Post-Game Talk: Isles 5, Pens 4 (SO)

[StroShow]

Goal aside tonight, neither Crosby nor Hornqvist have looked very good since that line was broken up. I don't know why Johnston won't try bumping Kunitz down to Malkin's line and Hornqvist back up with Sid.

Also, JR has to realize we can't go with 2 bottom six players in the top six for long. Sid and Geno have had to be Superman for too long now. Get them some help for once.

yeah exactly , JR needs to go and acquire stafford already , I'm sure he won't cost much . Not sure if he's waiting for the team to go on some sort of losing streak before making a move. Sid is obviously not playing well , having to play with bottom six players sure isn't helping.

Bennett-Sid-Horny
Kunitz-Malkin-Stafford

This is what I want

 

[drpepper]

Bennett needs to be on the top line IMO , top line is struggling because there are players on it that have no business being on the top line. Johnston needs to understand that your 3rd line is not going to win you games on a regular basis , having as much talent as you can in the top 6 is more important. And Sill is trash needs to be in the AHL. call up Megna to replace him.

Kunitz-Crosby-Bennett
Spaling-Malkin-Horny
Comeau-Sutter-Downie
Megna-Goc-Adams

I don't even know if I want to see that top line again. Last time, it painfully underutilized Bennett and made Kunitz-Crosby worse. Maybe a year and a new system will change things?

AnyonebutKunitz-Crosby-Bennett ok. Kunitz-Malkin-Bennett ok. Anyone-Sutter-Bennett ok. Kunitz-Crosby-Bennett, I have reservations about.

 

[Zero Pucks]

Seriously. What the **** is it with Fleury and his flop to the ice like a Pejorative Slured fish poke-check?

 

[StroShow]

I don't even know if I want to see that top line again. Last time, it painfully underutilized Bennett and made Kunitz-Crosby worse. Maybe a year and a new system will change things?

AnyonebutKunitz-Crosby-Bennett ok. Kunitz-Malkin-Bennett ok. Anyone-Sutter-Bennett ok. Kunitz-Crosby-Bennett, I have reservations about.

Maybe bump Kunitz down to Geno's line and have a Bennett - Crosby - Hornqvist line ?

 

[Allie Kitsune]

Why is Sill still here. No way in hell there aren't better more viable options in WB than this curtain jerker, person thingy!

Megna and Rust would both be better options.

 

[PensPlz]

Our top line was invisible again. Sid has no wingers. Comeau only scored off a lucky bounce. Sid is absolutely frustrated out there and its hard to watch.

I bet Sid walks into Rutherford's office everyday checking to see if hes even picked up a phone to find wingers for this top 6.... and the answers always no.


Also, we lost to Chad Johnson. Who? We lost to Ochocinco?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

yeah exactly , JR needs to go and acquire stafford already , I'm sure he won't cost much . Not sure if he's waiting for the team to go on some sort of losing streak before making a move. Sid is obviously not playing well , having to play with bottom six players sure isn't helping.

Bennett-Sid-Horny
Kunitz-Malkin-Stafford

This is what I want

It really doesn't help that Kunitz is playing like dog ****. Instead of Sid having 1 bottom six winger on his line, he's effectively playing with 1 bottom six winger and 1 winger who is floating around and doing nothing.

Honestly, Kunitz has been crap pretty much all season. I actually hope it's an effort thing and not Father Time catching up with him. If it's the former, then there's hope he can turn it around at some point. But if it's the latter, then our top six situation became all the more dire.

Also not a fan of Johnston scratching Despres. The team was winning. Why mess with a winning formula?

Don't get me wrong -- there's a lot, a LOT I like about Johnston and what he's brought to the Pens. But he's making some head-scratching lineup decisions as well, including his insistence that Bennett remain in the bottom six and him giving Scuderi and Adams the same type of role the last coach gave them, even with better options available.

The lack of top six winger talent, though, is on Shero. But, the longer JR sits around not addressing it, the more he's going to be inheriting the blame.

 

[Tender Rip]

Bennett will be better with Malkin than with Crosby. A casual glance at their tendencies ought to make this obvious.

 

[cygnus47]

Bennett will be better with Malkin than with Crosby. A casual glance at their tendencies ought to make this obvious.

I think that Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett would work though. Bennett would drive possession through the neutral zone and then Sid and Kuni could do the usual cycling and behind the net passes. I would prefer Bennett forcing them to adjust actually, even if they score no points and he ends up with Geno in the end. Sid has been in a creative rut since the trade deadline last season, points totals be damned. He's only dangerous at the moment because of his puck control and skating ability down low, he's capable of a way more dangerous all-round offensive game.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

This is found so clearly in the Ehrhoff versus Kulemin at 4M debate.

Who's a better buy at 4M? Obviously, it's Ehrhoff. But, that's not the question. The question should be this: Who would have had more value to the Pens at 4M? It's Kulemin, and it's not even close.

Yep. Kulemin with Geno, Hornqvist with Sid, and no Despres scratches.

Would've been glorious.

Just listened to MJ's presser: he loves Geno's line, not a good sign...
anyway, good time to show where we are:
I don't understand why keep playing players that obviously bring nothing, why not try megna, ebbet, etc, maybe you get yourself decent bottom 6.

BB with great backcheck, good OT,

Ugh, it was garbage 'til the 3rd.

But Sid's line made Geno's look amazing.

Seth Rorabaugh @emptynetters
Johnston said dressing Bortuzzo & scratching Despres was a decision based on not wanting to keep anyone sitting for an extended period time.

Fine, but don't play them together. That has never, ever been good.

Curious to see what adjustments get made.

 

[ProgOg]

Yep. Kulemin with Geno, Hornqvist with Sid, and no Despres scratches.

Would've been glorious.



Ugh, it was garbage 'til the 3rd.

But Sid's line made Geno's look amazing.



Fine, but don't play them together. That has never, ever been good.

Johnston on the lines:

"(About the 3rd line) Really good in Montreal, and they carried it over to tonight, and really, early in the game the were probably our number 1 line. And then I thought that Geno's line started to move in the 2nd and 3rd period, and they moved their way up and started to create some chances."

He was also asked about them being on the ice for 3 goals against, and said they became better defensively as the game went along.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Johnston on the lines:

"(About the 3rd line) Really good in Montreal, and they carried it over to tonight, and really, early in the game the were probably our number 1 line. And then I thought that Geno's line started to move in the 2nd and 3rd period, and they moved their way up and started to create some chances."

He was also asked about them being on the ice for 3 goals against, and said they became better defensively as the game went along.

That's looking on the sunny side.

No adjustments pending in the top 9, by the sounds of it.

 

[ProgOg]

That's looking on the sunny side.

No adjustments pending in the top 9, by the sounds of it.

I mostly got that he basically said that the top 6 got outplayed by the 3rd line for a big chunk of the game - putting the interview in here, in case someone wants to watch it:

[NHL]678969&catid=829[/NHL]

 

[Tumty]

Crosby's line sucked. Again. Thats no surprise, hoping Johnston is happy now when we have only third line playing good hockey. Smart guy.

 

[Tumty]

Well, he's the best player, he needs to score in such games. I agree Kunitz has looked bad, but he's not paid 12 million dollars a year currently.

Sid is basically playing 3-5 pk all the time with bort and scuudcs. You really say so?

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I mostly got that he basically said that the top 6 got outplayed by the 3rd line for a big chunk of the game - putting the interview in here, in case someone wants to watch it:

[NHL]678969&catid=829[/NHL]

Hope he'll try to address it.

 

[Captain Hook]

I stopped and erased the game as soon as the last Isles shooters puck went in. I'm guessing our team wasn't called back out there from the locker room to resume a shootout again.

Anyway, The Pens just didn't have it tonight. They didn't play their best but to their credit they still found a way to battle back and get a point.

It'll be interesting to see if they can resist the temptation to move Bennett up to the top 6. The first two lines have mostly stunk up the joint and Spaling was playing well on the 3rd line before Beau got healthy. I can see why they like Sutter and Bennett though. The chemistry really is great. That 3rd line will be every bit the X-factor Cooke Staal Kennedy was if we can somehow keep it together and bolster the top 6 with trades. Problem is in the meantime the top 6 is playing extremely short-handed given the lack of talent up there on the wings.

 

[Tender Rip]

We really have to hope that the system aspects of dealing with their forecheck will be addressed. It cannot be that the forwards are too far off our D-men to provide outlets while at the same time not managing to pick up their D getting in deep.

That said, when discussing forwards D-work, let's remember that goal one was a lousy change (that Fleury should have had). The second was Martin getting stripped and Letang getting walked. Not a single forward on the ice could have done ****. The third is a floater from the blue line getting tipped with a Pens screen in front of Fleury, and the fourth was a bad turnover by Horny and Spalling missing his assignment.

I have less problems with forwards compete level on the goals themselves than I have with the fact that we were systematically abused for the entire first period. Only changed with the second period and resulting long change limiting the Isles ability to crank up the forecheck (I wonder if they are significantly less successful in second periods in general?).

We cannot blame it all on D-men losing their marbles under pressure.

 

[canadianguy77]

If we want 2 legit top 6 wingers, we're going to need a losing streak. A long one. We're going to have to be futile and we're going to have to fight to get into the playoffs once those wingers are here. I don't see it happening any other way.

 

[deakka]

I would keep the 3rd line, reunite Kunitz- Sid- Hornqvist. And let Geno play with Comeau and Spaling.

Then we would have 2 good lines. Now we only have the 3rd line and then the top 6 are spread to thin so neither of the top 2 lines are really good. That makes only the 3rd line look good.

I know its bad for Geno, but i would go with it until we find one or more wingers via trade. Having 2 good lines of the top 3 is better for the team imo.

 

[WayneSid9987]

If we want 2 legit top 6 wingers, we're going to need a losing streak. A long one. We're going to have to be futile and we're going to have to fight to get into the playoffs once those wingers are here. I don't see it happening any other way.

Theres a little of this with me as well but not to this extent. Sid should be struggling with the way Kunitz is playing and a 4th liner on his RW.

Geno, sort of the same way with a 3rd/4th liner playing on his LW.

I want some additions, i want Bennett to get a look, i want Megna to get a look somewhere in the lineup.

These things will happen if they struggle.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I would keep the 3rd line, reunite Kunitz- Sid- Hornqvist. And let Geno play with Comeau and Spaling.

Then we would have 2 good lines. Now we only have the 3rd line and then the top 6 are spread to thin so neither of the top 2 lines are really good. That makes only the 3rd line look good.

I know its bad for Geno, but i would go with it until we find one or more wingers via trade. Having 2 good lines of the top 3 is better for the team imo.

Or you could actually give the best winger on the team a spin with Geno...(Beau).

K-C-H
BB-Geno-Comeau/Downie

wouldn't be bad short term.

Spaling-Sutter-Downie was an ok 3rd line. They won us some games actually before Beau got back.

 

[Shrimper]

Please give Crosby Hornqvist back.

 

[WVP]

I'm going to try to stop agonizing over the lines - we know Rutherford is going to do something.

First period was terrible but I thought the team responded well the rest of the way. Malkin was impressive.

 

[WVP]

Please give Crosby Hornqvist back.

I thought Spaling - Malkin - Hornqvist finally started to gel last night. If Kunitz was playing good hockey this wouldn't be as big as an issue right now.