ColePens
RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Plus
+ Joe Victory: Gotta love what he brings to the ice. I really feel he's a guy that should never be out of the line up unless it's to heal a couple bruises. He just adds so much for only going a couple minutes per game.
+ Neal's release: Thing of beauttttttty. Snipe city. Gotta just love James Neal and his knack for goal scoring. He does his thing, man. He just scores goals.
+ Crosby/Malkin: Still not perfect, but I felt we got our jump because they were on fire early. Sid over-passes, but he had a good jump and that pass was beautiful. Also thought he was a monster in the faceoff dot (no stats). Geno was more noticeable. I thought Geno has great jump right now. Surprised he isn't scoring more.
+ Dan Bylsma: Not for schematic changes, but that was a great idea to move Cooke to L2 and Boychuk back. Boychuk was invisible. Cooke was struggling without Staal. It was a damn good move and Cooke instantly got much better.
+ Effort: Effort was definitely there tonight. Spazzed out for sure - but there. I loved the hustle, but didn't love the play.
Even
Fleury: I know... it can be frustrating when he lets in softies. It really can be. But you cannot deny his big saves in this game. It was just one of those days for #29.
Paul Martin: He finally had a bad game. It happens. I'm not going to ***** or complain. He took 3 penalties and let some guys around him. He's been outstanding all season so I can't say anything. He also made some great plays on the powerplay to get us 2 goals. Can't say anything too bad, eh?
Minus
- Our Style: I really don't like how the Pens are playing hockey right now. They go on runs because they have so much freaking talent, but then they make hockey look just as bad when they play against a decent structure. So what we try to do is just simply out-skill teams? That's not going to do anything in the postseason. We completely spazz out all over the place instead of just playing a team game.
This isn't blaming coaching or anything. I just really hate the way this team tries to win hockey games. We need to play a team game... not just rely on skill.
And JadedFan hit it on the head in the GDT. We just don't win battles anymore. I blame the next category (puck support) but what do you think?
- Puck support: Where is it? We are soooooo far away from one another when trying to make passes. It's just so disheartening to see this team play that style. They need to support one another with short chips/passes and they can use their skill that way. There needs to be puck support. I'm going to harp on it until we figure it out. Just watch how we broke out in 2009. We had 5-6 feet chips/passes and went flying. We made smart concise decisions. Just pause your television when we are attempting to stretch it in the neutral. We are so far away from one another.
- Team Anger Management: I kind of missed Bort/Engo out there together being angry souls. I know Nisky/Letang (who struggled on their game back) are great to have in the line up, but I did miss that rugged play by Bort/Engo. I couldn't even take Despres out of the line up because he's playing well, too. Tough decisions every night for our coach.
-Injuries: Hate seeing a guy like Karlsson get injured. Period. Really hate hearing what happened.
- Letang/Nisky: Both guys looked uncomfortable in their game back. I'm sure it happens. Nisky really struggled stepping up and hitting.
- Chris Neil: You are a *****. Such a *****. You wouldn't go with Engo so you just jump Cooke? Come on, man. That's not hockey.
+ Joe Victory: Gotta love what he brings to the ice. I really feel he's a guy that should never be out of the line up unless it's to heal a couple bruises. He just adds so much for only going a couple minutes per game.
+ Neal's release: Thing of beauttttttty. Snipe city. Gotta just love James Neal and his knack for goal scoring. He does his thing, man. He just scores goals.
+ Crosby/Malkin: Still not perfect, but I felt we got our jump because they were on fire early. Sid over-passes, but he had a good jump and that pass was beautiful. Also thought he was a monster in the faceoff dot (no stats). Geno was more noticeable. I thought Geno has great jump right now. Surprised he isn't scoring more.
+ Dan Bylsma: Not for schematic changes, but that was a great idea to move Cooke to L2 and Boychuk back. Boychuk was invisible. Cooke was struggling without Staal. It was a damn good move and Cooke instantly got much better.
+ Effort: Effort was definitely there tonight. Spazzed out for sure - but there. I loved the hustle, but didn't love the play.
Even
Fleury: I know... it can be frustrating when he lets in softies. It really can be. But you cannot deny his big saves in this game. It was just one of those days for #29.
Paul Martin: He finally had a bad game. It happens. I'm not going to ***** or complain. He took 3 penalties and let some guys around him. He's been outstanding all season so I can't say anything. He also made some great plays on the powerplay to get us 2 goals. Can't say anything too bad, eh?
Minus
- Our Style: I really don't like how the Pens are playing hockey right now. They go on runs because they have so much freaking talent, but then they make hockey look just as bad when they play against a decent structure. So what we try to do is just simply out-skill teams? That's not going to do anything in the postseason. We completely spazz out all over the place instead of just playing a team game.
This isn't blaming coaching or anything. I just really hate the way this team tries to win hockey games. We need to play a team game... not just rely on skill.
And JadedFan hit it on the head in the GDT. We just don't win battles anymore. I blame the next category (puck support) but what do you think?
- Puck support: Where is it? We are soooooo far away from one another when trying to make passes. It's just so disheartening to see this team play that style. They need to support one another with short chips/passes and they can use their skill that way. There needs to be puck support. I'm going to harp on it until we figure it out. Just watch how we broke out in 2009. We had 5-6 feet chips/passes and went flying. We made smart concise decisions. Just pause your television when we are attempting to stretch it in the neutral. We are so far away from one another.
- Team Anger Management: I kind of missed Bort/Engo out there together being angry souls. I know Nisky/Letang (who struggled on their game back) are great to have in the line up, but I did miss that rugged play by Bort/Engo. I couldn't even take Despres out of the line up because he's playing well, too. Tough decisions every night for our coach.
-Injuries: Hate seeing a guy like Karlsson get injured. Period. Really hate hearing what happened.
- Letang/Nisky: Both guys looked uncomfortable in their game back. I'm sure it happens. Nisky really struggled stepping up and hitting.
- Chris Neil: You are a *****. Such a *****. You wouldn't go with Engo so you just jump Cooke? Come on, man. That's not hockey.
