Post-Game Talk: Penguins 4, Bruins 2 - A Huge Win

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The team defense has been really good after Letang went down. hmmm

Guys galvanized in the wake of losing their best blueliner by miles. I don't think it's any more deep than that. This team isn't worse with Letang, but I do this his presence sees guys slack off a bit with the impression that Letang (and Dumo) will do all the heavy lifting.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

If anything, I think it has put a lot more weight to the theory that much of this season's troubles were due to the F's not being willing to play the right way.

 

[Peat]

We got younger, faster and added depth. My concern with Bjugstad is consistency in production. If he can be a 40 point guy and shore up his faceoffs a bit we'll be good there. He's consistently getting scoring chances however which is a good sign. McCann has tons of potential here. He could really be a find for us when he plays fast and is given the opportunities he's garnered thus far. Really good open ice player from what I've seen..

Consistent 40 point 3Cs are a borderline myth. If he becomes one, that would be more than good.

He's also north of 50% on his faceoffs - where do you think it should be?

 

[ncm7772]

His skating is definitely underrated. There was a play last game to get to a puck where it blew my mind when I saw that it was 44.

Same here! Probably the same play.

 

[Ryder71]

Consistent 40 point 3Cs are a borderline myth. If he becomes one, that would be more than good.

He's also north of 50% on his faceoffs - where do you think it should be?

His % is ok on faceoffs but there were times in FLA that it was close to 55% I believe. And it's not just the %, it's he's losing defensive draws CLEANLY, which on a couple of occasions ended up in the back of our net. He needs to be better in at least taking a piece of the guy in the dot with him. I like NB before he ever got here, and I do think he's capable of being a 40 point producer.

 

[ncm7772]

His % is ok on faceoffs but there were times in FLA that it was close to 55% I believe. And it's not just the %, it's he's losing defensive draws CLEANLY, which on a couple of occasions ended up in the back of our net. He needs to be better in at least taking a piece of the guy in the dot with him. I like NB before he ever got here, and I do think he's capable of being a 40 point producer.

Couple times vs, philly I believe.

 

[Ryder71]

Couple times vs, philly I believe.

There was one more recent. But my point is if you lose the draw at least try and mitigate the damage and tie up a stick or get in a shooting lane. Of course the latter is hard to do if you lose the draw cleanly.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

No Hands McCann is on a 34 goal pace since joining the Pens.

Going to end up being one of JR's best moves

 

[Beau Knows]

I wasn't really expecting a win here to be honest, was pleasantly surprised by how well they played vs the hottest team in the league.

That game gave me a lot of hope that this team can compete in the playoffs, let's see if they can play like that against Washington as well.

 

[Peat]

His % is ok on faceoffs but there were times in FLA that it was close to 55% I believe. And it's not just the %, it's he's losing defensive draws CLEANLY, which on a couple of occasions ended up in the back of our net. He needs to be better in at least taking a piece of the guy in the dot with him. I like NB before he ever got here, and I do think he's capable of being a 40 point producer.

Fair enough on the face offs.

But on the production - I believe he can do it, but doing it consistently would be one hell of a ask. He'd need about 2 p/60 at 5v5 which he's only done twice over a season in his career unless he really takes off on the PP and gets 10 or so points there.

 

[Ryder71]

I wasn't really expecting a win here to be honest, was pleasantly surprised by how well they played vs the hottest team in the league.

That game gave me a lot of hope that this team can compete in the playoffs, let's see if they can play like that against Washington as well.

Who ever takes away the middle of the ice and gets better goaltending wins tuesday. I'll be curious to see how we do as well. We need to get Geno going however and he needs to stop turning over the puck. And hopefully we either shelter Trotman more, or don't play him at all. He's been brutal the last couple.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I don't know ultimately what McCann's upside will be -- can he be a top line player, or will he max out as a middle six guy -- but I do know that I've been encouraged by what I've seen so far. Like you said, maybe a Rust-like player who is versatile enough to play center or wing, and can be plugged in the top six or the bottom six and still contribute.

If Bjugstad starts clicking, that trade is going to be such a laughable steal.

Rust always looked like a really legit third liner in the A, but didn’t seem to have the vision and hands to be a true top sixer. He’s been in the league a few years now and this is the first season where he actually looks like he’s a top six winger. It takes time for a lot of guys that don’t have those natural gifts.

That’s how things will hopefully work out with McCann.

Unfortunately, we have a number of McCann fan boys who want the process rushed and are ignoring deficiencies in his game with the puck on his stick.

Let his game grow like Rust and let’s see where it goes before annointing him a top six guy. I’ve seen it happen too often where these guys don’t live up to expectations and then people turn on them and it’s so f***ing annoying. Ie dolts wanting to trade Rust earlier this season.

Also feels like Bjugstad has really been clicking since he’s been kept at pivot to me. He’s on a 40 point pace since being kept there, but it’s a small sample size. I really like what he’s doing there, and the last couple games he’s been actually throwing his body around as well and rubbing guys out.

Staal was never one to throw out big hits, but he would lean on guys all night with his massive frame and wear them down, and Bjugstad has that same potential I think.

 

[Andy99]

WSH will be another big test, as they are firing on all cylinders right now and playing really solid defensive hockey like last year...I’d like to see Murray play another top notch game and let the Caps know we’re coming for them in the POs...if we let Wilson rent space in our heads and Holtby outplay Murr, I’ll be unhappy ...it’ll justify my concerns that we’ll see another WSH-TB ECF in our future...

 

[Ryder71]

Fair enough on the face offs.

But on the production - I believe he can do it, but doing it consistently would be one hell of a ask. He'd need about 2 p/60 at 5v5 which he's only done twice over a season in his career unless he really takes off on the PP and gets 10 or so points there.

I like what I've seen from him on the second PP and I think he's capable of putting up respectable numbers. I'll be very interested to see what he does here in the PO's (if we make it) and a full regular season next year. He's been good but I think he can be better. Time will tell. For a big guy he has good hands.

 

[Andy99]

Who ever takes away the middle of the ice and gets better goaltending wins tuesday. I'll be curious to see how we do as well. We need to get Geno going however and he needs to stop turning over the puck. And hopefully we either shelter Trotman more, or don't play him at all. He's been brutal the last couple.

Hopefully Letang is back!

 

[Ryder71]

WSH will be another big test, as they are firing on all cylinders right now and playing really solid defensive hockey like last year...I’d like to see Murray play another top notch game and let the Caps know we’re coming for them in the POs...if we let Wilson rent space in our heads and Holtby outplay Murr, I’ll be unhappy ...it’ll justify my concerns that we’ll see another WSH-TB ECF in our future...

Minus the PP we need to bottle our first period last night and play on our toes tomorrow. When we play with speed, purpose AND structure, we're difficult to handle. We just haven't seen that consistently.

 

[Gurglesons]

Minus the PP we need to bottle our first period last night and play on our toes tomorrow. When we play with speed, purpose AND structure, we're difficult to handle. We just haven't seen that consistently.

If Letang is back I think he hopefully can provide an improvement to the PP, because Schultz’s conditioning is clearly showing on the entries.

 

[Peat]

I like what I've seen from him on the second PP and I think he's capable of putting up respectable numbers. I'll be very interested to see what he does here in the PO's (if we make it) and a full regular season next year. He's been good but I think he can be better. Time will tell. For a big guy he has good hands.

Time will tell indeed - I do like how he plays, just I think the role is a big limitation. 13 minutes of 5v5 a night with poor zone starts and getting the handmedowns for wings is hard - if he was playing top 6 wing, I'd be confident of 40.

 

[Andy99]

If Letang is back I think he hopefully can provide an improvement to the PP, because Schultz’s conditioning is clearly showing on the entries.

I don’t know if it’s conditioning...Letang has always been way better than Schultz on zone entries...where Schultz has generally been better on the PP is getting shots thru to the net, but so far that’s been lacking too...Letang’s return to the PP will be a welcome sight

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Our power play seems to always struggle with entries. If we lose the initial faceoff to start the PP, it's almost assuredly going to be a miserable 2 minutes with the man advantage for this team.

 

[Hit the post]

Rust always looked like a really legit third liner in the A, but didn’t seem to have the vision and hands to be a true top sixer. He’s been in the league a few years now and this is the first season where he actually looks like he’s a top six winger. It takes time for a lot of guys that don’t have those natural gifts.

That’s how things will hopefully work out with McCann.

Unfortunately, we have a number of McCann fan boys who want the process rushed and are ignoring deficiencies in his game with the puck on his stick.

Let his game grow like Rust and let’s see where it goes before annointing him a top six guy. I’ve seen it happen too often where these guys don’t live up to expectations and then people turn on them and it’s so ****ing annoying. Ie dolts wanting to trade Rust earlier this season.

Also feels like Bjugstad has really been clicking since he’s been kept at pivot to me. He’s on a 40 point pace since being kept there, but it’s a small sample size. I really like what he’s doing there, and the last couple games he’s been actually throwing his body around as well and rubbing guys out.

Staal was never one to throw out big hits, but he would lean on guys all night with his massive frame and wear them down, and Bjugstad has that same potential I think.

McCann is also for the moment (will “only” make 1.25 million next season) a cost controlled asset which for a team that spends to the cap, a key.

 

[XanderCrews34]

Bjugstad continues to be a really nice skilled guy to have in the bottom 6, too. He's usually been the one working well with Jake to generate chances on the PP2 unit and he's got a little extra hockey IQ where I usually see him making good decisions with the puck. His length is also a real asset and pretty unique among this forward group.

I kind of get the feeling he prefers playing C and maybe he just got little less engaged with FLA after they moved him over to wing?

That's leaving aside that McCann has already made more big plays in his Penguin tenure than Brassard did in the entirety of his. Looking like a ridiculously good move by JR.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Bjugstad continues to be a really nice skilled guy to have in the bottom 6, too. He's usually been the one working well with Jake to generate chances on the PP2 unit and he's got a little extra hockey IQ where I usually see him making good decisions with the puck. His length is also a real asset and pretty unique among this forward group.

I kind of get the feeling he prefers playing C and maybe he just got little less engaged with FLA after they moved him over to wing?

That's leaving aside that McCann has already made more big plays in his Penguin tenure than Brassard did in the entirety of his. Looking like a ridiculously good move by JR.

Bjugstad wants to play center and he seems to be appreciative of the second chance to do so. Unfortunately Brassard wasn’t too keen on the same opportunity, but his circumstances were also different.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Unfortunately, we have a number of McCann fan boys who want the process rushed and are ignoring deficiencies in his game with the puck on his stick.

Let his game grow like Rust and let’s see where it goes before annointing him a top six guy. I’ve seen it happen too often where these guys don’t live up to expectations and then people turn on them and it’s so ****ing annoying. Ie dolts wanting to trade Rust earlier this season.

I think we should handle him like Rust too. But that included decent amount of top 6 time. He shouldn't be a lock up there like Guentzel, but I think McCann can fit in that spot well enough to let us play guys like Horny, Bjug, and Simon on L3.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Bjugstad wants to play center and he seems to be appreciative of the second chance to do so. Unfortunately Brassard wasn’t too keen on the same opportunity, but his circumstances were also different.

I think it's actually a big help to us that Bjug has been on a team with higher expectations and didn't quite live up to them. He's more likely to be happy in a 3rd line role than someone who hasn't had that experience.