Post-Game Talk: Cole's Plus/Minus: Pens vs. Canes - They cannot close the deal. They just cannot.

[heysmilinstrange]

No consistency in Pittsburgh media. Letang is more sheltered than Tomlin. AB throws a cooler and it's the end of the world. Letang ejected in first game back because he can never stop running his mouth and not useful for the one thing he's really good at and not a peep. Malkin misses first game in awhile and they show the with and without stats right away. With all the games Letang has missed why I have I never seen that stat with him? Without is probably very good that's why.

Come on, man. At least try not to be disingenuous.

 

[ColePens]

Any quotes from last night about why they cannot close?

 

[BigEezyE22]

Any quotes from last night about why they cannot close?

Probably something about lacking attention to detail or not playing the right way.

 

[SouthGeorge]

Come on, man. At least try not to be disingenuous.

Is that not one of the huge benefits of having an offensive d-man like Letang? Better chance of him scoring than Kessel in a shootout and helping us win. Imagine if AB got ejected and wasn't serviceable for OT in a game.

 

[Angrrus]

------ It comes down to 1 thing: A brilliantly played game and they cannot close the door at the end of the game. This team's lack of resilience is impressive. It's clockwork. Every single time they can close the game out, they give it up. Missed faceoff, bouncing puck, whatever. Just close it down.

And the frustrating part is that they are playing an incredible 60 minutes. A very strong 60 minutes. And when it comes down to grind time, they can't do it. We talked about it for weeks now. Hell we even discussed it literally before the game. It's not the defense. It's not the offense. It's the lack of mental strength to close the game out. You would think a group with this many Cups would be able to slam the door shut. And now it's 100% in their head. They know when the game is on the line, they are going to let it go.

And they can't do it. And everyone knows it. It's 100% in their head and they know it. You can almost feel it through the television. It's not one player. It's the collective group and it is in their head.



I don't even want to break it down individually because I was very encouraged by the Penguins play. Seeing tangers was great. They had even number missing assignments, sure. Nothing in hockey is perfect. But it's all upstairs now. It's all in the mind. They cannot bare down. And that is extremely damning as we enter the most mental toughness tournament of all time.

There is no way you can call it a "brilliant game" if the manage to score only two goals on a mediocre team with below average goalie.

I'm totally fine with them losing yet another game. With this level of effort and quality of execution, they have no business being in playoffs anyway. Anybody who still believes in the mantra "you just need to get to playoffs, and there - all bets are off" will have a really hard time answering a simple question: if they can turn up their level of compete when it really matters - then why don't they do that now?

 

[Angrrus]

**** you, Penguins. This whole week has been a **** show.

More losing to come.

This Pens teams has turned itself into a team of losers.

Starting with incredible leadership by Crosby, Kessel and Letang.

Bleeping losers.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Any quotes from last night about why they cannot close?

I think when Sully is positive it should put our minds at ease a bit more. If he gets really angry and frustrated then there’d be more concerns. He knows the team well enough and seems confident things can be corrected/will even out come playoffs.

Sully
“We’d like to believe we can defend leads better,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We have in the past for a long time and have been very good at it. I know we’re capable. Having said that, I thought it was a hard-fought point for us [Tuesday].”

Sully on worried about late goals.
“No, no, I think this team is a battle-tested group,” Sullivan said. “They’ve been through a lot. I don’t worry about that.”

Murray
“You just restart the next one,” Murray said. “This game has nothing to do with the next one. It’s easy to reset.”

 

[Icarium]

I'm totally fine with them losing yet another game.

Shocking quote of the day.

There is no way you can call it a "brilliant game" if the manage to score only two goals on a mediocre team with below average goalie.

The Canes have the second best record in the league since New Year.

 

[Angrrus]

Barf.

Hope Geno's ribs heal. Having two lines that have a pulse is not conducive to winning in the playoffs, and Phil's a 50-ton anchor for that second line, and our fourth line isn't like the fourth lines of our back to backs.

Ah well, on to the next one.

Forget about it. Now, even if Pens make the POs, and Geno will inevitably go into invisible mode, just like
he did last year in Caps series, all the fanboys will start yelling: "Don't touch him, he was playing with cracked ribs!!!!!!!"

 

[Angrrus]

Shocking quote of the day.



The Canes have the second best record in the league since New Year.

I wonder they managed to stay out of playoff zone all this time.

 

[Jesse]

I wonder they managed to stay out of playoff zone all this time.

They buried themselves early in the year, that's why.

 

[Beauner]

Is that not one of the huge benefits of having an offensive d-man like Letang? Better chance of him scoring than Kessel in a shootout and helping us win. Imagine if AB got ejected and wasn't serviceable for OT in a game.

Tim Peel is a horrible ref who is also soft as shit. Should Letang have kept his cool? Yeah but it's kinda hard when that f***ing moron is ruining the game. I bet most refs wouldn't kick him out for whatever he did (unless he said something really bad which.. we haven't heard anyone saying he did)

 

[Gurglesons]

No consistency in Pittsburgh media. Letang is more sheltered than Tomlin. AB throws a cooler and it's the end of the world. Letang ejected in first game back because he can never stop running his mouth and not useful for the one thing he's really good at and not a peep. Malkin misses first game in awhile and they show the with and without stats right away. With all the games Letang has missed why I have I never seen that stat with him? Without is probably very good that's why.

You do remember who scored the go ahead goal correct?

 

[Angrrus]

Murray had a good game, but that 2nd goal is on him, he has to be able to catch the initial shot.

Glad to have Letang back, he makes a huge difference.

Getting 1 point on the road against a good Carolina team isn't bad.

Gotta move on to Nashville to try and break this losing streak.

If they can't beat Flyers and Canes with playoffs on the line...

Forget about beating Nashville.

 

[chethejet]

Keep in mind playoffs are so different than any regular season game. Over a 7 game series a healthy and experienced Pens team is a tough out. They have the talent, experience and pedigree to win a cup. The coaching, adjustments and matchups depend on player health and some puck luck. Cream rises to the top and Pens get into playoff mode and see what happens. This is the best roster in years. what is missing is goaltending depth and will the Stars sans Sid rise to the occasion.

 

[IcedCapp]

More losing to come.

This Pens teams has turned itself into a team of losers.

Starting with incredible leadership by Crosby, Kessel and Letang.

Bleeping losers.

What?

 

[heysmilinstrange]

Is that not one of the huge benefits of having an offensive d-man like Letang? Better chance of him scoring than Kessel in a shootout and helping us win. Imagine if AB got ejected and wasn't serviceable for OT in a game.

Yes, Letang is good in the shootout, but calling it "the only thing he's really good at" is clearly disingenuous. I'm sure you know that, though, and I don't know why I bothered responding to a troll.

 

[Beauner]

What?

you ever see those tweets that are like "I had a machine listen to 48 hours of SportsCenter and it spit out this script"?

I feel like HFPens is 20% machines who listen to yinzer babbling and spit out posts that are some disgusting amalgamation of that

 

[Gurglesons]

If they can't beat Flyers and Canes with playoffs on the line...

Forget about beating Nashville.

The Canes are the second best team in terms of record over the past couple months. They’ve lost like 4 games since January and we utterly dominated them the majority of last night.

 

[Angrrus]

Oh and 3 goals in 3 games. Offense has dried up.

People should keep praising Crosby even more. Amazing how he scores all the goals when Pens desperately need them. Like in the last few games. True leader, true captain.

 

[SouthGeorge]

You do remember who scored the go ahead goal correct?

Yes and although I don't like the play, he buried it and I was ready to give him his props. But he giveth and taketh away. 1) Completely lost his man/piece of ice on a crucial defensive face-0ff and they tie it late. So that right there pretty much wiped away his goal. 2) Lets a man get behind him 3 on 3 and takes a stupid penalty and gives them a 2 min PP in OT. 3) Not serviceable in shootout because he was running his mouth.

 

[turd]

People should keep praising Crosby even more. Amazing how he scores all the goals when Pens desperately need them. Like in the last few games. True leader, true captain.

Who’s your favorite team? Maybe you can offer us a proposal for Crosby from your favorite team.

 

[HandshakeLine]

This thread.

 

[IcedCapp]

you ever see those tweets that are like "I had a machine listen to 48 hours of SportsCenter and it spit out this script"?

I feel like HFPens is 20% machines who listen to yinzer babbling and spit out posts that are some disgusting amalgamation of that

"The LOSER PENGUINS who have not won a cup IN A YEAR once again lose a regular season game because SIDNEY CROSBY failed to score HIGH GLOVE on MATT MURRAY when it matters most"

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I emptied my ignore list at the beginning of the season, but this thread is making me regret that. Between the blaming of Murray and the questioning of Crosby's play, it's getting difficult not to mute certain posters who have the most idiotic of takes.