GDT: Game 2|Penguins vs. Rangers|3 PM|CBC, NBC, TVA

[Cherpak]

Based on what?

Do you not know who MAF is? Based on what.

 

[Jacob]

Which one of those goals does Fleury stop? The breakaway goal was a standard Fleury goal against. There's no way Fleury would have gotten the 3rd one. So maybe he would have gotten the 1st goal? But again, that too was a backdoor goal that wasn't on Zatkoff.

The one where Brassard had like 4 square feet of net to shoot at on the blocker side.

 

[66-30-33]

Rangers know Zatkoff has issues with lateral mobility and they are exploiting it. Gonna be tough to get two on Hank in one period.

Zatkoff plays like he's in slow motion. Must be nice to have your number 1 goalie instead of a 3rd string goalie.

 

[Jacob]

Do you not know who MAF is? Based on what.

Fleury's one of the best on breakaways. Look at his shootout numbers.

 

[Hobodrifter]

Fleury probably stops two of those goals. The team plays scared in front of zackoff. It's all about mentality. The pens are scared of making a mistake because they know it's in their net. Seriously, a shooter tuiter is more challenging to score on then zackoff

That's bull **** and you know it. Zatkoff is not great by any stretch but those goals were hardly his fault. Blame the team in front of him that looks tired and disinterested in a playoff game. The Pens are being out worked plain and simple.

 

[mpp9]

Maybe the team is just a bit too tentative in front of Zatkoff. Their breakouts are way too slow and predictable. Gotta get Fleury back, IMO.

Fehr just sucks. I fail to see why you'd put him with Malkin. That's my last ditch effort before benching him for the postseason. Sundqvist should absolutely be in over him.

Do a bunch of flip passes to Kessel and Hagelin. Have to get them involved more.

 

[Cherpak]

he stickhandled it for the next 4 or 5 steps with 1 hand. He's a good NHL player.

Not before he crossed the blue line he didn't. And who said he was a bad player? Quit making **** up.

 

[Chraa]

And Fleury would have stopped that? Fleury lets in breakaway goals like that all of the time.

Maybe not, but giving a shooter that much net is pretty bad goaltending.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I wish our PP wasn't a flaming bag of ****.

If we win this series, it'll cripple us against better teams IMO.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Not before he crossed the blue line he didn't. And who said he was a bad player? Quit making **** up.

When did I say anyone called him a bad player? I'm saying good players can control the puck with one hand, which is exactly what he did.

And yes, the puck was well controlled on his stick as he crossed the line. Certainly enough to not overturn the call.

 

[Gurglesons]

Remember when the Penguins went up 4 - 3 against the Rags in game 2 of last year.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The one where Brassard had like 4 square feet of net to shoot at on the blocker side.

Fleury lets in goals like that literally on the regular.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

What is it with the team going to **** when one of its stars returns? Instead of looking even deadlier, it's like they immediately start playing worse.

Also, while it's not all Zatkoff's fault, I think at least 2 of those were stoppable. The Brassard goal, for instance, you can see on the replays just how much of the net Brassard had to shoot at. It wasn't like he picked a corner with a perfect shot. Zatkoff literally gave him the entire right side (Zatkoff's right) of the net. The Yandle goal, Zatkoff committed to the butterfly way too early and had no chance to then slide across.

And, of course, the PP is doing this team no favors. 3 PP opportunities and the top unit hasn't looked dangerous on any of them. One of these days it would be nice to have a potent PP that can turn the tide of any game in the Pens' favor.

Oh, and my streak continues of the Pens never seeming capable of scoring when I watch them. I'm almost convinced they'd score 5 goals per game if I never tuned in to another Pens broadcast.

 

[IcedCapp]

We're still losing if Fleury or Murray are in net

A) you have absolutely no way of knowing this. I know this because, despite how much I love science fiction the ability to peer into alternate dimensions and universes doesn't exist. You are stating an opinion. And that's all it is, speculative.

B) I'll conside your speculation as fact, because it's irrelevant. Just because the Oens may still be losing with fleury or Murray doesn't mean Zatkoff is absolved of or immune to criticism. He's a bad player. He's always been a bad player. People bought into the game 1 box score way too much and didn't trust their eyes. The same ****** player he's Always been was out there flopping around.

It's like saying, "the Pens won game 1, don't criticize Kunitz or Fehr or Lovejoy or Cole!"

Judge the process, not the result.

 

[MtlPenFan]

I'll blame things on the defensive pairings/personnel rather than adding forwards or your third string goalie.

Maatta is dangerously slow, and while Lovejoy and Cole will just look me, their lack of transition ability is going to have a negative effect based on how they want to play.

 

[Cherpak]

Fleury's one of the best on breakaways. Look at his shootout numbers.

In the shootout sure. But he doesn't pass the eye test in game action. Always expect a goal when the other team gets a breakaway or penalty shot.

 

[PlinyElder*]

This is the slowest we've looked in months. Do guys just stop skating because Geno is in the lineup? I'm also confused as to how we manage to have two goalies get hurt for such a long period of time on relatively minor hits. Maybe minor is the wrong word but certainly seemed like things that other goalies play through. Oh well, I guess we stole one with Zatkoff in net and started getting greedy thinking we can win with anyone.

Geno looks pretty slow himself. He played a lot of minutes in 1st for just coming back.

 

[Pancakes]

I don't mean to imply that I'm blaming Zatkoff. He's certainly been good enough. I just think Fleury is the kind of guy that changes things - not even necessarily on the ice, but the changes the psyche.

Could be. If Zatkoff is negatively influencing how they're approaching the games then we've already lost, though.

Well, we know the Pens have the ability to come back in games. They've done it for a while now under Sullivan. This will be their toughest test yet.

 

[Lomez]

Zatkoff tends goal as if he were a marionette in puppet show. We are doomed, especially with Lundqvist on his game.

 

[Waffle Fries]

And a better goalie could have also let all of those goals in.

Not likely.

 

[KIRK]

to many fancy style plays and not enough getting the puck deep. Pens look bad and that really is on the failure to take control of the game after going up 1. Either a wake up call that Pens can't show up and marvel at malkin.

Sully was among the guilty parties here. Playing him way too much.

 

[Penske]

They're playing like a team that started Lovejoy over Schultz. Not saying it's the one player, more the decision being a prelude to a lot of this.

Must confess . . . IcedCapp predicted this. Said, correctly, there have been a lot of red flags and that game 1 was a bit of a mirage with all the glorious chances the Rangers blew. Opined that he could see us losing the game in which Malkin returns.

I mean, the red flags have been there with HBK. Sid's line was **** in game 1 except when Sheary was on LW. Cullen and Kuhn have been quiet with Fehr. Those three have been a corsi nightmare. Add Cole-Lovejoy and Maatta making Hal Gill look like a speed skater and Zatkoff being human when the breakdowns happen today . . . it's like it's all hitting at once.

EDIT: As for Malkin, I personally think he should've played 10-12 minutes tonight. He's at 12 minutes already. You can see the game legs aren't there, which is in part why his play tailed big time starting late in the first. Among lowest offensive zone starts on the team. I expected Sully to handle him differently . . . think he got a little greedy.

In Game 1 we didn't give up a lot of good chances and were pretty safe in our own end. On attack we didn't look like a 5 goal team it just went our way.

 

[Nakawick]

regroup. Could use another offensive threat from the back end,...

 

[PlinyElder*]

If Flower was in net right now this game would be out of hand by now. Probably losing 3 or 4-1. No way he stops those early breakaways Maatta gave up.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Not likely.

Oh okay, glad that's settled. You're right.