GDT: GDT Preseason game 5 Halifax Edition: Pens vs Aval..... What wait?! Why the Senators? We want Mack

[Turin]

Karlsson was actively avoiding shooting on the PP, and he has the best shot on that unit. Probably because he doesn't want to be a preseason try hard and blast it into somebody.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

We don't necessarily have a finishing problem. I mean, we might, but we definitely have a massive offense generation problem that is way more pressing. Has been for 5 years.

We do, believe me. It's something I paid attention to all year. They had severe problems with elevating pucks, exploiting vacant areas of nets, using appropriate power and timing, picking corners, NOT missing the net entirely, etc...
There wasn't one damn Penguin who shot over 15%.
You don't realize the extent of it. Last year's team was the most wasteful Penguins squad in my life.
It has to change, or there's good odds they miss again. Karlsson's supposed to help create the chances that are harder to f*** up, but he's one man. It needs to come from within.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

John Marino sucks evergreen post.

You're missing out on so much cash by letting Sullivan and Marino live rent free in your mind, man. You'd never have to work another day in your life!

 

[lokomotiv15]

If I’m Sullivan I’m trying a 1-3-1 on the pp.

Crosby
Letang (if we must) rakell Malkin
Karlsson

And let the boys snap it around. This umbrella / occasional overload is stale and for the birds.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

If I’m Sullivan I’m trying a 1-3-1 on the pp.

Crosby
Letang (if we must) rakell Malkin
Karlsson

And let the boys snap it around. This umbrella / occasional overload is stale and for the birds.

This one's on Reirden. He's the PP coach. If he can't create a strategy that works then he needs to go.

 

[SomeDude]

This one's on Reirden. He's the PP coach. If he can't create a strategy that works then he needs to go.

and if the head coach is going to look on while his bumbling assistant makes a mockery out of a PP with 3-4 future hall of famers on it, it's on him too.

 

[Gurglesons]

and if the head coach is going to look on while his bumbling assistant makes a mockery out of a PP with 3-4 future hall of famers on it, it's on him too.

No. It’s never Sullivan’s fault. It’s Dubas’s fault because he’s Sullivan’s boss, but it’s Sullivan’s assistant’s fault when we’ve been running the same Powerplay structure since 15-16.

 

[Pancakes]

I do like how Karlsson is carrying the mail on the PP breakout. Letang is so bad at that, and EK was actually executing the breakouts pretty well today.

In zone stuff was a mess though

 

[canadianguy77]

We do, believe me. It's something I paid attention to all year. They had severe problems with elevating pucks, exploiting vacant areas of nets, using appropriate power and timing, picking corners, NOT missing the net entirely, etc...
There wasn't one damn Penguin who shot over 15%.
You don't realize the extent of it. Last year's team was the most wasteful Penguins squad in my life.
It has to change, or there's good odds they miss again. Karlsson's supposed to help create the chances that are harder to f*** up, but he's one man. It needs to come from within.
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I bet the vast majority of those so called “high danger chances” are from about 5 feet out at the side of the net. And they’re not coming from cross-crease passes. They’re just bad angle shots that the goalie is ready for.

Might be a different story if our players liked to get to the front of the net, but they prefer to chill along the walls or below the goal line so they’re always outnumbered around the front of the net which makes it difficult to get to the f***ing rebounds.

 

[canadianguy77]

This one's on Reirden. He's the PP coach. If he can't create a strategy that works then he needs to go.

Letang provides nothing on the PP if he’s not shooting. He’s terrible at judging puck races so we constantly give up odd-man rushes on the PP. That comes with the territory to an extent, but he really misjudges a lot of races.

He constantly passes into everyone’s skates. When he does have an open look, his stick always seems to shatter or he completely whiffs. He’s embarrassing himself out there and will hear the boo-birds this season if they keep him on the top-unit. I’m actually beginning to question if he can even be a positive 2nd pairing guy at this point. If he’s dropped off even more than last season, our goose is cooked.

 

[cygnus47]

We do, believe me. It's something I paid attention to all year. They had severe problems with elevating pucks, exploiting vacant areas of nets, using appropriate power and timing, picking corners, NOT missing the net entirely, etc...
There wasn't one damn Penguin who shot over 15%.
You don't realize the extent of it. Last year's team was the most wasteful Penguins squad in my life.
It has to change, or there's good odds they miss again. Karlsson's supposed to help create the chances that are harder to f*** up, but he's one man. It needs to come from within.
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That’s all fair enough, but I think there’s a big difference between a hdfc and an actual chance to score and we seem to be good at the former and not the latter. Crap finishing is one thing, but we definitely did not generate genuine scoring chances anywhere near the top of the league. We had one legit chance in the 2nd half of the game tonight, how many were we given according to that metric?

 

[AuroraBorealis]

That’s all fair enough, but I think there’s a big difference between a hdfc and an actual chance to score and we seem to be good at the former and not the latter. Crap finishing is one thing, but we definitely did not generate genuine scoring chances anywhere near the top of the league.

Fine. Even if they're tracking it wrong and we're like actually 10th in HDFC instead of 2nd, it's still an amber alert level problem.
I'm only posting the stats because my words aren't getting through to you guys. I watched for this every game last year, to see if we'd improve that aspect from 2021-22 (which was also awful).
It started really good, when we were putting up 6-spots in October. We were up there with Seattle in 5v5 goals at the very top for a while, and the GFAx was strong.
Then the finishing crashed and burned, as if they forgot how to do it. They started shooting like AHL'ers.

It started happening so regularly that fans started thinking it's normal to be this flaccid, and they just need to keep generating more and more until they breakthrough. But when I watch other teams around the league, they do a lot better with the same damn types of chances.

Vancouver's an example. I follow them a bit, since I live here. They are just so much better at execution. They shoot harder, higher. Their releases are faster. They make up their minds more quickly. And when it's clear the goalie is set and it's unlikely to go in, they hang onto it and make them move laterally. Our players just shoot it at the logo or miss the net in those situations.
I'm as fed up with Sully as everyone else, but he is not instructing them to shoot this way. He is leaving it to their best judgment. He only cares about generating them, and then he wants them to "use their instincts" like he always says.

This same coach used to get strong shooting seasons out of his teams, with the same damn system. That includes a few years ago when we topped the division. The problem is, for whatever reason, it's evaporated. There's some lack of confidence/bad vibes going on. There's a lack of killer instinct and hunger. Missing some anger too. It's all too passive and wavering.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Letang provides nothing on the PP if he’s not shooting. He’s terrible at judging puck races so we constantly give up odd-man rushes on the PP. That comes with the territory to an extent, but he really misjudges a lot of races.

He constantly passes into everyone’s skates. When he does have an open look, his stick always seems to shatter or he completely whiffs. He’s embarrassing himself out there and will hear the boo-birds this season if they keep him on the top-unit. I’m actually beginning to question if he can even be a positive 2nd pairing guy at this point. If he’s dropped off even more than last season, our goose is cooked.

Yeah, especially if he's on the left half-wall, I really don't like it.
So what then, we're gonna remove Rakell when Jake gets back? Our PPG leader from last year, despite not being on PP1 for the first ~20 games?

Crosby should be the net-front. Jake is not gonna do it better.
Malkin should be right wall. Rakell should be left wall. It's very clear that their skillsets match those roles.
Tanger doesn't have Rakell's shot power from range, or urgency to shoot. Worse with the playmaking too.

Letang should be PP2, in his organic position. His minutes need to get reduced anyway. He's old.
The only reason he's getting the spot now is because he's tight with Reirden. It's a nepo decision. Nothing supports the idea that Letang will outperform Rakell on the left wall. He's never done it before and his skillset doesn't match the job.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I see that even in preseason the Pens manage to continue their trend of taking a million shots but being unable to actually score.

 

[Fiji Water]

preseason boys. Do you honestly think a bunch of future HOFers in their late 30s are going to lay it all out there for a meaningless game. Sure the pp could have looked better, but it is way too early to jump to any conclusions.

 

[Bowski]

John Marino sucks evergreen post.

Kevin Hatcher's purse was more powerful than anything Zubov ever brought to Mario's PP. Prudent trade that was as well.

It doesn't matter much though, Penguins are in possession of the coveted Ty Smith now!
8 or so seasons away from stepping into Grand Marshall Petry's position to lead this team defense.

 

[Dessloch]

Hey guys, just woke here. Should I watch the game or not? Have not spoiled the score. But accidentally caught Big Friggin Dummy commenting on how he does not mind losing as long as its entertaining hockey as per usual. And that did make me fear watching this

 

[HandshakeLine]

and if the head coach is going to look on while his bumbling assistant makes a mockery out of a PP with 3-4 future hall of famers on it, it's on him too.

it's wild that this point is so controversial.

preseason boys. Do you honestly think a bunch of future HOFers in their late 30s are going to lay it all out there for a meaningless game. Sure the pp could have looked better, but it is way too early to jump to any conclusions.

any day now, this team is going to flip the on switch and then go on a tear to make it to the 9th seed!

 

[DearDiary]

Hey guys, just woke here. Should I watch the game or not? Have not spoiled the score. But accidentally caught Big Friggin Dummy commenting on how he does not mind losing as long as its entertaining hockey as per usual. And that did make me fear watching this

Power plays in the game

Pens = 6
Sens = 0

Insane that you think this game would be lost

 

[centipede2233]

No doubt. Just wanted to clarify what you mean by not meeting expectations. Like if the Penguins finished 7th and lost in the 1st or 2nd round it'd be easy to say they didn't live up to expectations, but really I think that is pretty much what people expect this season.

preseason boys. Do you honestly think a bunch of future HOFers in their late 30s are going to lay it all out there for a meaningless game. Sure the pp could have looked better, but it is way too early to jump to any conclusions.

No but I do think a bunch of future hofers in their mid 30’s could miss the playoffs since they missed last year with a healthy Crosby and malkin

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Hey guys, just woke here. Should I watch the game or not? Have not spoiled the score. But accidentally caught Big Friggin Dummy commenting on how he does not mind losing as long as its entertaining hockey as per usual. And that did make me fear watching this

I mean, if it makes you feel better it's preseason so it doesn't matter yet.

EK kicks ass. That's about it, really.

it's wild that this point is so controversial.


any day now, this team is going to flip the on switch and then go on a tear to make it to the 9th seed!

Fall behind a bit in the standings so you have to go on a mad rush in like January/February and inevitably burn out your old ass lineup and goalie by the time April rolls around? The Penguins classic, you love to see it.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

and if the head coach is going to look on while his bumbling assistant makes a mockery out of a PP with 3-4 future hall of famers on it, it's on him too.

Sure, it's on him in the same way that it's on your boss when you mess up, if you have that arrangement. They are delegating tasks. You gotta be able to trust the people you work with to handle their jobs.

What do you want Sullivan to do about it then? Take over the unit, like when he stripped Recchi of the job?
Override Reirden's decisions to the point that Reirden's a faux PP coach? Assign Vellucci to PP and Reirden to PK?

Even if Sullivan took it over, nothing would subtantially change. He is even less flexible and adaptable than Reirden. It would be mired in stagnation, bound to the same personnel, regardless of performance.
And even if he interfered more, would what he demands be helpful? He seems to be struggling quite a bit with 5v5 offense, without any insight in to how to fix it.

What they need is a new assistant entirely. Same thing with Vellucci if his PK sucks, because there's seriously no excuse with this personnel.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Letang provides nothing on the PP if he’s not shooting. He’s terrible at judging puck races so we constantly give up odd-man rushes on the PP. That comes with the territory to an extent, but he really misjudges a lot of races.

He constantly passes into everyone’s skates. When he does have an open look, his stick always seems to shatter or he completely whiffs. He’s embarrassing himself out there and will hear the boo-birds this season if they keep him on the top-unit. I’m actually beginning to question if he can even be a positive 2nd pairing guy at this point. If he’s dropped off even more than last season, our goose is cooked.

Letang would be fine on PP2, but he's poison on PP1.

 

[deakka]

Letang would be fine on PP2, but he's poison on PP1.

Yeah. It's easy to see already this will be a problem. Everyone knows the PP would be way better if Karlsson just took Letangs spot and Letang sliding down to pp2. But cause of fear of bruising egos they try to shoe horn Letang on to PP1 anyway...

 

[OnMyOwn]

preseason boys. Do you honestly think a bunch of future HOFers in their late 30s are going to lay it all out there for a meaningless game. Sure the pp could have looked better, but it is way too early to jump to any conclusions.

I figured everyone knew this, haha. I only watched about 3 periods total, but from what I saw they weren’t exactly trying.

The one negative I see is Letang sharing the PP with EK, though. Letang was still trying to control the puck too much. I’m hoping that changes, but I’ll chalk it up to a 36 year old now having to do something different.