Post-Game Talk: | Game #1 | Pens win over Yotes | Zucker and Geno appreciation thread

[Flying Dego]

Zucker to 50 watch: 48 to go
@AuroraBorealis

I may be a sarcastic oaf 95% of the time but my 5% serious posts are transcendent.

I harped that a Zucker + Kap resurgence was the key to us succeeding when it matters. They both look hungry and ready.

Let's f***in go boys!

 

[Pancakes]

+ Malkin. He was cruising around like old Mario out there where he was just slowing the game down to his pace and making great plays with the puck. Loved the nastiness too.

+ Sid. Looked great. Skating well, mostly good decisions with the puck. Intense. Love how fiery and competitive he is.

+ Letang. I liked his game. Wasn't flashy but was effective. Was an angry man child too which I love.

+ Zucker. Skating really well and more importantly looked dangerous offensively tonight.

+ Jake. He looks like a legit superstar now. I don't think there's any doubt about it. He's not a Sid product. Not a Malkin product. He's dominant in his own right.

+ Rakell. What I liked about him tonight is he was willing to shoot and wasn't just deferring all the time to Sid and Jake. He also forechecked well. But he needs to be a dangerous threat in his own right on that line and tonight he looked like he was.

+ Rust. I love to see him going to the net like that to score a goal. We all know he can snipe the puck. What we need is to see the Bryan Rust who has a chip on his shoulder and goes hard to the net. If he brings *that* to Geno's line, he'll be really good.

+ Petry. Boy is he a revelation. Just quietly poised with the puck, and has a physical element too. Most importantly he just looks strong as an ox in front of the net. We needed that element and Marino most certainly did not bring that. Petry does. And he looks good offensively too. I think the points will come.

+ Rutta. Quietly physical and efficient with his reads/breakouts

+ Heinen. I've said it before but my favorite thing about him is he almost never makes a bad play with the puck.

+ Jarry. Thought he was solid enough. Made a few big saves and seemed to track the puck well. Goals weren't his fault.

= Kapanen. Didn't love his game, but the goal is nice for his confidence and I didn't think he looked bad.

= Carter. Was OK. Made a few nice plays. But was a little floaty at times. That's just his game now though at this point in his career. I'd like him to at least have an occasional game this year where he's more assertive though.

= Fourth line. Nobody jumped out to me here. They weren't bad, but just kinda there. Poehling made a few nice defensive plays.

- PK. Gotta be a lot better here. Bad reads and you could drive a truck through the space we left open cross crease in the box. Better clean this up against Tampa or it will be a long night.


Think that's all I got.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Not that it matters but didn’t see it with Rutta tonight tbh. He looked average in my opinion.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

POJ's garbage. I wasn't really happy with Petts, but what else is new. Kap had a pretty meh game until the nice 2-on-1 goal with Heinen. Sid's line was dynamite. Geno's line was dynamite. The third line is a good third line. Impressed with Petry and Rutta. PK still sucks. Arizona is atrocious.

Forget the game and pretty much go into game 2 assuming it's the first of the season.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Zucker to 50 watch: 48 to go
@AuroraBorealis

I may be a sarcastic oaf 95% of the time but my 5% serious posts are transcendent.

I harped that a Zucker + Kap resurgence was the key to us succeeding when it matters. They both look hungry and ready.

Let's f***in go boys!

Getting Minnesota for the year would be large. I want to see us play some good teams before judging our lineup too much.

Could hardly have hoped for a better start though.

 

[Pancakes]

Sid might eat a fine for that slash btw. Probably not a suspension though

 

[Pittsburgh1776]

Don't disagree with what's been said. One big takeaway for me: we no longer look old. It's a fast team that can play fast when our passing is crisp like it was most of the night. The core three were flying. Arizona played well in the third and we didn't fold, just more gas. Loved the intensity and physicality. The pendulum had swung way too far towards zero physicality/rough stuff the last several years. There's a balance and tonight we had it.

Can't be happier for how we looked overall. The PK needs to get noticeably better than it was tonight and last year.

 

[Andy99]

So we winning the cup going 82-0-0 and 16-0?

I’m saying 79-3 and 16-2 in the playoffs…

 

[3ladesof5teel]

I just want to make a big of a humblebrag after his goal tonight: remember how all summer I was one of the only ones who was so adamant about re-signing Kapanen?

I am guessing this is sarcasm, anytime I see your name I see DOC

 

[Zirakzigil]

Sid might eat a fine for that slash btw. Probably not a suspension though

Worth it for the abuse he takes

 

[Glamor Toad]

+ Genoooo. I love this man even when he's braindead. Tonight he was a lot of fun
+ Letang, I noticed him in the defensive zone stifling whatever AZ had through the first two periods.
+ Top 6 putting up points when they are supposed to. I know it's AZ but not every time they are supposed to cash in did they. Tonight, they deserve kudos.
+ Kapanen. I only noticed his d zone and neutral zone work tonight. My bar for him is so low that that was enough. Then I noticed he got a goal after I turned off the game well, all the better
+ New additions showing chemistry. Petry and Ruuta weren't world beaters tonight but they were fine. I bet Petry rounds out to a good 1b when Letang has to sit out 20 games. Rakell is still new as far as I am concernedand I think his smarts and skill will produce a lot. he'll be an impact player this year.
- PK. I mean, I only noticed McGinn and Pettersen specifically being bad but anytime you give AZ momentum you have to reevaluate.
- Petterson. I so wanted to find good points to his game. A few times he had good moments skating the puck out of danger. It didn't make up for his inept neutral zone and blue line stands. Aye yai yai.

= Jarry. Meh. That's what he is right?

 

[Pancakes]

Don't disagree with what's been said. One big takeaway for me: we no longer look old. It's a fast team that can play fast when our passing is crisp like it was most of the night. The core three were flying. Arizona played well in the third and we didn't fold, just more gas. Loved the intensity and physicality. The pendulum had swung way too far towards zero physicality/rough stuff the last several years. There's a balance and tonight we had it.

Can't be happier for how we looked overall. The PK needs to get noticeably better than it was tonight and last year.

Yeah I don't think we're slow or anything. I think there certainly are teams that are faster and will challenge us with their speed.

Carolina for example. That's a team that makes it hard for us to play the way we want to because they actually have the speed advantage.

 

[dogthateats]

Maybe a hot take but if Kappy scores a goal in every game he plays I think his contract is worth it

 

[Empoleon8771]

After I said in the 2nd intermission that I didn't like how little Rutta was being used, Sullivan definitely fixed that in the 3rd.

Defensemen TOI tonight:

1. Letang: 22:27
2. Petry: 21:39
3. Dumoulin: 18:23
4. Rutta: 18:16
5. Pettersson: 17:10
6: POJ: 15:00

Also another really encouraging sign from tonight: Sullivan didn't use Letang much on the PK at all. The 4 PKers today were Petry, Dumoulin, Rutta and Pettersson. That is exactly what the Penguins should be doing, don't burn out Letang by playing him 26 minutes a night and having him kill penalties. If Letang isn't PKing this year, he'll be at a much more manageable 24 minutes a night.

 

[Pancakes]

Worth it for the abuse he takes

I honestly love that Sid and Geno and Letang have the element. Yeah sometimes they cross the line, but they're extremely fiery and competitive.

I'll take that any day over a guy with ice water in his veins. Sometimes that's nice on defense or in goal but overall you want your stars to be guys who want to engage physically.

 

[Andy99]

Rangers look like they’re on a mission and will be tough to beat…just hoping the CAPS AND isles lose tonight

 

[Al Smith]

Hard to complain about anything tonight. This was a nice transition between preseason and real regular season when the competition gets better. The chippiness after Rust's goal on an opening night was kind of fun. PK needs to clean up the same gap they left 2x, but hopefully they'll figure that one out. Lines 1 and 2 were fun.

 

[Gurglesons]

Rangers look like they’re on a mission and will be tough to beat…just hoping the CAPS AND isles lose tonight

Devils getting blown out by the Flyers is hilarious to me after hearing how great their D was.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Rangers look like they’re on a mission and will be tough to beat…just hoping the CAPS AND isles lose tonight

I would take just as much satisfaction from seeing Washington at 0-2-0 as this win tonight.

 

[Glamor Toad]

Worth it for the abuse he takes

For real. Sid, Carter and Zucker should play as few minutes of regular season as possible. Suspend them all for all I care

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Devils getting blown out by the Flyers is hilarious to me after hearing how great their D was.

Torts is a specialist at squeezing out something from nothing. Respect.

 

[Zirakzigil]

For real. Sid, Carter and Zucker should play as few minutes of regular season as possible. Suspend them all for all I care

Umm no. Sid is breaking 100 points and Zucker is scoring 50 this year.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

Can we appreciate the win, or are they all "Not This Way" until we make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs?

 

[StaalForOne]

I was especially encouraged with the Malkin line. They looked great. Sid’s line obviously balled out too.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

+ To Rust and the boys celebratory huddle after the scrum