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

[66-30-33]

Arizona, granted. But I loved the way the "new" defense looked.

Also wanted to give a shout to Zucker. Monster game from him.

It's about time we "rebuild" the D.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

It's about time we "rebuild" the D.

Glad they finally brought in a defenseman that isn't just yet another in our collection of #4/5 guys.

 

[66-30-33]

Glad they finally brought in a defenseman that isn't just yet another in our collection of #4/5 guys.

I'd like them to keep improving things.

Chychrun and Soucy replace Dumo and Petts. Or even just Chychrun replacing Petts. So back to the D I have been wanting all summer.

Chychrun-Letang
Dumo-Petry
Smith-Rutta

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

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

Maybe we should make a thread about it on the main board. Seems like a thing that would fit there.

 

[PensandCaps]

lmao damn was i spot on. Pens did indeed make this not a competitive game very fast.

 

[PensandCaps]

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.

Yah but Letang is one of the best PKing D in the league. And it shows that maybe we do need him PKing if we gave up 2 to the yotes.

 

[HandshakeLine]

All of the Zucker and Pettersson haters, cover your eyes and duck.

Oh no, a poorly designed bar graph. My kryptonite!

 

[HandshakeLine]

Glad they finally brought in a defenseman that isn't just yet another in our collection of #4/5 guys.

For real, though I find myself screaming at this team for not doing it sooner because it just looks so much better. I'm happy it's working out though and it's been something we've been clamoring for like 4 years.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Yah but Letang is one of the best PKing D in the league. And it shows that maybe we do need him PKing if we gave up 2 to the yotes.

There's a lack of structure with new personnel on the PK right now. The middle of the box was left wide open twice.
Gonna need to make big adjustments quickly here, with Tampa's PP coming to town on Saturday.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Just finishing watching the game with my leisurely breakfast (bout dat academic lyfe!) and a couple of thoughts:

1) The top six looks great. I think getting Rakell is already proving to be such a great move for this team (I had my doubts in the offseason!), Geno's skating looks better than it has in years, Sid is being Sid. Weak competition so far, I know, but I think there's nothing to worry about with that top 6. It can still go toe-to-toe with anyone else in the league.

2) The bottom six... eh. Not a horrible liability like it was in the postseason, but not really showing itself to be much of an asset so far. Archibald, as much as I hate on him, was fine, or at least not a liability. Poehling looks good as 4C. Still need to trim the fat though and maybe tweak the composition of it, but it's going in better directions than the last few years.

3) PK is still bad and needs some work. It's going in better directions, but it's still fighting itself, doesn't really have structure, and it shows. At least it's not Vellucci's stupid inverse PK scheme anymore.

4) PP is much improved. Holy hell, thank god we finally did something there! I'm no longer wishing we could decline penalties.

5) The blueline makeup is way better now. Petry and Rutta look great there. LD still needs to be revamped. Petts can be managed, but I don't think he's really top 4 material. POJ needs to sort his shit out in a hurry or get gone. A Dumo replacement or 3/4 LD should be on the shopping list this year.

 

[Lshap]

I'm thrilled you guys are seeing how good Jeff Petry is. He remains one of the best RHDs in the league. Yes, he really is that good. He mentally checks out on occasion, as he did here in Montreal last year, but dials his game into another level when the games matter.

As a Habs fan I'm happy with Matheson for the longer term (even though we just learned he's injured for two months!), but for the next couple of years Petry remains the better player and will give the Pens get the best D they've had in ages. Best of luck!

 

[deakka]

Only minus us not playing the best lineup available. Get POJ out of there and call up Smith

 

[Syrinx]

POJ was a noticeable hot mess. If I noticed, it was really bad because I don't sit and analyze like a lot of you. This is really disappointing because I spent a lot of last year hoping Sully would give him a shot.

This was only one game but it was against a terrible hockey team and he definitely stood out.

 

[Josey Wales]

My only negative is the worry about why Sid wasn't taking faceoffs. Great starting point otherwise. Can't take much from it, but a 60 minute vulgar display of power is all you could ask for.

& Was Far Beyond Driven

 

[Zbynek]

Petry looked awesome

 

[Josey Wales]

Worth it for the abuse he takes

Sure he can afford it too

 

[eXile3]

I’m going to temper my reaction. The Yotes might be historically bad.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I’m going to temper my reaction. The Yotes might be historically bad.

I feel this can be true but over the last few seasons this team has lost a lot of focus and games against lesser opponents.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

For Arizona - Keller is awesome.

Not talked about player: Poehling. Keeping up with his great preseason. He is REALLY good defensively, imo.

That Micceli kid #63 looked pretty good for a recent middle round pick too

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Get over his last two injury riddled seasons.

It’s literally been one game…against Arizona.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

The lowbridge hit on Malkin by Ghost was pretty dirty, BTW. And I know that a lot of fans don't believe players do this but I dunno... seemed targeted. He's a rat-ass ex-Flyer. Of course he knew.

Didn't seem to be any ill effects at least.

 

[JTG]

It's still amazing to me that the Penguins managed to turn Matheson having a great season into Petry and Poehling. I'll never shit talk Matheson because I was probably one of his biggest fans on here, but Petry is just a clearly better player than him and brings such a welcomed element to this defense. Add on Poehling, who's not anything super special but is a solid depth guy, and it just makes it that much better.

I think this deal will have "Sutter for Bonino" impact. Petry is just so god damn good and will anchor a 2nd pair, to a point well beyond whatever Matheson or Marino could do.

I'm a huge Matheson fan. I think his skillset is unreal and he's probably my favorite skater in the league. Petry is a different level of defenseman than Matheson. He is honestly the perfect guy for the 2nd pair and he'll be able to hold the fort down when Letang gets hurt. Petry honestly showed every single skill last night that you want from a top 4 defenseman - he has a calming influence, a really active stick, and even laid some big hits. He was great in front of our net making guys pay to stand there. Super impressed with him right now.

Poehling hopefully can work his way up the lineup. I wasn't overly impressed with what I saw from him, but it is the first game.

This is definitely a deal that Cup contending teams make, and like I said in my first post, this defense is capable right now. It's the first time I have felt this way since 2017.

Looking back at the highlights, both those PK goals against came on passes right through our box... gotta clean that up and keep the puck on the perimeter like they were so good at last year.

I still hate the PP. I'm done talking about it. I actually think the #2 PP has some potential to be really decent.

Yeah, Keller reminds me a lot of Jake. Really smart player.

Great young player. I don't see a lot of Arizona, but they do have some good players that I'm going to start following. I like Ritchie too. He has some jam/shit stirring to his game. If he produced a bit more offensively he would be really fun to watch.

 

[SomeDude]

He was on the ice for 16 shots for and 2 GF at 5v5.

7 HDCF to 1 HDCA.

How does the almighty bar graph account for him taking 2 penalties that resulted in PP goals because his guy got behind him and he had to haul him down?

 

[pistolpete11]

I'm not taking much from opening night, at home, against the Coyotes, but Malkin physically looks great and it's so nice to have some size on the backend with Petry and Rutta. Still some major questions on LD, 2LW, and the bottom 6, but the bones of a pretty damn good team are there.

 

[Flying Dego]

Here's some positive outlooks for this year:
-If Zucker keeps healthy this is about as good a top 6 as we've seen in forever.
-Our 3rd line has the chance to really be a top notch line. All 3 players can be better than just "bottom 6" guys.

-my most important takeaway and this cannot be understated. Jeff Petry is going to pay huge dividends. Look at the ice time. Letang was able to scale back to around 22min with Petry at 21min. We can get higher quality from Tang and save his health.
-also a huge key look at Rutta getting 18+min near the same as Dumo.

That RD group is rock solid and I'm thrilled.

-Jarry looks par for the course. Think he'll have another good season for us.