Outside of a few plays, the Sandin-Bear pairing actually gave up quite a bit. Bear had a turnover and had to take a penalty on Malkin. It actually wasn’t a great game from him but I’ll allow it for game #2
I won’t say this is incorrect. I was speaking from the context of people who were critical of the Bear signing/contract.
To me Edmundson was the worst defensemen overall although he made some plays. JC with his warts was the best dman in the ice tonight for either team. Sandin is good with the puck but he made a few lazy passes. I think he and Bear both would be better split up. Jensen was also solid.
Strome was invisible. I saw his ice time wasn’t high and it makes sense. Mantha looked solid for driving some plays. We really tried to stop scoring after it became 4-3. Hate that approach but it worked.
Pens were fortunate, if they didn't score with 4 seconds left its a laugher. I had so much fun though, and it's always a pleasure to see an Ovi goal at this point. I'll reiterate, the Pens definitely have more skill with the puck. What's unfortunate about Carbs system--to me--and many of you on here know hockey more astutely than me, is that if one person slacks off in transition, it can easily be going the other way, and his system relies a lot on trust and knowing where to be on the ice.
The 2nd PP was straight-up dogshit. No one did anything positive. The Ovi goal on the first PP was kind of like a Hail Mary. Our lack of speed is apparent too, but Pitt isn't too far behind. We're probably the slowest team in the league, and we weren't very physical tonight, but we don't have to be. I'm happy with our coach, and I'm happy we won't turn into a team that tanks for a decade to get good again. We're lucky, even spoiled. Our guys are playing meaningful hockey into 2024 and no one would have predicted this 2 years ago. If Patches can integrate well and add 10 goals and 25 points we maybe able to seal a playoff sport.