big.

This team is fun. Win or lose... this team is worth my time and investment.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Pretty crazy Pens are 1st in metro division despite how beat up we are. Second in the conference.

They are also the highest scoring team in the entire league. With who's out you'd never guess that.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

They are a good team.

Let the Fleury affect go.

With the personnel we have out right now, it does seem hard to think of tomorrow's game as a true measuring stick.

 

[fragmag]

Didn't get to participate in the GDT tonight but watched the whole game at Fatheads. What a game by this team. Faced a desperate team and held tough and still came away with the win. Tanger was amazing, such a fun team to watch right now. Love this!!

 

[Shaftception]

I’m with you here. Really seems like he fights the puck at times. Has been pretty frequent this year, at least lately. I wouldn’t mind him being resigned but hopefully it’s not some stupid Vasilevskiy type contract. That’s just way too much.

The odd thing for me at least is outside of a couple games early on I've felt he's been pretty solid during this streak. Coming off each game I don't remember one where I really pointed to him as a minus.

But then you look at league gaa/sv% atm and he's ranked 19th (2.56)/28th (.914) respectively. That's actually pretty mediocre. Not sure if it's just too early to judge goalie statistics yet or what, but I'd prefer at least sv% be closer to the .920 range to be satisfied considered his expected pedigree. He really went on a nice stretch to end the year last year so hopefully he's still dusting off some rust from the off season.

One break I'd argue is fair to give him is that opponents have scored on a number of breakaways recently, which aren't really his fault.

 

[Gurglesons]

If we beat Vegas tomorrow time to start to party.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

If we beat Vegas tomorrow time to start to party.

It's crazy that even if we lose that, we retain 1st (assuming CAR lose - they're down 2)

 

[WayneSid9987]

Standings/that stuff doesn't really matter. Pens struggled in 2016 and won the Cup. Injured to high hell in 2017 - won the Cup. Tampa DOMINATED and lost in the first round. St Louis was last place - win the Cup.

BUT... finding an identity and finding this type of chemistry is monster. We aren't just winning based on skill. We aren't just winning because Sid is on fire, albeit he is. This team is finding chemistry and playing with speed. They are playing with tenacity. And we are finding young cheap players who can deliver big.

This team is fun. Win or lose... this team is worth my time and investment.

I think a solid strategy to try and not lose this IF Bjugs goes back in is to try him on RW.

Sid-Jake-Simon
Chucky-McCann-Horny
Tanev/Rust-Lafferty-Bjugs
ZAR-Blueger-Tanev/Rust

That or try and prop him up really well at C.
Tanev/Rust-Bjugs-Lafferty
ZAR-Blueger-Tanev/Rust

 

[cygnus47]

We're still too passive once they got set up in the zone, but yet another game where there's nothing else to complain about. We were patient and defended well even when we were behind and they were making it hard to get anything going and we made it difficult for them to get set up in our zone. Sid and Guentzel could have scored 2 each but just missed. Even the Kahun, McCann, Horny line looked good. Powerplay was unlucky but looked awesome, Sid should shoot more from the top of the circles though.

Pretty cool to think we'll essentially be adding an entire 2nd line on top of what we have now. We're a Johnson trade and a bit more aggression away from a very 2016 team.

 

[Ugene Magic]

With the personnel we have out right now, it does seem hard to think of tomorrow's game as a true measuring stick.

I think the team gets slower when they are back. As they are playing now is what you are looking for, but you can't deny Geno and Gally will make them better. Rust and Bjug kind of get made redundant if the path holds true for these guys playing up.

The Pens have a lot they can afford to part with at forward and defense.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

Standings/that stuff doesn't really matter. Pens struggled in 2016 and won the Cup. Injured to high hell in 2017 - won the Cup. Tampa DOMINATED and lost in the first round. St Louis was last place - win the Cup.

BUT... finding an identity and finding this type of chemistry is monster. We aren't just winning based on skill. We aren't just winning because Sid is on fire, albeit he is. This team is finding chemistry and playing with speed. They are playing with tenacity. And we are finding young cheap players who can deliver big.

This team is fun. Win or lose... this team is worth my time and investment.

The chemistry that this team has now, makes me worried about the injured coming back once healthy.

 

[66-30-33]

The chemistry that this team has now, makes me worried about the injured coming back once healthy.

It's going to totally ruin it, especially if they send back all the AHL guys.

 

[Bumpus]

Apparently tomorrow is a measuring stick game. Ugh.

They’re all measuring sticks.

That’s why they keep score.

 

[Andy99]

The odd thing for me at least is outside of a couple games early on I've felt he's been pretty solid during this streak. Coming off each game I don't remember one where I really pointed to him as a minus.

But then you look at league gaa/sv% atm and he's ranked 19th (2.56)/28th (.914) respectively. That's actually pretty mediocre. Not sure if it's just too early to judge goalie statistics yet or what, but I'd prefer at least sv% be closer to the .920 range to be satisfied considered his expected pedigree. He really went on a nice stretch to end the year last year so hopefully he's still dusting off some rust from the off season.

One break I'd argue is fair to give him is that opponents have scored on a number of breakaways recently, which aren't really his fault.

Imo Murray has played too much to start the season...we’ll need to play him later in the season for the PO push...he’s near the top already in games played next to Fleury...he shouldn’t play more than about 50 games altogether...

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I said earlier I was only going to do one shout out, which I did for Marino. But just rewatching the highlights McCann needs one too. Only for the fact so many tip ins come from player just knowing where to hold the stick and just playing a number game. If the go to a spot enough times and put the blade here... eventually I’ll get one. McCann actively put his stick where he knew a puck could be on how that play was going. We really got a good player from Florida on that UFA x 2 trade. He isn’t a super star, but someone you need to keep in your roster because he knows the right things to do, and knows when to do them.