Speculation: Oh Dat Powerplay.

[Ogrezilla]

Looks good to me with Despres filling in for Maatta until he's healthy.

I'm still not convinced Maatta is better for the powerplay than Despres. I think Despres can fight to hold onto the job if he's given the chance.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I'm still not convinced Maatta is better for the powerplay than Despres. I think Despres can fight to hold onto the job if he's given the chance.

Maatta has far higher hockey sense and makes quicker decisions at the point.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Maatta has far higher hockey sense and makes quicker decisions at the point.

But on that unit Martin will be QBing. I think Maatta would be the better QB, but I think Despres could be the better 2nd pointman. Maatta doesn't add anything that Martin doesn't add. Despres is stronger and a better skater, and he's better battling on the boards. If a PKer does get the puck, I am much more comfortable with Despres recovering than Maatta. Maatta has a tendency to get beaten 1 on 1 by fast skaters.

 

[Waffle Fries]

But on that unit Martin will be QBing. I think Maatta would be the better QB, but I think Despres could be the better 2nd pointman. Maatta doesn't add anything that Martin doesn't add. Despres is stronger and a better skater, and he's better battling on the boards. If a PKer does get the puck, I am much more comfortable with Despres recovering than Maatta. Maatta has a tendency to get beaten 1 on 1 by fast skaters.

If there was a turnover with a PKer headed towards our net, I'd feel a lot more confident that Despres would be able to catch up to them than Maatta.

It's a shame that Maatta had this shoulder injury because he really could have benefited from using the off-season to work on his speed.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If there was a turnover with a PKer headed towards our net, I'd feel a lot more confident that Despres would be able to catch up to them than Maatta.

It's a shame that Maatta had this shoulder injury because he really could have benefited from using the off-season to work on his speed.

for sure.

 

[JTG]

I think Maatta is as good, if not better offensively than Despres, and that mainly stems from him having a very high hockey IQ and seeing the ice differently. Maatta has great vision for being a guy as young as he is.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I think Maatta is as good, if not better offensively than Despres, and that mainly stems from him having a very high hockey IQ and seeing the ice differently. Maatta has great vision for being a guy as young as he is.

Again, it depends on the position. I'd take Maatta over Despres handling the puck as the QB of the powerplay, but that should be Ehrhoff and Martin on PP 1 and 2 respectively. I like Despres more as the 2nd d-man. He's also a great passer, but he's better than Maatta at battling on the boards and has significantly better recovery speed.

 

[JTG]

Again, it depends on the position. I'd take Maatta over Despres handling the puck as the QB of the powerplay, but that should be Ehrhoff and Martin on PP 1 and 2 respectively. I like Despres more as the 2nd d-man. He's also a great passer, but he's better than Maatta at battling on the boards and has significantly better recovery speed.

I don't even know if it should be Martin on PP2. I think Maatta has much more offensive savvy than Martin.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't even know if it should be Martin on PP2. I think Maatta has much more offensive savvy than Martin.

He also has a tendency to get smoked 1 on 1 by guys with speed. Until he fixes that, I don't trust him running a powerplay.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Time to revisit this thread.

It will not last, but 40.6% on the power play.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/statistics/team/_/stat/special-teams/sort/powerPlayPct

 

[tom_servo]

Look out '77 Habs.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Look out '77 Habs.

I honestly do think this team could challenge for the record. (31.88%)

 

[NastyNick]

Powerplay is starting to show signs of decline to me. I know they got three last night, but i don't consider them to look very great in comparison to how they looked at the start of the year. 2 of those were from the 2nd unit too - who are a total crap shoot.

Right now a big issue is Kris Letang. He simply can't keep up with the talent around him. Hes never been strong stationery, and the powerplay doesn't require him to skate a whole lot. His inability to get shots on net (or shoot at all) is a big disadvantage too.

Hes not the right kind of player for that spot. Someone like Ehrhoff would make more sense. Big shot.

The other issue is that guys have gotten way too comfortable trying to set up cutesy tap-in goals. For the first few games that powerplay looked like a shooting gallery.. with the opponent struggling to stay alive. The shots were coming every 3-4 seconds and from everywhere. Loads of good chances. I felt they got unlucky only scoring 50%.. thats how sick it was. Now it looks like the Penguins are back to doing what they did last year, pass, pass, look, reset. pass pass look.. etc. It may still beat the crap teams, but it will get shut down.

 

[66-30-33]

Powerplay is starting to show signs of decline to me. I know they got three last night, but i don't consider them to look very great in comparison to how they looked at the start of the year. 2 of those were from the 2nd unit too - who are a total crap shoot.

Right now a big issue is Kris Letang. He simply can't keep up with the talent around him. Hes never been strong stationery, and the powerplay doesn't require him to skate a whole lot. His inability to get shots on net (or shoot at all) is a big disadvantage too.

Hes not the right kind of player for that spot. Someone like Ehrhoff would make more sense. Big shot.

The other issue is that guys have gotten way too comfortable trying to set up cutesy tap-in goals. For the first few games that powerplay looked like a shooting gallery.. with the opponent struggling to stay alive. The shots were coming every 3-4 seconds and from everywhere. Loads of good chances. I felt they got unlucky only scoring 50%.. thats how sick it was. Now it looks like the Penguins are back to doing what they did last year, pass, pass, look, reset. pass pass look.. etc. It may still beat the crap teams, but it will get shut down.

It was the beginning of the season, all teams were sloppy for the most part and that's why it was looking that good at 50%. Teams PK's are getting better now as the season is going on, it's still got a ton of movement and i don't think it's declining at all, more like PK's are getting better game by game as they always do.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

As I said, over 40% is obviously unsustainable.

That said we knew that this PP was going to be something special and it has not shown anything to change that opinion. Absent key injuries, not injury but injuries, not only should the Pens end the year with the top PP in the league, but should do so by a wide margin over number 2.

 

[66-30-33]

Yeah, so far this has been our best PP since KLM.

Reporter: What is the best way to stop you guys?
Lemieux: Stay out of the box.

 

[cygnus47]

Powerplay is starting to show signs of decline to me. I know they got three last night, but i don't consider them to look very great in comparison to how they looked at the start of the year. 2 of those were from the 2nd unit too - who are a total crap shoot.

Right now a big issue is Kris Letang. He simply can't keep up with the talent around him. Hes never been strong stationery, and the powerplay doesn't require him to skate a whole lot. His inability to get shots on net (or shoot at all) is a big disadvantage too.

Hes not the right kind of player for that spot. Someone like Ehrhoff would make more sense. Big shot.

The other issue is that guys have gotten way too comfortable trying to set up cutesy tap-in goals. For the first few games that powerplay looked like a shooting gallery.. with the opponent struggling to stay alive. The shots were coming every 3-4 seconds and from everywhere. Loads of good chances. I felt they got unlucky only scoring 50%.. thats how sick it was. Now it looks like the Penguins are back to doing what they did last year, pass, pass, look, reset. pass pass look.. etc. It may still beat the crap teams, but it will get shut down.

We've been very lucky so far this season. We're scoring almost exclusively off broken plays, rushes and turnovers at the blueline. That is not the calling card of a consistently successful powerplay. Certainly not in the playoffs. Our setup is bad, and Sid and Letang are both making horrible decisions and not shooting enough. We need to be more organised in the zone and shoot the damn puck in good positions. Letang isn't capable of making the subtle plays needed to just play the umbrella, point shot, crash the net style. We need to play the half wall and goal line, back door looks, vertical movement style and use the whole zone if we're going to play with the current guys.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Yeah, so far this has been our best PP since KLM.

Reporter: What is the best way to stop you guys?
Lemieux: Stay out of the box.

The thing is, and I say this as one of the hardest on the JR hire at the time, one of the keys to the playoffs is special teams. Teams that do well on special teams almost always advance, those that do not usually do not.

Yes, I know that we usually had a top regular season PP, but that did not always translate in the playoffs. I get the feeling this PP will.

JR on the cheap really did make this team a lot harder of an out in the playoffs than they had been in previous years. PP, bottom six, and I have not even talked about the coaching change, which while I am not sold on Mike Johnston yet can not be worse than Disco.

I have to eat a little crow on JR no matter how things go this year.

 

[66-30-33]

The thing is, and I say this as one of the hardest on the JR hire at the time, one of the keys to the playoffs is special teams. Teams that do well on special teams almost always advance, those that do not usually do not.

Yes, I know that we usually had a top regular season PP, but that did not always translate in the playoffs. I get the feeling this PP will.

JR on the cheap really did make this team a lot harder of an out in the playoffs than they had been in previous years. PP, bottom six, and I have not even talked about the coaching change, which while I am not sold on Mike Johnston yet can not be worse than Disco.

I have to eat a little crow on JR no matter how things go this year.

If we choke again, there's always Babcock.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

If we choke again, there's always Babcock.

Someday if you chase enough unicorns you may catch one.

With our luck we would sit right on the horn though.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Again, it depends on the position. I'd take Maatta over Despres handling the puck as the QB of the powerplay, but that should be Ehrhoff and Martin on PP 1 and 2 respectively. I like Despres more as the 2nd d-man. He's also a great passer, but he's better than Maatta at battling on the boards and has significantly better recovery speed.

I trust Maatta to have a lot better discretion on the point than Despres, so those instances would happen much less frequently.

 

[Will Hunting]

Powerplay is starting to show signs of decline to me. I know they got three last night, but i don't consider them to look very great in comparison to how they looked at the start of the year. 2 of those were from the 2nd unit too - who are a total crap shoot.

Right now a big issue is Kris Letang. He simply can't keep up with the talent around him. Hes never been strong stationery, and the powerplay doesn't require him to skate a whole lot. His inability to get shots on net (or shoot at all) is a big disadvantage too.

Hes not the right kind of player for that spot. Someone like Ehrhoff would make more sense. Big shot.

The other issue is that guys have gotten way too comfortable trying to set up cutesy tap-in goals. For the first few games that powerplay looked like a shooting gallery.. with the opponent struggling to stay alive. The shots were coming every 3-4 seconds and from everywhere. Loads of good chances. I felt they got unlucky only scoring 50%.. thats how sick it was. Now it looks like the Penguins are back to doing what they did last year, pass, pass, look, reset. pass pass look.. etc. It may still beat the crap teams, but it will get shut down.

Where´s that shot, though?? But yeah, Letang´s shot is a joke right now. That really sucks, because he has no problems to get those looks (either with his own ability or when someone sets him up).

 

[Ogrezilla]

I trust Maatta to have a lot better discretion on the point than Despres, so those instances would happen much less frequently.

I posted that in July, to be fair. Maatta didn't look like our best d-man every night yet at that point I'd have him in that passing spot over Martin on PP2 now.

Where´s that shot, though?? But yeah, Letang´s shot is a joke right now. That really sucks, because he has no problems to get those looks (either with his own ability or when someone sets him up).

on the bench.

 

[Shady Machine]

Where´s that shot, though?? But yeah, Letang´s shot is a joke right now. That really sucks, because he has no problems to get those looks (either with his own ability or when someone sets him up).

He hasn't had enough offensive zone time to shoot. A few times I've noticed when he has the puck at the point, the shooting lanes are shut down. He moves it to Martin who one times his muffins on net. It has been rare where the roles on that pairing are reversed. It's still early though.

The thing is, I don't even mind Letang playing the top PP time. I mind him staying out for damn near the full 2 minutes. He's not Sid and Geno good. It should be 60 seconds and off for Letang.

 

[Fazkovsky]

What kind of production will despres have this year