Post-Game Talk: Penguins 4, Devils 3 - Do You Believe in Miracles?

[Icarium]

Very important win, especially in light of the scores in the other games. The effort was decent, the execution not so much but we keep on scoring a lot and getting away with sloppy defending.

The last time Kessel scored with his trade mark wrist shot was December 27th. In the last five games he has only 6 shots, 4 of which were against Calgary when we threw everything but the kitchen sink at them in the third period. He has always been streaky but seeing him not even shoot much is very worrying. And his defensive "effort" on the second goal was appallingly bad. If he has a nagging injury, let him rest, forget about the stupid ironman streak.

Said he was way worse than his stats indicated and that DeSmith should start against the Sharks and Philadelphia.

Did he forget what Murray did last week against Philly? Not playing him against them would be insane even if DeSmith's recent numbers were better which they most certainly are not.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Wow, DK absolutely ripped Murray in his post-game coverage. Said he was way worse than his stats indicated and that DeSmith should start against the Sharks and Philadelphia. I couldn't watch the game--was he really that bad, other than on the Wood goal?

Murray wasn't good, but hes had plenty of games that were worse then last night's game.

It wasn't anywhere near as bad as his last game against Calgary.

 

[ncm7772]

two RWingers 72 and 81, are absolute trash last 10-15 games, if they can get better that would be a game changer

Amen. It's almost comical how bad they've been.

Biggest plus is finally beating those powerhouse Devils.

I thought the Pens looked good in the second, then yet again took their foot off the gas in the third period. Murray let in a stinker for the 4-3 goal, but prior to that he made some big saves because the Pens decided to stop skating and stop trying to play defense.

If this team could ever piece together more than 1 or 2 good periods ...

Agreed. Very rarely have shown a full 60 minute effort this year.

Yeah rotating the 4th line wings isn't a bad way to go.

Not a crazy idea. Although you'd really order to get much MUCH more out of PH and Pearson. Although Pearson was solid last night.

Wow, DK absolutely ripped Murray in his post-game coverage. Said he was way worse than his stats indicated and that DeSmith should start against the Sharks and Philadelphia. I couldn't watch the game--was he really that bad, other than on the Wood goal?

No. That idiot is probably just a Fleury maniac. Murray was very good other than that 3rd goal.

 

[StaalForOne]

I can't believe the guy who thought it would be a good idea to strip Sid of his captaincy had another really bad take. Just totally caught by surprise. Baffled. Blown away. Stupefied. Shocked. Dumbfounded. Astonished. Bewildered. Stunned. I'm beside myself really.

 

[cheesedanish87]

I can't give the Pens much credit for last night, they did what your suppose to do against a bad team.

If the Pens would of brought that focus the first 3 games against NJ the Pens would be battling NYI for first place in the division rather then being a bubble team.


I think its about time to put Jake on the first PP unit over Horny, Jake has gotten a lot better in front of the net screening goalies and having nice deflections.

 

[Icarium]

I think its about time to put Jake on the first PP unit over Horny, Jake has gotten a lot better in front of the net screening goalies and having nice deflections.

I think we should try removing Kessel first. Horny has been bad but PP1 was even worse when he was injured. Kessel simply refuses to shoot and the opponents know that and concentrate on stopping his passes. Don't get me wrong, when in form he is one of the best PP players in the league but right now he is a liability.

 

[SirBrad]

Let's be real, neither has been solid for a long enough stretch this season. Murray wasn't bad last night but I don't think he made any real spectacular saves. Devils had a lot of shots but I don't think they had a lot of quality. But DeSmith has been really bad lately.

January-Feburary
DeSmith: 2-4-1, 4.13 GAA, .882 SV%
Murray: 8-5-0, 2.69 GAA, .921 SV%

Ripping Murray and favoring DeSmith right now is just stupid. Would be nice to get one of these guys on a roll though.

Side note about the game - wow there were A LOT of Pens fans in NJ for a Tuesday night game. More than I expected.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I warned you people not to sleep on the NEW Zach Aston-Reese before his injury...

 

[DanielPlainview]

Wait what? They actually beat New Jersey??!!

 

[Ogrezilla]

I warned you people not to sleep on the NEW Zach Aston-Reese before his injury...

He's made the jump from almost doing good things to doing good things. It's a pretty huge difference. I do want to see him keep it up with Geno against better teams before I'm really comfortable with him in the top 6, but he's been playing well in the bottom 6 for a while now.

 

[BrokenStick]

I warned you people not to sleep on the NEW Zach Aston-Reese before his injury...

I think it's important to remember with ZAR that he spent most of the summer being unable to eat solid food, which I'm sure affected his training and conditioning.

His poor play early this season could have been him getting back up to speed and into proper playing condition.

We may now (and before his hand injury) be seeing the player we actually have rather than the poor one we saw earlier.

 

[RSPens]

In general I didn't think the fourth line was bad. However I find it kind of ironic that the goal scored against the 4th line was because Cullen was thrown out of the face off and Simon had to take it. The commentators were even mentioning how the line only had one centre and when he was thrown out it cost them a goal. I find it ironic because the guy that people wanted playing instead of Simon is technically a centre. Not that I disagree with giving Simon a chance and having Teddy sit occasionally, but this decision could have cost them the game.

 

[cookthebooks]

hopefully if the pens make the playoffs it will coincide with phil exiting his slump

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Wow, DK absolutely ripped Murray in his post-game coverage. Said he was way worse than his stats indicated and that DeSmith should start against the Sharks and Philadelphia. I couldn't watch the game--was he really that bad, other than on the Wood goal?

Ripping the goalie after a game like last night's performance really grinds my gears. It's so typical of the morons in the Pittsburgh media.

First, the Pens won. At the end of the day, he made enough saves to earn the win. God knows this local media kissed Fleury's ass every single time the Pens won, even if he looked like a flopping fish for most of the game. Yet Murray's held to a higher standard even when the team wins?

Second, Murray offset his bad goals with some big saves. The Pens were horrible defensively in the third, and Murray bailed them out multiple times. Yes, the 3rd goal was bad -- Fleury bad -- but it would have been a tied game prior to that if it weren't for Murray given the chances the Pens were giving up.

Finally, it goes back to my rant the other game. Goalies shouldn't have to be 1st star every night for people to be content with their performance. These media hacks should watch other games around the league and see how many "average" games all the goalies have. The teams who consistently win pick up the slack for their goalie when he's average. The teams who lose every time their goalie is average have much bigger issues than who is in net.

Summary, f*** DK and anyone else who criticizes Murray every single time he doesn't play like the 1st star, even when he's actually solid.

 

[Ogrezilla]

hopefully if the pens make the playoffs it will coincide with phil exiting his slump

Last year Phil was a beast all regular season. Then he slumped in the playoffs. So hopefully he's getting it out now.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

I missed the 2nd half of the game- how was Simon?

 

[heysmilinstrange]

long post that I agree with

Yeah, I totally agree with what you're saying. I was really surprised by how unusually vehement DK's criticism of Murray was, especially because he saved 33/36 and the team won. He said he had a rotten game, it was a miserable performance, and he would have been the only reason the team lost if they had lost. The criticism spread over 2 pieces of post-game coverage, and it's just ... weird ... to see a goalie criticized that strongly in a game that he won and had a .917 save percentage in. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

 

[Shaftception]

Agreed that reaction is an odd overreaction after this game, but have noticed a possible trend regarding Murray.

So, the continual reduction in goaltending equipment seems to have finally significantly affected league scoring totals these past two seasons, especially this one. Murray's decline in play has also coincided with these past two seasons.

I remember commenting on Murray's seemingly absurd shoulder pads in a comparison picture to Fluery standing next to him back during one of the Cup runs, and they were pretty comically oversized compared to Fleury's. A couple pondered if future equipment reductions could potentially disproportionally affect his style more than other goalies.

Edit: found the post

I don't know the specifics on the goalie equipment reductions, but I'm curious if it's at all a contributing factor. If so, might spell bad things for him ever potentially regaining his cup years form.

 

[Shwag33]

Ripping the goalie after a game like last night's performance really grinds my gears. It's so typical of the morons in the Pittsburgh media.

First, the Pens won. At the end of the day, he made enough saves to earn the win. God knows this local media kissed Fleury's ass every single time the Pens won, even if he looked like a flopping fish for most of the game. Yet Murray's held to a higher standard even when the team wins?

Second, Murray offset his bad goals with some big saves. The Pens were horrible defensively in the third, and Murray bailed them out multiple times. Yes, the 3rd goal was bad -- Fleury bad -- but it would have been a tied game prior to that if it weren't for Murray given the chances the Pens were giving up.

Finally, it goes back to my rant the other game. Goalies shouldn't have to be 1st star every night for people to be content with their performance. These media hacks should watch other games around the league and see how many "average" games all the goalies have. The teams who consistently win pick up the slack for their goalie when he's average. The teams who lose every time their goalie is average have much bigger issues than who is in net.

Summary, **** DK and anyone else who criticizes Murray every single time he doesn't play like the 1st star, even when he's actually solid.

Those hacks were talking about how fleury is in the vezina conversation this year... you know with his top 30 sv% of .908. Fleury is still the most overrated sports figure in pittsburgh sports history.

 

[Peat]

Agreed that reaction is an odd overreaction after this game, but have noticed a possible trend regarding Murray.

So, the continual reduction in goaltending equipment seems to have finally significantly affected league scoring totals these past two seasons, especially this one. Murray's decline in play has also coincided with these past two seasons.

I remember commenting on Murray's seemingly absurd shoulder pads in a comparison picture to Fluery standing next to him back during one of the Cup runs, and they were pretty comically oversized compared to Fleury's. A couple pondered if future equipment reductions could potentially disproportionally affect his style more than other goalies.

Edit: found the post

I don't know the specifics on the goalie equipment reductions, but I'm curious if it's at all a contributing factor. If so, might spell bad things for him ever potentially regaining his cup years form.

Since the end of November (i.e. return from his most recent injury, more or less) Murray's joint 4th for sv percentage among goaltenders. That's a .931% over 19 games.

I don't see the need to discuss whether he might be able to potentially regain his cup years form when he's doing it right in front of us.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I didn't get to watch. From the highlights I watched, the fourth line seemed to have done well. Is this true?

 

[Peat]

I didn't get to watch. From the highlights I watched, the fourth line seemed to have done well. Is this true?

Yes.

 

[Shaftception]

And I hope it continues obviously.

The best sign would be him maintaining it for full seasons, which the team in front of him holds no small part in responsibility for as well. A full season of health could hopefully prove what was always actually needed considering his misfortune regarding his father and injury woes during the same time period.

Was more of a curiosity regarding the equipment and league wide scoring trend.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

And I hope it continues obviously.

The best sign would be him maintaining it for full seasons, which the team in front of him holds no small part in responsibility for as well. A full season of health could hopefully prove what was always actually needed considering his misfortune regarding his father and injury woes during the same time period.

Was more of a curiosity regarding the equipment and league wide scoring trend.

I definitely think it's likely that the reduction in pad sizes has affected goaltender performance league-wide. Regarding Murray, his stats for the season are now up to .913/2.94, which strikes me as about average. His quality start percentage is at .533, which is league average and seems to confirm that Murray's performing about on par with other goalies across the league.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Since the end of November (i.e. return from his most recent injury, more or less) Murray's joint 4th for sv percentage among goaltenders. That's a .931% over 19 games.

I don't see the need to discuss whether he might be able to potentially regain his cup years form when he's doing it right in front of us.

Yeah, I think folks who point out "regression" in Murray's stats need to look at how much "regression" all the goalies around the league have shown this season. I'm not sure where he's ranked after his past two starts, but prior to that he was up to like 8th in save percentage league-wide. And that's taking into account his horrible start. If you removed his first 10 games where he was really bad, he's probably top 5 in the league in save percentage.