Post-Game Talk: Glass Removed, Fresh Air Gets In, Pens Win 3-0

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

What drives me absopositively nuts is that this team was fighting for nothing down the stretch... huge lead in the division, playing crap hockey... there was ample time to play around with lines and pairings and find stuff that worked, particularly when you could have been resting vets as the playoffs got closer, and instead we kept flushing the same lineups save for injuries out there... such a foolish waste of resources... the least it would have done was motivate people to save their playing time and maybe the playing time of the other guys they liked down the stretch... instead we are still trying to figure things out in game 2 of the second series.... :/

Yes... as all warm and fuzzy as a game like this one makes me feel about the team. This is absolutely infuriating. Maybe moreso now than even while it was going on since we could have seen a maximized lineup all post season/down the stretch. Instead of playing Gladams ~12 minutes a night. Just 'cause.

And like I said... I understand that the vast majority of this board has been calling for what should be considered easy and obvious lineup choices essentially all season -- and we're dolts. But again... at least they finally did it. And it made a predictable difference.

Now... hopefully they actually stick with it.

Wanted to mention one more time how awesome it was to finally see Crosby, Malkin, and Letang all show up big in the same playoff game. And yeah... even Fleury. Maybe especially Fleury, owing to the bats in his belfry. Those four should be this team's best players every night this time of year. If they keep on the same track we saw... I dunno... maybe this team does have some legs.

 

[chethejet]

IDK, Pens play hard only when they have to. That is a recipe for trouble. Pens have to win a game on the road. If Pens play with heart and want to, they win this series. The question is as always, will they.

 

[WVP]

Just like last year vs the Isles, when the going gets tough and everyone is healthy Glass sits. That's all that needs said.

Gibbons is an interesting player on the 4th line, especially matched with Vitale's speed. Certainly keeps other team honest. Obviously does not fit the typical 4th liner profile but maybe that's an option moving forward.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Funny on the Rangers board, they are complaining that they should have got more PP's due to all the blatant interference that should have been called on the Pens.

From my years on this board, that is just how far too many Ranger fans roll. Everyone complains about the refs at times. I was screaming about them last night. But no fan base has created more we was screwed threads on the main board more over the years than Rangers' fans.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Just like last year vs the Isles, when the going gets tough and everyone is healthy Glass sits. That's all that needs said.

Gibbons is an interesting player on the 4th line, especially matched with Vitale's speed. Certainly keeps other team honest. Obviously does not fit the typical 4th liner profile but maybe that's an option moving forward.

I just don't get what people see as an effective fourth liner? A big goomba who fights and hits?

I want fourth liners who posess the puck, cycle, keep the puck in the attacking zone, and keep momentum rolling.

That's what Gibbons does. People who never played the game don't understand how exhausting it is to chase those little water bugs around and their speed scares the hell out of players.

 

[CaptDenisPotvin]

From my years on this board, that is just how far too many Ranger fans roll. Everyone complains about the refs at times. I was screaming about them last night. But no fan base has created more we was screwed threads on the main board more over the years than Rangers' fans.

I think the fix was in, the refs wanted the rangers to win which is why they DIDN'T give them PP's. Everyone knows if you want to slow the rangers down, you give them a man advantage

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I think the fix was in, the refs wanted the rangers to win which is why they DIDN'T give them PP's. Everyone knows if you want to slow the rangers down, you give them a man advantage

Yeah... I was gonna say -- do Rangers fans really want more powerplays?

That was the absolute nadir of their generally lackluster play, last night -- the powerplay.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I think the fix was in, the refs wanted the rangers to win which is why they DIDN'T give them PP's. Everyone knows if you want to slow the rangers down, you give them a man advantage

Except for giving them three straight PPs to start the game...

 

[ColePens]

I just don't get what people see as an effective fourth liner? A big goomba who fights and hits?

I want fourth liners who posess the puck, cycle, keep the puck in the attacking zone, and keep momentum rolling.

That's what Gibbons does. People who never played the game don't understand how exhausting it is to chase those little water bugs around and their speed scares the hell out of players.

It's sad in a sense that we have A LOT of Pittsburghers who semi-follow hockey say how good of a player Glass is without knowing why he sucks. And then you see a standing ovation for a fourth line that cycles in the corner for a good 30 seconds with the game on the line. So they cheer the effort and know it's amazing but never see it from Glass, yet they'll always defend him when it comes to yinzer hockey talk....

Makes zero sense.

Just like last year vs the Isles, when the going gets tough and everyone is healthy Glass sits. That's all that needs said.

Gibbons is an interesting player on the 4th line, especially matched with Vitale's speed. Certainly keeps other team honest. Obviously does not fit the typical 4th liner profile but maybe that's an option moving forward.

Then I have to ask the question... why do we wait til last minute? DB forces it in the line up over and over again and then here we are again. It boggles my mind why we even have to wait for that to happen.

 

[wgknestrick]

Just like last year vs the Isles, when the going gets tough and everyone is healthy Glass sits. That's all that needs said.

Gibbons is an interesting player on the 4th line, especially matched with Vitale's speed. Certainly keeps other team honest. Obviously does not fit the typical 4th liner profile but maybe that's an option moving forward.

A good hockey player is a good hockey player. Just because you put one on the 4th line does not make him "interesting". I really hate the mentality that the 4th line should be something "different" from your other 3 lines.

4th line should outscore and out shoot the opposing team. How they accomplish that is irrelevant. Actually, the "prototypical 4th liners / Glass/Adams/Pyatt" usually don't accomplish this, which is why I've wondered why they haven't gone extinct, like the enforcer.

There are many 1st line, scoring, AHL players who are vastly more effective than NHL 4th liners ( PA Parenteau, and our Gibbons type players). Does it matter if the 4th line hits, if it constantly tires out the other team when it's out there?

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

It's sad in a sense that we have A LOT of Pittsburghers who semi-follow hockey say how good of a player Glass is without knowing why he sucks. And then you see a standing ovation for a fourth line that cycles in the corner for a good 30 seconds with the game on the line. So they cheer the effort and know it's amazing but never see it from Glass, yet they'll always defend him when it comes to yinzer hockey talk....

Makes zero sense.

It's like my cuz, not my cuz Greg who is reading this (I'm not talking about you) but my other cuz... He never played organized hockey beyond dek and what not, but he has followed the Pens since he was a kid and he's 21 now, so he knows the game well enough... He thinks Glass is a good player. I asked him to tell me why, and he rambled on about how he fights, hits, blocks shots, is a great PK guy...

I just laughed and told him he was funny.

 

[thecore]

It's sad in a sense that we have A LOT of Pittsburghers who semi-follow hockey say how good of a player Glass is without knowing why he sucks. And then you see a standing ovation for a fourth line that cycles in the corner for a good 30 seconds with the game on the line. So they cheer the effort and know it's amazing but never see it from Glass, yet they'll always defend him when it comes to yinzer hockey talk....

Makes zero sense.




Then I have to ask the question... why do we wait til last minute? DB forces it in the line up over and over again and then here we are again. It boggles my mind why we even have to wait for that to happen.

My position has always been that if you remove one of Gladams, the other suddenly becomes as asset. We saw that last night with Glass gone. But if Adams was scratched and Glass played, I think the result would have been the same. You just can't have two players on the same line who can't read plays or make basic plays with the puck on their sticks. I slightly prefer Glass to Adams because he's a bit faster, but meh. I'm happy as long as one of them is out of the lineup.

 

[wgknestrick]

My position has always been that if you remove one of Gladams, the other suddenly becomes as asset. We saw that last night with Glass gone. But if Adams was scratched and Glass played, I think the result would have been the same. You just can't have two players on the same line who can't read plays or make basic plays with the puck on their sticks. I slightly prefer Glass to Adams because he's a bit faster, but meh. I'm happy as long as one of them is out of the lineup.

Glass has proven to be slightly worse than Adams (over a large, multi season sample), if that is even possible. DB made the right choice there (Did I just type that).

Adams still is not better than Megna, but we'll take what we can get from DB.

 

[WVP]

It's sad in a sense that we have A LOT of Pittsburghers who semi-follow hockey say how good of a player Glass is without knowing why he sucks. And then you see a standing ovation for a fourth line that cycles in the corner for a good 30 seconds with the game on the line. So they cheer the effort and know it's amazing but never see it from Glass, yet they'll always defend him when it comes to yinzer hockey talk....

Makes zero sense.

I agree. And with Vitale and Gibbons, you know that even if they're only getting 8-10 minutes a night, they're going to be shot out of a rocket each time they step on the ice. Not like Glass and Adams plodding around chasing in our own zone.

Then I have to ask the question... why do we wait til last minute? DB forces it in the line up over and over again and then here we are again. It boggles my mind why we even have to wait for that to happen.

Haha, you know I can't answer that question.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

My position has always been that if you remove one of Gladams, the other suddenly becomes as asset. We saw that last night with Glass gone. But if Adams was scratched and Glass played, I think the result would have been the same. You just can't have two players on the same line who can't read plays or make basic plays with the puck on their sticks. I slightly prefer Glass to Adams because he's a bit faster, but meh. I'm happy as long as one of them is out of the lineup.

I prefer Adams to Glass. Adams does seem to have a playoff compete mode, and does seem to provide some modicum of leadership. Glass has no idea what he's doing and has no compete mode whatsoever. All he does that's useful is be a poor man's enforcer, which is not needed in the PO.

That being said, if they iced Megna over Adams we'd have our best lineup out there.

 

[WVP]

A good hockey player is a good hockey player. Just because you put one on the 4th line does not make him "interesting". I really hate the mentality that the 4th line should be something "different" from your other 3 lines.

4th line should outscore and out shoot the opposing team. How they accomplish that is irrelevant. Actually, the "prototypical 4th liners / Glass/Adams/Pyatt" usually don't accomplish this, which is why I've wondered why they haven't gone extinct, like the enforcer.

There are many 1st line, scoring, AHL players who are vastly more effective than NHL 4th liners ( PA Parenteau, and our Gibbons type players). Does it matter if the 4th line hits, if it constantly tires out the other team when it's out there?

I can't stand "players" who can't play. Gibbons is interesting because he's 4 feet tall. I still like to see a physical presence on the 4th line.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

So Vitale didn't PK even with all those penalties?

Vitale has not been good on the PK, regular season or PO. The main argument for him on the PK were his faceoffs, which have fallen off greatly in the PO.

Goc and Stemp are a significantly better PK pairing than Vitale + XXX. And if we could ever dump Adams, I'd go Sutter + Stemp as my #1 pair, and Goc + Gibby as my #2.

I like Vitale used at about 8-10 minutes a game, it lets him play like he does and bring max energy on limited shifts. I liked the TOI distribution of our forwards this past game. BB should get more TOI if we're down, but if we're up, I like players like Goc, Stemp and Sutter getting more TOI, those guys just don't make defensive mistakes at all.

 

[wgknestrick]

I agree. And with Vitale and Gibbons, you know that even if they're only getting 8-10 minutes a night, they're going to be shot out of a rocket each time they step on the ice. Not like Glass and Adams plodding around chasing in our own zone.




Haha, you know I can't answer that question.

Am I the only one who thinks Vitale would work great with Malkin/Neal? He basically is a Talbot clone, intense forechecker, without the Talbot goal scoring knack.

 

[NastyNick]

Two things were apparent to me last night

1. The Rangers did not come to play. I think their goal was to win one of the first two. I'm sure they would have liked to win game 2.. but i didn't see the same determination and energy they had in game 1 at all. This made the Penguins job much easier.

The amount of neutral zone turnovers was very uncharacteristic of the Ranger team i watched against the Flyers. They were definitely not feeling it last night. That game should have been 5-0.

2. Lundqvist is going to be a problem in this series. When the Rangers do show up.. they are that much harder to beat because of him. The goalie gap between these two teams it the largest i've seen in a playoff series in years. Reminds me of the Montreal series... and will likely be very long and painful like that one.

There is nothing worse then watching your team pepper a goalie.. and then have your goalie give it up for nothing. I can't imagine how hard that is to deal with as a player. Gonna be a huge mental test for these guys.

Gibbons and Bennett in the bottom six makes the Penguins much tougher to play against. I'm so happy to see Glass go. This team definitely didn't need to be any more physical.

 

[steveg]

Two things were apparent to me last night

1. The Rangers did not come to play. I think their goal was to win one of the first two. I'm sure they would have liked to win game 2.. but i didn't see the same determination and energy they had in game 1 at all. This made the Penguins job much easier.

The amount of neutral zone turnovers was very uncharacteristic of the Ranger team i watched against the Flyers. They were definitely not feeling it last night. That game should have been 5-0.

2. Lundqvist is going to be a problem in this series. When the Rangers do show up.. they are that much harder to beat because of him. The goalie gap between these two teams it the largest i've seen in a playoff series in years. Reminds me of the Montreal series... and will likely be very long and painful like that one.

There is nothing worse then watching your team pepper a goalie.. and then have your goalie give it up for nothing. I can't imagine how hard that is to deal with as a player. Gonna be a huge mental test for these guys.

Gibbons and Bennett in the bottom six makes the Penguins much tougher to play against. I'm so happy to see Glass go. This team definitely didn't need to be any more physical.

An honest question --

Is it possible for you to make a post that in some way is not a criticism of MAF? I have never seen one from you... As soon as I saw your name/avatar, I said to myself "how far into this post will I have to read before I see Fleury-bashing, even though he didn't earn any last night." You didn't disappoint -- only a few sentences in was all it took. Obviously, he has many, many games where criticism is deserved. But, when he plays a basically perfect game -- good positionally, good rebound control, not one single episode of flopping, and even relatively good playing the puck behind the net, AND registers a shutout, is it still absolutely necessary to denigrate the guy (as if his play was in any way sub-par last night?) It's a pretty tired act...

 

[Fire Shero*]

Will disco bench Glass again tonight? Disco definitely sent him some edible arrangements to apologize for scratching him. Shero sent roses.

 

[MtlPenFan]

Even DK, who should know better, buys into the Glass hype.

In his column last night he mentions how he doesn't like the fact that Glass is sitting over Adams.

 

[MtlPenFan]

Will disco bench Glass again tonight? Disco definitely sent him some edible arrangements to apologize for scratching him. Shero sent roses.

He'll reestablish himself as the dumbest man in the NHL if 24 hours after the best game the team has played in months, he switches the lineup.

 

[NastyNick]

An honest question --

Is it possible for you to make a post that in some way is not a criticism of MAF? I have never seen one from you... As soon as I saw your name/avatar, I said to myself "how far into this post will I have to read before I see Fleury-bashing, even though he didn't earn any last night." You didn't disappoint -- only a few sentences in was all it took. Obviously, he has many, many games where criticism is deserved. But, when he plays a basically perfect game -- good positionally, good rebound control, not one single episode of flopping, and even relatively good playing the puck behind the net, AND registers a shutout, is it still absolutely necessary to denigrate the guy (as if his play was in any way sub-par last night?) It's a pretty tired act...

My problem is lots and lots of past experience. I don't base my opinions on him on one game. He has to show he can play well for a week at the very least. Right now that is the one thing this series is riding on.. as it has been so many times in the past.

 

[Shady Machine]

That was a really fun game to watch. They played hungry all night. I was so pumped when Geno scored that empty netter. Just pure determination and will. That's what this team needed to get back to have a chance at the Cup.