Post-Game Talk: Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 4 (SO) - No Letang, No Problem . . . Just as ColePens Foresaw It

[Ogrezilla]

I'm not sure that Sid and Geno don't BOTH need a LW. Obviously, both won't get one, but methinks both may need one.

you don't see Jake as a top 6 LW?

 

[KIRK]

you don't see Jake as a top 6 LW?

I don't see Jake as a fit with Geno and Phil. Geno needs one winger with some jam, otherwise he's wasted. Jake has not been a consistently good fit with Sid this season no matter who the RW has been.

Does that mean he's not a top six LW in theory? Certainly he is a top six LW.

Does that mean he's a good fit with Sid or Geno right now and really all year? I don't think that's close to a given.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't see Jake as a fit with Geno and Phil. Geno needs one winger with some jam, otherwise he's wasted. Jake has not been a consistently good fit with Sid this season no matter who the RW has been.

Does that mean he's not a top six LW in theory? Certainly he is a top six LW.

Does that mean he's a good fit with Sid or Geno right now and really all year? I don't think that's close to a given.

Agreed with Geno and Kessel. Obviously last playoffs showed that he CAN be a great fit with Sid. I wonder how much of that is him just not being a good fit with Sid in half-ass mode.

I also think he's been a good fit with either Geno OR Kessel, just not both.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

All metro teams got a point so tonight was kind of a waste.

 

[KIRK]

Agreed with Geno and Kessel. Obviously last playoffs showed that he CAN be a great fit with Sid. I also think he's been a good fit with either Geno OR Kessel, just not both.

Fair.

BTW, I didn't mind Jake with Geno and Horny on the shift where Jake scored. Of all the LW's Sully has tried with Geno and Horny, I don't think Jake has seen anything more than a random shift.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Phil get some shifts with Sid. Sid may not prefer to play with Phil, but heaven knows almost everything else has been tried to jump start him.

 

[KIRK]

Stat of the night . . . # of officially credited Matt Hunwick turnovers: 0

 

[farscape1]

With his Assist, Sid is now tied 68th all time with Pat Verbeek at 1063 points. One more point to go to tie Joey Mullen...

 

[ColePens]

- Glad they won and pulled out the two points from the depths of despair, but CBJ were missing their top two pivots, best blueliner and a top six winger.

- Couple pages in and no one mentions Phil? This team would be so ****ed without him...

- Going to be honest, I felt pretty pissed watching Rowney and Kuhn out there in OT killing the penalty... couple guys down in WBS that can play their roles and actually provide offense, but Sullivan is attached to his coal miners.

I think Phil had a pretty bad first 30 minutes. He turned it on when it mattered. The backcheck he had in the 3rd was crazy. He also had 2 hits I saw. 81 is a godsend. Nobody is questioning that.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

All metro teams got a point so tonight was kind of a waste.

Better than reading the almost happened ....

All metro teams got a point EXCEPT for the Pens so tonight was a disaster

 

[Tom Hanks]

Stat of the night . . . # of officially credited Matt Hunwick turnovers: 0

Really? He had the first one. I made a comment in the GDT. He had the puck in the D zone plenty of space/time CBJ holding back and he made a terrible bank pass that went straight to Columbus.

It’s **** like that that’s been so frustrating. Not just for him it’s most of the team. We turnover the puck in the worst spots. If it’s not safe just get it deep or in space to where we can at least battle for it.

Much rather a turnover along the wall deep in the o zone than in the middle of the ice.

 

[ColePens]

Yeah I don't get people that take a negative out of other teams getting a point. Sadly we can only control our destiny. We got 2 points out of 2 tonight. The team needs to get on a roll if they want to make the playoffs. f*** what every other team is doing.

 

[Shady Machine]

Yeah I don't get people that take a negative out of other teams getting a point. Sadly we can only control our destiny. We got 2 points out of 2 tonight. The team needs to get on a roll if they want to make the playoffs. **** what every other team is doing.

They need to get on a roll and 2 other teams to get off one. Sure the Pens mindset should be just focus on them, but as fans, why wouldn’t we scoreboard watch?

 

[JTG]

Maatta looked really good. Ruhwedel is a perfect #7. Kessel is just on a different level this season. He's so dangerous with the puck. Murray had some stinkers tonight.

This team could trade Hagelin and Hunwick and lose very little on the ice and gain 6.25m in cap space.

 

[Shady Machine]

Maatta looked really good. Ruhwedel is a perfect #7. Kessel is just on a different level this season. He's so dangerous with the puck. Murray had some stinkers tonight.

This team could trade Hagelin and Hunwick and lose very little on the ice and gain 6.25m in cap space.

Yes they could but what moron would trade for that without sending garbage back?

 

[ColePens]

They need to get on a roll and 2 other teams to get off one. Sure the Pens mindset should be just focus on them, but as fans, why wouldn’t we scoreboard watch?

Well the reality is... if we get on a roll we are going through our division. So it will take care of itself. Plus teams have to play one another. We are far from the finish line of staring at the divisional scoreboard.

Main thing for the Pens - win some games in a row. Period.

 

[Shady Machine]

Well the reality is... if we get on a roll we are going through our division. So it will take care of itself. Plus teams have to play one another. We are far from the finish line of staring at the divisional scoreboard.

Main thing for the Pens - win some games in a row. Period.

I agree but it needs to be in regulation. Can’t keep giving a point to divisional teams.

 

[billybudd]

Ian Cole was awful in this hockey game. That was true of most of the D (Maatta and Dumoulin were mostly okay), but Cole really stood out as a negative, which isn't easy to do when Hunwick and Ruhwedel are your competition.

I hope all this talk about trading for wings is wrong. The defense is offensively bad at moving the puck to the forwards. At one point, Phil got so frustrated with Ruhwedel's inability to complete a pass that he called for a switch and played D on a set breakout while Ruhwedel played wing (successful breakout, btw). Adding a prime Mike Bossy up front wouldn't offset the problem this creates in transition.

Any trade assets we have need to go to defensemen who can get the puck from our zone to the forwards. Hopefully guys who are a bit of a point threat, too. Anything else needs to shore up the center position.

 

[JTG]

I think Maatta has had his issues, but he finally is starting to look like he has a pep back in his stride. Dumoulin still looks like hot garbage most nights.

 

[Coach Travis]

Just one thing on Sullivan, who I think is a great coach; I don't get why he doesn't treat the last 2-minutes of every period as an opportunity to just blitz the opposition with a couple stacked lines. Throw out Malkin-Crosby-Kessel. Follow that up with maybe Guentzel-Sheahan-Hornqvist or something and then end the period with the 3-headed monster again. Then you have an 18-minute break to rest.

 

[mpp9]

Ian Cole was awful in this hockey game. That was true of most of the D (Maatta and Dumoulin were mostly okay), but Cole really stood out as a negative, which isn't easy to do when Hunwick and Ruhwedel are your competition.

I hope all this talk about trading for wings is wrong. The defense is offensively bad at moving the puck to the forwards. At one point, Phil got so frustrated with Ruhwedel's inability to complete a pass that he called for a switch and played D on a set breakout while Ruhwedel played wing (successful breakout, btw). Adding a prime Mike Bossy up front wouldn't offset the problem this creates in transition.

Any trade assets we have need to go to defensemen who can get the puck from our zone to the forwards. Hopefully guys who are a bit of a point threat, too. Anything else needs to shore up the center position.

We have Letang and Schultz in our top 4 when healthy. Not sure what else we can do to add more puck movement other than swapping Letang out or acquiring a third pairing D better than Ruh which won’t be hard and likely will happen. That won’t cost a lot.

We have our 1st. Sprong. Cole. Jarry. And a couple expendable wingers to swap for different fits in our top 9 forward group.

Don’t think that’s impossible to make work.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

+My new Kunitz avatar spurred the team to victory. Kunitz was there (in spirit).

 

[Doogle]

Besides the fact that Bobrovsky melted down again, I really didn't think we deserved that win. Malkin and Kessel were trying to will us to victory, but they didn't get a lot of help. Sid needs to shoot. I know Letang has made horrible plays on d, but without him, our transition game is awful. Trading him is a damned if you do or you don't thing imo. Maata needs to hold the puck at the blue line better. Twice he killed great possessions with blunders of that sort. Murray hasn't had much help, but if he's an elite goaltender, he needs to steal some games. Though that one save he had was amazing, I'll give him that for sure.

If I'm JR, nothing about tonight changes anything.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The Canon the Penguins would install, wouldn't even go bang, it'd just make a goofy noise, then a "BANG" thing would pop out...then it's the "Andrew WK - Party Hard" playing for the Penguins go celebration.

It'd be hilarious.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Maatta looks quite good this season. Which is a bit worrisome... I don't want to lose my drinking buddy! Ruhwedel was looking good too.

And this talk of a LW with some jam:

Niederreiter
Tkachuk
Sam Bennett
Evander Kane
Killorn (he jams, right?)

 

[Captain Hook]

Maatta isn't perfect as a PP point man but I love how he gets shots through. That's something Letang has always struggled with.