Post-Game Talk: Kings 5, Pens 3: Can't Win 'Em All

[Penguinzilla*]

Wasn't he on that 3rd period PK with Crosby? Don't recall seeing him at even strength though.

I saw him vanish for a while and was happy. Then he reappeared in the 3rd for at least a shift and I was mad. I saw beau/sid/kunitz long-time and i was happy because it's the best Sid has played all year. I was half-watching though cuz women where in the house talking a lot and I was drinking. But I'm happy. I hope I didn't imagine everything I thought I saw.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooh the BEST part of the whole game (which I barely saw) was Beau continually DID NOT force the puck to Sid. There were time when Dupuis or just about anyone else would have forced it; Beau didn't, and made a smart play instead
I gotta go to a party. I l ovce you guys

 

[Pancakes]

Geno's line really laid a rare stinker tonight with a -3.
Also unlucky with the many chances Phil had that he couldn't convert.
They'll be better.

They're not the most defensively sound line, so in a game like this where every line is getting pinned in our zone that Geno line is going to suffer more than most.

They usually make up for it by generating (and finishing) a lot more offensive chances than any other line. Not tonight though.

 

[TheSniper26]

I really hope this is the corner turn for Sid. This was a good team he put up the points against.

One other thing I caught: In San Jose, Geno's line saw Martin-Burns pretty much all game. Today, they saw Kopitar and Doughty for what seemed like the lion's share of shifts. What you want in that situation is for other lines to exploit a coach chasing a matchup.

I doubt it. Not because I don't think Crosby is capable of turning a corner but because I think it won't be long before he's back to having basically no skill/poise on his line. One period without a goal and Bennett will be moved back to the bottom six. I don't think Crosby turning a corner individually will be enough for his season to turn a corner as a whole(if that makes any sense).

 

[mpp9]

Dupuis needs to be healthy scratched. And Sprong in.

 

[Will Hunting]

Also, on a slightly different note..

Perron and Hornqvist with a very forgettable games. Perron was just fine lately, he was back to being useless today. As for Hornqvist, I don´t know what to say.. guy is struggling, seems lost on the ice, not knowing what to do and just dumping the puck and going to the net. He´s not gonna get out of this funk by playing like this and being on the 3rd line. We might have a real problem in Hornqvist. What a difference between his last season and current season.

 

[canadianguy77]

Also, on a slightly different note..

Perron and Hornqvist with a very forgettable games. Perron was just fine lately, he was back to being useless today. As for Hornqvist, I don´t know what to say.. guy is struggling, seems lost on the ice, not knowing what to do and just dumping the puck and going to the net. He´s not gonna get out of this funk by playing like this and being on the 3rd line. We might have a real problem in Hornqvist. What a difference between his last season and current season.

Unless he's on a line that can possess the puck in the offensive zone, he's pretty much useless.

 

[Shady Machine]

I put this loss on Kessel, was about to write it anyway, that EN situation changed nothing.. Just an icing on the cake. Awful performance overall by Kessel, he cost us big time tonight.

At least MJ finally realized that playing Crosby with worst forward on the team (Dupuis) is not the way to go.. too bad that BB didn´t score on that golden chance set up by 87 before that penalty shot though.. His place might have been cemented there had he done it.

Defense is terrible.. and yeah, Letang (for as underwhelming as he´s been) was badly missed today. How Scuderi still remains in the NHL is a mystery.

Just to clarify..

I like Kessel, he´s easily our best winger, but his game today was UNACCEPTABLE. Brutal. Terrible defensively, creating nothing.. just missing and killing great chances created by Malkin.. Yeah, imagine Kunitz, Dupuis or even Crosby (usual scapegoats) having a game like this.. this board would be exploding. That said, Dupuis is still in his own universe of awfulness and he was there today as well. Bit different but equally terrible as Kessel. But yeah, I´m getting used to to his uselessness. As for Kessel, he has his moments but overall I feel like he can and should be quite a lot better than he has been.

Haha. This loss can be put on a lot of players. How about Scuderi and his two penalties along with playing master statue and screener on the Ehrhoff goal?

 

[mpp9]

What did people expect with Kessel? He produces offense. That's it. Deal with it.

 

[TheSniper26]

Haha. This loss can be put on a lot of players. How about Scuderi and his two penalties along with playing master statue and screener on the Ehrhoff goal?

At this point it should just be taken as read that Scuderi is to blame for everything that's ever happened. Ever. It's not even worth mentioning anymore.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Also, on a slightly different note..

Perron and Hornqvist with a very forgettable games. Perron was just fine lately, he was back to being useless today. As for Hornqvist, I don´t know what to say.. guy is struggling, seems lost on the ice, not knowing what to do and just dumping the puck and going to the net. He´s not gonna get out of this funk by playing like this and being on the 3rd line. We might have a real problem in Hornqvist. What a difference between his last season and current season.

Unless he's on a line that can possess the puck in the offensive zone, he's pretty much useless.

Maybe put him with Cullen/Fehr. Fehr would have to move to C and Cullen to LW or Fehr to LW. Assuming you're sitting Dupuis that leaves Perron and Bonino for Sprong, which is fine.

 

[PensandCaps]

Also, on a slightly different note..

Perron and Hornqvist with a very forgettable games. Perron was just fine lately, he was back to being useless today. As for Hornqvist, I don´t know what to say.. guy is struggling, seems lost on the ice, not knowing what to do and just dumping the puck and going to the net. He´s not gonna get out of this funk by playing like this and being on the 3rd line. We might have a real problem in Hornqvist. What a difference between his last season and current season.

Perron had a fine game imo. He just gets robbed all the time, he should be on the top line over Kunitz

 

[vodeni]

They're not the most defensively sound line, so in a game like this where every line is getting pinned in our zone that Geno line is going to suffer more than most.

They usually make up for it by generating (and finishing) a lot more offensive chances than any other line. Not tonight though.

most of our lines are pinned down most of the time, however if Kessel twice and Peron scores tonight on great open looks it would be same old story again.
The only remedy is to have a better blue line. L2 needs two d-man on blue line tp pinch in and feed them down low and let Geno do his magic

 

[chethejet]

Pens will have many close but no cigar games this year and will think they are so close. The facts are if GMJR was told that the Pens will not eat any contracts like Scuderi, then Pens are really done. No way any GM can see him and not think he is done. Can't watch this team in anything but a look in on occasion. Shame what has happened to such a promising franchise.

 

[Will Hunting]

Haha. This loss can be put on a lot of players. How about Scuderi and his two penalties along with playing master statue and screener on the Ehrhoff goal?

Well, Scuds is what he is and we all know it. That´s on MJ playing him, but what can we do.. He will always be like this. On the other hand, if Kessel plays even close to his expected standard, we might be talking about a win in LA now. He cost us big time today, no doubt about that.

As for Hornqvist, this looks like a problem that will last longterm. Just the way he plays.. it looks wrong and very limited. Very disappointed.

 

[Will Hunting]

Perron had a fine game imo. He just gets robbed all the time, he should be on the top line over Kunitz

Maybe, but Kunitz looks better lately so I don´t have a problem with him being there.. FOR NOW. 5 points in his last 2 games, so there´s that. As for Perron being robbed, yeah it happens a lot but guy had 1 shot today. I don´t even remember that shot, maybe I just missed it but I don´t know where was he "robbed" today (looks like I missed it). He certainly wasn´t fine though. That said, Kessel was worse, he was the main problem for that line today.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Pens will have many close but no cigar games this year and will think they are so close. The facts are if GMJR was told that the Pens will not eat any contracts like Scuderi, then Pens are really done. No way any GM can see him and not think he is done. Can't watch this team in anything but a look in on occasion. Shame what has happened to such a promising franchise.

That's moot. It'd be great if we could get them completely off our books, but all we have to do to minimize their impact is NOT PLAY THEM.

 

[MtlPenFan]

Pens will have many close but no cigar games this year and will think they are so close. The facts are if GMJR was told that the Pens will not eat any contracts like Scuderi, then Pens are really done. No way any GM can see him and not think he is done. Can't watch this team in anything but a look in on occasion. Shame what has happened to such a promising franchise.

Honestly I cringed when Sid scored.

Worse thing that could have happened was them coming all the way back tonight.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

You kid, but like I said in another thread, they're so desperate to stick to the status quo that they're willing to maybe kill a guy. Think about that for a second.

I have and its ****ed up. I feel really sorry for his family and I also feel sorry for his teammates and the medical staff. He's a distraction because he could die and they're all aware of it. He's already had two 'oh ****' moments after long ****ing flights. I read this, probably illegal, excerpt from one of DK's articles and they admit to thinking a lot about Dupuis and his situation. No one should be having to do that over something like this.

I'd rather have 3.75M in dead cap space than Dupuis ever play for this team again. He's also playing like **** and the Pens are on their warrior, glue kick.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I think Kessel is so used to being the main threat on his line that he's having trouble adjusting to the role as triggerman.

Just a thought on why he's struggled this year.

He has? #2 scorer on the team, through 25 games.

 

[#66]

What did people expect with Kessel? He produces offense. That's it. Deal with it.

I guess we'll see that offense when the score is 5-1 in a game against the Sabres.

 

[Shady Machine]

Well, Scuds is what he is and we all know it. That´s on MJ playing him, but what can we do.. He will always be like this. On the other hand, if Kessel plays even close to his expected standard, we might be talking about a win in LA now. He cost us big time today, no doubt about that.

As for Hornqvist, this looks like a problem that will last longterm. Just the way he plays.. it looks wrong and very limited. Very disappointed.

Please lay out the plays where Kessel cost us big time.

 

[Shady Machine]

I guess we'll see that offense when the score is 5-1 in a game against the Sabres.

Or the first goal against the Sharks. Or the only goal against the Stars. Or an OT winner.

 

[Joejosh999]

If those quotes from Agnew re Scuderi were accurate, it's hard to see Scuderi ever coming out of this line-up as long as this coaching staff is in place. Nauseating.

 

[MtlPenFan]

I have and its ****ed up. I feel really sorry for his family and I also feel sorry for his teammates and the medical staff. He's a distraction because he could die and they're all aware of it. He's already had two 'oh ****' moments after long ****ing flights. I read this, probably illegal, excerpt from one of DK's articles and they admit to thinking a lot about Dupuis and his situation. No one should be having to do that over something like this.

I'd rather have 3.75M in dead cap space than Dupuis ever play for this team again. He's also playing like **** and the Pens are on their warrior, glue kick.

Just read that everyone was literally in the dressing room save for Sid and Dupuis after the game, then Dupuis smashed his stick so hard it broke and almost hit the ice crew.

 

[Headshot77]

I thought Warsovsky played a fantastic game. He should be a full-time starter at this rate.