Post-Game Talk: Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 2 - 15+ Minutes for ZAR Proves the Winning Formula

[JTG]

Riikola is a guy who has to stick in the lineup. As he gets more comfortable, he will continue to get better.

Jake obviously had a great game. What an unassumingly awesome hockey player.

I think we found a top 6 line with Pearson - Malkin - Kessel. I really like Pearson's game.

If JR could swing another depth deal or two...we are just fine.

I'd also like to see Jarry get a heavy workload until Murray gets back.

 

[NMK11]

Missed the game. I saw some people complaining about JJ-O in regards to not supporting Malkin's line, but my question is did they at least play good defense? If there's a team they should match up well with it would be the BJs.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Also while I'm posting, Sid is something else right now. Even though we've still been losing too much, he's had multiple points in 4 of his past 5 games. He's been playing inspired hockey since our game against the Caps imo.

Now if only the depth would show up...sigh.

I said Rust and Guentzel need to show up for this team to start winning again, and it looks like Pearson is standing in for Rust here... while those two (Guentzel and Pearson) are not depth scoring, they are secondary scoring and it’s great to see.

Brass needs help and Rust is I dunno and ZAR is ass...

Wilson... yeah...

Sprong did kind of amaze me doing everything himself early on last night with albatross linemates and he tried to drag Sheahan onto the scoresheet with two beautiful looks on net that he naturally blew.

Basically, Rust has to get better and ZAR, Sheahan and Wilson need to go star for Wheeling with Josephs.

 

[Still Apps]

Who does ZAR look like?

Uh, Nick Folino?

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Riikola is a guy who has to stick in the lineup. As he gets more comfortable, he will continue to get better.

Jake obviously had a great game. What an unassumingly awesome hockey player.

I think we found a top 6 line with Pearson - Malkin - Kessel. I really like Pearson's game.

If JR could swing another depth deal or two...we are just fine.

I'd also like to see Jarry get a heavy workload until Murray gets back.

Not sure what to think of Pearson yet.

He reminds me of someone, but I can’t figure out who, or if that player is even good...

One thing I’m sure of is that he is comically better at doing things with the puck when the opportunities present themselves as compared to Hagelin.

That’s all I was hoping for - a guy that looked like he had NHL hands, instead of a descendant of Edward Scissorhands.

 

[Peat]

Missed the game. I saw some people complaining about JJ-O in regards to not supporting Malkin's line, but my question is did they at least play good defense? If there's a team they should match up well with it would be the BJs.

They were... maybe average at best. For a pair of big strong guys they didn't half struggle to get the puck off the boards at times and got hemmed in as a result. They had the worst possession stats fwiw. That said... I can't think of anything outrageously bad they did and the one goal conceded on their watch was a 3 on... oh. Oh yeah. That was the outrageously bad thing Johnson did. He keeps that puck in the zone, no goal. Although it was a hard situation for him to be fair, 50-50 puck at the blue line because Atkinson read the play.

I'd rather the third line have trouble scoring than two lines have trouble scoring. Sometimes two good lines and a bad line is better than a good line and two mediocre lines. Especially since the bad line is still playing teams to a draw.

I generally prefer to spread the talent but I think this is currently the right approach. Spreading it at this point is basically asking "Do you move Kessel to play with Brassard and give Malkin X" which isn't completely mad as Kessel and Malkin aren't super in sync right now... but it raises some issues about the X, as neither Rust or Sprong are particularly claiming that one right now.

Honestly I don’t think ZAR played that bad. Also Riikola needs to play over Ruh forever. If Sprong plays more assertive like he did today then he’ll get more minutes.

90% of the time? No, although he didn't play that well either imo. He was mostly in the right places, not doing anything special. But the few moments when he gave the puck away cheaply could have been really bad.

And I think that's what lies behind the anger here. Most kids that do that, they get the chain yanked hard. Not ZAR. ZAR's already trusted in a way that Simon isn't. People can't see why. I can't see why. In fairness he doesn't usually make this many turnovers, I don't think he's as bad as some say... but I still don't see it.

Utterly agreed on Riikola. I think this is him putting it together.

 

[wej20]

+Sprong played well

+Sprong played well but not well enough to get Wilson a goal/point.

 

[MrBrightside]

Nice team win.

You guys do know we won right?

I mean, seriously. If you read this thread without knowing the result you'd think we'd lost 9-0.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

They were... maybe average at best. For a pair of big strong guys they didn't half struggle to get the puck off the boards at times and got hemmed in as a result. They had the worst possession stats fwiw. That said... I can't think of anything outrageously bad they did and the one goal conceded on their watch was a 3 on... oh. Oh yeah. That was the outrageously bad thing Johnson did. He keeps that puck in the zone, no goal. Although it was a hard situation for him to be fair, 50-50 puck at the blue line because Atkinson read the play.



I generally prefer to spread the talent but I think this is currently the right approach. Spreading it at this point is basically asking "Do you move Kessel to play with Brassard and give Malkin X" which isn't completely mad as Kessel and Malkin aren't super in sync right now... but it raises some issues about the X, as neither Rust or Sprong are particularly claiming that one right now.



90% of the time? No, although he didn't play that well either imo. He was mostly in the right places, not doing anything special. But the few moments when he gave the puck away cheaply could have been really bad.

And I think that's what lies behind the anger here. Most kids that do that, they get the chain yanked hard. Not ZAR. ZAR's already trusted in a way that Simon isn't. People can't see why. I can't see why. In fairness he doesn't usually make this many turnovers, I don't think he's as bad as some say... but I still don't see it.

Utterly agreed on Riikola. I think this is him putting it together.

ZAR was extremely bad last night. I saw a few people say he didn’t hurt them, despite his shitty play, but that’s only because he got lucky as hell when that goal was waved off. He completely lost his man and that would have made it a 3-2 game, with plenty of time left.

Not only did he bobble and flub pucks all night to go with a few bad turnovers, but on one insanely bad sequence, he was abused twice by Duclair and got lucky again neither chance went in, especially that wrap around.

If a coach wants to gift a guy like ZAR ice time because he’s “safe”, he better actually play that way, or it’s going to cost them big time when his luck eventually runs out.

 

[ronduguayshair]

+Sprong played well

+Sprong played well but not well enough to get Wilson a goal/point.

He was actually noticeable. I think his benching worked. Zero shots though.

 

[Peat]

ZAR was extremely bad last night. I saw a few people say he didn’t hurt them, despite his ****ty play, but that’s only because he got lucky as hell when that goal was waved off. He completely lost his man and that would have made it a 3-2 game, with plenty of time left.

Not only did he bobble and flub pucks all night to go with a few bad turnovers, but on one insanely bad sequence, he was abused twice by Duclair and got lucky again neither chance went in, especially that wrap around.

If a coach wants to gift a guy like ZAR ice time because he’s “safe”, he better actually play that way, or it’s going to cost them big time when his luck eventually runs out.

I missed that the crossed out goal was on him losing his man - yeah, mark him down further. I'd certainly agree that he was lucky not to hurt the team.

Btw - what you said about Riikola, I'm seeing it.

 

[Ms Maggie]

what should he have done differently with these players? I don't like ZAR, but who should be there instead right now? Wilson?

Spot on. You play with the players you have. The armchair coaching is comical.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I missed that the crossed out goal was on him losing his man - yeah, mark him down further. I'd certainly agree that he was lucky not to hurt the team.

Btw - what you said about Riikola, I'm seeing it.

It’s just obvious ZAR is going to play a lot because Sullivan digs his game (not sure what there is to like, but it’s reality) and he better be able to handle those minutes and be “safe” because he looked quite exposed last night.

Ya Riikola played well, he had two bad plays, the one where he almost got beat wide because he went into his transition too late, and the obvious bad NZ turnover. That’s going to happen as he learns though. I think he’s a hell of a player though and could be a very reliable #4 if they let him grow into the role.

It feels like he has helped Maatta settle down some, but I have nothing to prove that.... Maatta just seems more confident when he’s out there with him for whatever reasons. I’ll have to look, but I think Riikola hasn’t been on the ice for a goal agt since he came back into the lineup.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Uh, Nick Folino?

The photos I posted weren’t both ZAR. Looks a bit like Sheary (sitting down at least )

 

[Peat]

It’s just obvious ZAR is going to play a lot because Sullivan digs his game (not sure what there is to like, but it’s reality) and he better be able to handle those minutes and be “safe” because he looked quite exposed last night.

Ya Riikola played well, he had two bad plays, the one where he almost got beat wide because he went into his transition too late, and the obvious bad NZ turnover. That’s going to happen as he learns though. I think he’s a hell of a player though and could be a very reliable #4 if they let him grow into the role.

It feels like he has helped Maatta settle down some, but I have nothing to prove that.... Maatta just seems more confident when he’s out there with him for whatever reasons. I’ll have to look, but I think Riikola hasn’t been on the ice for a goal agt since he came back into the lineup.

Riikola hasn't been on the ice for a 5v5 goal against in his last 5 games for us full stop. And I agree about Maatta's confidence - I think it's been growing in general but it looks more with Riikola there. Playing the puck quicker, making better decisions on when to trust his skating, activating more, everything. I think Maatta likes knowing he can trust the other guy to make a read and also not being the main outlet for opposition to focus on.

As for ZAR - hope against expectation that he can handle it I guess.

 

[ronduguayshair]

I think ZAR is playing good minutes because it is perceived that he can win puck battles along the boards.

If this causes outrage here I’m all for it.

 

[Peat]

I think ZAR is playing good minutes because it is perceived that he can win puck battles along the boards.

If this causes outrage here I’m all for it.

You could be right. When I watch close, I don't share that perception.

 

[USMC607]

At the moment I would love to replace Rust, Sheahan, and ZAR with any player either by trade or call ups with some semblance of production.

But with Rusts and Sheahans cap I'd lean towards trade because 5.6 mil in cap being eaten up by ghosts is killing us.

I just DK who would want to deal for them, or who we would get back.

 

[Gurglesons]

At the moment I would love to replace Rust, Sheahan, and ZAR with any player either by trade or call ups with some semblance of production.

But with Rusts and Sheahans cap I'd lean towards trade because 5.6 mil in cap being eaten up by ghosts is killing us.

I just DK who would want to deal for them, or who we would get back.

For Rust you’re probably looking at packaging him for a player like Silfverberg. Pending UFA that is a little more dependenable in terms of production and a couple years older.

For Sheahan, probably exactly the type of deal we made for him. A 3rd and a Wilson type.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I think ZAR is playing good minutes because it is perceived that he can win puck battles along the boards.

If this causes outrage here I’m all for it.

ZAR winning a puck battle basically involves him stumbling over the defenseman for a few seconds and tying the guy up until a teammate can retrieve the puck.

I’d like to see him actually win a few 1-1s himself and come off the boards with the puck.

 

[wej20]

At the moment I would love to replace Rust, Sheahan, and ZAR with any player either by trade or call ups with some semblance of production.

But with Rusts and Sheahans cap I'd lean towards trade because 5.6 mil in cap being eaten up by ghosts is killing us.

I just DK who would want to deal for them, or who we would get back.

I'd give Rust the chance to rebound, especially given his goal scoring in the playoffs. Sheahan should be first out the door, he's not providing anything more than 12 NHL goals Derek Grant or 42 year old Matt Cullen.

 

[Gurglesons]

ZAR winning a puck battle basically involves him stumbling over the defenseman for a few seconds and tying the guy up until a teammate can retrieve the puck.

I’d like to see him actually win a few 1-1s himself and come off the boards with the puck.

I don’t really care about ZAR being in the line-up, but this is my major complaint.

He NEVER wins one on one battles. Brassard and Simon / Rust are basically suffering the same thing Letang was a couple games ago. They have an anchor attached.

That being said the game before this ZAR - Brassard and Simon were outchancing pretty regularly.

 

[K Fleur]

Outchancing the other team doesn't mean anything when ZAR is the guy getting the scoring chance.

 

[K Fleur]

Outchancing the other team doesn't mean anything when ZAR is the guy getting the scoring chance.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I generally prefer to spread the talent but I think this is currently the right approach. Spreading it at this point is basically asking "Do you move Kessel to play with Brassard and give Malkin X" which isn't completely mad as Kessel and Malkin aren't super in sync right now... but it raises some issues about the X, as neither Rust or Sprong are particularly claiming that one right now.

yeah I'm a big fan of spreading the talent, but only when we have enough to go around. We need Horny back or someone to really step up before we can really afford to do it.

 

[Peat]

I'd give Rust the chance to rebound, especially given his goal scoring in the playoffs. Sheahan should be first out the door, he's not providing anything more than 12 NHL goals Derek Grant or 42 year old Matt Cullen.

Well, right now he can stay fit