Post-Game Talk: Don't call it a comeback: Pens-5, Sens-3

[Speaking Moistly]

Agreed. Even after his "recovery" he looked shaky. He was off his angle a lot, over committing, just seemed a bit lost or out of sync. He made some nice saves, but they could have easily scored a few more (Chiasson, a few posts, etc). He just didn't look comfortable in the net.

It wasn't a good game. I'd expect any goalie to have games like that and it's doubly so for a rookie, as long as it's not a consistent thing then it's not a huge deal. Top tier goalies with years of experience don't have a season free of those games and he's been thrown into the fire. Now, if he keeps doing that we've got something to worry about in the short term and possibly the long term.

He was shaky but came up big when they needed him to, I'd call that a win for not collapsing and hope he moves on from it. Arguably he needs games like that to learn that it's not a catastrophe and that he can still keep it together enough for them to win. Bad goals and bad games happen, but spirals are the real killer.

2nd goal was his fault too. He was off his angle and too deep in the net. Same as 3rd goal. He did make some nice saves, but he looked shaky in night all night to me.

Yeah, but it was a bit weird. If it hadn't hit his stick it probably wouldn't have gone in. So he screwed up and was unlucky. Then he got really lucky when Letang saved that goal and was unlucky with the first goal. Weird game, maybe it all balanced out, idk.

 

[JakeNBake59]

look at this game and the game against carolina comes to mind... concedes on the first shot against the canes, then lets another one in... then shuts up shop like last night to allow the team to come back and win, to have that mental strength already just shows how highly rated he is

 

[Shady Machine]

Yeah I definitely think he has maturity "beyond his years" as Sully says. There's no pouting or hanging his head as Fleury did as a youngster. He keeps things pretty calm and I think that helps the team around him as much as it helps him.

I just think his fundamentals were off last night. His angles, reading the play, positioning, etc looked a little Zatkoffish last night. He got the job done, but not as he does when his game is on.

 

[steveg]

Nothing much I can say that hasn't been said. The team had an off night, in a "trap" kind of game. Still, they fought back from a 3-goal deficit to win, instead of folding. Gotta give them credit for that.

On the Kunitz thing. I am cautiously optimistic that one benefit -- whether intended or not -- of Sully slotting Sid between Sheary and Bennett at times, and then seeing that line having some success, might be that if the KCH line is getting shut down in the playoffs, Sully is seeing that he can slot Sheary up with Sid to change things up. I think with Sheary and Sid having some success together, that probably gives Sully some confidence that such a move might be an effective way to spark the line, if needed.

I have seen enough from Sullivan to convince me that he's for real; I believe that if KCH line is getting shut down, he is willing to make changes. And, obviously, he IS experimenting with SC as a LW-C pair...

 

[JTG]

Yeah I definitely think he has maturity "beyond his years" as Sully says. There's no pouting or hanging his head as Fleury did as a youngster. He keeps things pretty calm and I think that helps the team around him as much as it helps him.

I just think his fundamentals were off last night. His angles, reading the play, positioning, etc looked a little Zatkoffish last night. He got the job done, but not as he does when his game is on.

Basically my thoughts. He has a great head on his shoulders. He is looking like young Fleury-esque right now though. Shows an ability to make a brilliant save, and then makes a routine save look like a shaky one.

I do think, unlike Fleury, he has the ability even now to get into a groove where he can be a goaltender that can lead us where we need to go. I'd rather have Flower in net, but if we can't have him, I'm not too worried.

 

[Mordax]

I just went back and watched the highlights from last night. Karlsson was on the ice (and in the thick of the the play no less) for all 5 of the Pens goals. Yikes. Quite the Norris contender...

 

[66-30-33]

I just went back and watched the highlights from last night. Karlsson was on the ice (and in the thick of the the play no less) for all 5 of the Pens goals. Yikes. Quite the Norris contender...

Many posters think he's better defensivly then Letang. I don't see it? then again many thought Green was good defensivly aswell. It's like there are many casuals.

 

[Mordax]

Many posters think he's better defensivly then Letang. I don't see it? then again many thought Green was good defensivly aswell. It's like there are many casuals.

Ya I was just browsing that thread on main boards as well.

 

[td_ice]

Many posters think he's better defensivly then Letang. I don't see it? then again many thought Green was good defensivly aswell. It's like there are many casuals.

I like Karlsson a ton, but man, if people think he is better defensively than Letang.....I don't know what to say. That's just absurd.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I like Karlsson a ton, but man, if people think he is better defensively than Letang.....I don't know what to say. That's just absurd.

People who don't watch players just assume that lots of points means bad defensively. And they already think our whole team is bad defensively

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Many posters think he's better defensivly then Letang. I don't see it? then again many thought Green was good defensivly aswell. It's like there are many casuals.

Nooooooo.


Karlsson is good for possession, transition and keeping things in the offensive zone. All things that will help not having to play as much defense and other teams have to be aware of him, but he's really not good defensively. He's not worthless in the D zone like Green was and is, but it's a definite weakness. Although I think his defensive game would benefit from being on a better team where he didn't have to push as much to generate offense and had more support. Letang has developed quite a defensive game when he's behaving and he's gotten better at the whole behaving like an adult thing. They both get bailed out by their skating and talent and Letang is still no stranger to stupid decisions.


Karlsson is awesome but I'd probably grow to hate his defense if he was on my team... awesome to watch from a distance, though.

 

[IcedCapp]

Basically my thoughts. He has a great head on his shoulders. He is looking like young Fleury-esque right now though. Shows an ability to make a brilliant save, and then makes a routine save look like a shaky one.

I do think, unlike Fleury, he has the ability even now to get into a groove where he can be a goaltender that can lead us where we need to go. I'd rather have Flower in net, but if we can't have him, I'm not too worried.

When Murray is on, his rebound control and puck handling are approximately 45 billion times better than Fleury's, which will be nice down the road.

 

[JTG]

I like Karlsson a ton, but man, if people think he is better defensively than Letang.....I don't know what to say. That's just absurd.

Yeah, I've never been a Karlsson fan boy. I appreciate his game and find him entertaining, but I just never understood the people parading him around like he's the next coming of Orr.

When Murray is on, his rebound control and puck handling are approximately 45 billion times better than Fleury's, which will be nice down the road.

Even when Murray is off, his rebound control is still one of his assets.

He has the look of a goaltender that can steal games because he has that ability to just eat pucks up.

 

[JackFr]

+++ Bonino, seems to be actually getting chemistry with H - K instead of hanging on for points
+++ Hagelin, can't complain about two goals

+ Hornqvist, battled hard and earned his goal
+ Kessel, disagree with the NYI commentators that he was invisible
+ Crosby, looked pretty good with Sheary and Bennett once he got going.
+ Letang, some rough plays but dude's elite right now
+ Cullen, Daley, Kuhn (as always)
+ Sheary, has really looked superb lately. Hope he's OK.

= Murray, agree he looked off but I love his composure
= Bennett, he's still figuring it out again but I'm confident in him

- Kunitz, just shuts down that Crosby line.
- Lovejoy, he's had decent moments this year but he clearly doesn't fit this blueline

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

blows = Marcel Goc, Craig Adams, Tanner Glass and pretty much anyone we had on the 3rd and almost everyone we had on the 4th line the past 4 years or so sans this season

The over statements here are too much.

Wait... what?

 

[Ugene Magic]

Nooooooo.


Karlsson is good for possession, transition and keeping things in the offensive zone. All things that will help not having to play as much defense and other teams have to be aware of him, but he's really not good defensively. He's not worthless in the D zone like Green was and is, but it's a definite weakness. Although I think his defensive game would benefit from being on a better team where he didn't have to push as much to generate offense and had more support. Letang has developed quite a defensive game when he's behaving and he's gotten better at the whole behaving like an adult thing. They both get bailed out by their skating and talent and Letang is still no stranger to stupid decisions.


Karlsson is awesome but I'd probably grow to hate his defense if he was on my team... awesome to watch from a distance, though.

That's the thing with Karlsson, they depend so much on him getting offense he's both a forward and defenseman. If they had a #1 center of good to great caliber he would lose touches which lead to losing points. He's their top scorer for a reason. He leads by 19/20 points over the next closest scorer on the team.

A team made up where he isn't "the guy" probably brings him down to reality. That's not to say he couldn't hit those marks again, but I doubt it is year in year out like now. He has the perfect setup to thrive.

Unfortunately, that is not what is good for the team itself.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Maybe you should watch goals 1 and 3 for Ottawa. Kunitz was there, but he wasn't the reason for them being scored. Kunitz was doing his job.

#1. Kunitz kepth the puck deep for Hornqvist to try and get it to Crosby but he couldn't get it and Cole iced it when it came out. Faceoff, Ottawa wins it and Kunitz goes to his guy and he passes it back over to a uncovered guy Kunitz just released. While that is happening, both crosby and Hornqvist took middle positions. Someone drop the ball and it wasn't Kunitz.

#2. Kessel's line is out there.

#3. Crosby attempts a cross ice feed through two Ottawa players instead of taking the shot. Pucks up the ice before they even attempt to skate.


Unless you can show me where he was costing them the game, up to that point, Kunitz wasn't costing them anything. You might want to watch Crosby, though. He turned the puck over a good bit himself. But hey, 2 goals means he did nothing wrong. Kunitz was there for swings both ways for Crosby.

Unless you can show me where Kunitz cost them where it counts (goals for and against) in the game (a lot of Pens turned the puck over) you don't have a case.

If you are going to put him under the microscope you might want to be at least 80% accurate. But where it counts you don't care about. Why, cause you only care about plays that didn't effect the outcome.

I looked at the game pretty good. You guys don't have a single case. Not one.

You guys might want to re-watch the game. I can't take any of you seriously.

Maybe Kunitz is still defensively responsible and that's all well and good. However, he does hurt the team where it counts. Do you really think his constant turnovers in the offensive zone don't prevent offense? Crosby without the puck is much less likely to score.

And you can't really compare Kunitz and Crosby's turnovers because Kunitz is the "sniper" of the line. Sid is the guy who is supposed to carry the puck and distribute. Kunitz's only job is to find space and shoot yet somehow he is a turnover machine. He's terrible.

 

[gopens66]

Nooooooo.


Karlsson is good for possession, transition and keeping things in the offensive zone. All things that will help not having to play as much defense and other teams have to be aware of him, but he's really not good defensively. He's not worthless in the D zone like Green was and is, but it's a definite weakness. Although I think his defensive game would benefit from being on a better team where he didn't have to push as much to generate offense and had more support. Letang has developed quite a defensive game when he's behaving and he's gotten better at the whole behaving like an adult thing. They both get bailed out by their skating and talent and Letang is still no stranger to stupid decisions.


Karlsson is awesome but I'd probably grow to hate his defense if he was on my team... awesome to watch from a distance, though.

I agree they both get bailed out by their skating, but to me, over 90% of Letang's stupid decisions come in the offensive zone. (Most of those on the power play.)

 

[JTG]

Letang is not a naturally savvy player on offense. He just super talented.