Post-Game Talk: Penguins 5, Flyers 1 - Pens Undefeated in 2018

[Dipsy Doodle]

Is it still not enough even if he's facing more than 30 shots a game? Or do people just want his numbers to drop to feel better about something that means nothing.

It's not enough because it's 10 games on a team that has made 3 goalies look like Vezina candidates over short periods.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

His numbers will drop a little, but the games I have seen of MAF, he's been solid, he's making the saves he's supposed to make and he's seeing a lot of rubber in the process.

Not that I think we gave up the wrong player, we definitely did not. Murray is our guy and there are zero doubts about that. But for example, Murray sees an average of 25 shots a game, dreadful numbers, Jarry on average sees 23 shots against. Which is funny, this team was BRUTAL for the shots they allowed in the playoffs and according to the league, but this year, they're better at it while the D has been idiotic but our #1 is struggling and so everything just looks worse, Murray had a strong finish taking over from Jarry so I have zero doubts he won't right the ship and be the elite goalie we know he is.

MAF is doing well, good for him and his team.
Subban has played about as many as Jarry has (14 vs 13) and has solid numbers, Boston sure f***ed that one up, which is awesome of course.

But it should be noted.

Dansk faced around 22 shots per game avg.
Subban faced 23 shots per game, avg.
Fleury faces 32 shots per game, avg.

So while they played tight as hell in front of the rookies, they relax in front of MAF knowing he'll make the big saves and he has been. Why do people just not like to be happy for the guy? So much resentment.

PS: Lagace sucked, won games, but sucked, his numbers are horrible and he faced around 23-24 shots on avg. 6-6-1 with a 3.79GAA and .872 SV%...so tell me again about this Vezina thing.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Say what you will but Reaves was never the problem with the fourth line. He looked better early on with McKegg, and with Sheahan I think he would be just fine. Rowney has been the problem with the fourth line all along. He is a replacement player, a depth player.

If Rust-Sheahan-Reaves is our fourth line down the stretch, we're going to win a lot of games.

Probably their best bet to potentially get some mojo goin' is to slot McKegg or Bleuger in the 3C spot and keep Sheahan C'ing the 4th but sadly i don't see that happening. If they wanna think outside the box some, do what Tampa used to do: Dress 11F's/7D.

Just start with your 3 lines and 2 extras and use Sid, G, Sheahan has your C's.
Not a terrible idea, imo.

 

[Coach Travis]

Two questions for me coming out of that game:

1. Is Sheehan shifts to L4, do we bring the kegger back up to retake his rightful spot as 3c?

2. If we call Olesiak the Big Dawg, is that offensive to penguin legend Eric Tangradi?

1. I think we should move Sheahan to 4C and have open auditions for 3C until GMJR finds his guy. In the past we've only found out what we've got by being forced to try things because of injury. Let's not wait for injuries to try things.

2. Yes, and that's all the more reason do it.

 

[ncm7772]

Hey, they won!

 

[Deczola73]

I was at the game and some Flyers fan threatened me and asked me to meet him outside. I laughed him off and he just kept it up and up. Then proceeded to mock a few people I'm my area that was personal in nature. He kept telling me I have to leave the same way I enter and I was just laughing. He gets up to leave and walks straight to me and we talked a bit, he told me we are cool, he was sorry and all this losing was frustrating him and he wished me the best.

Observations: Rowney - Kuhn - Reaves should never skate together again. All three are the same exact player and no one has any ability to carry a puck. At least with Riley he can carry the puck and make passes while Reaves and Kuhn win board battles. Should be our #4 C with a few shifts at #3 C.

Shultz is a vastly improved player on the D end. What he does great is when pucks come back to the blue line in our O zone, he is in the right place positionally cutting off any type of odd man rush the other way. Hunwick is terrible at this and at this point when all are healthy he should be our #8 D man.

Letang broke up plays all night, was the 1st to react most times. When sitting a a suite and observing the game at a high view, he reads the play so fast that it's his D partner who most of the time is in the wrong spot. There was a few times he jumped into a spot to break up a play and a potential odd man situation only for me to see his partners misread and either go to the wrong spot creating more space and not dropping in spot to cover.

Also, Flyers are a mess. A really bad team.

 

[Coach Travis]

Gotta say, seeing some really good stuff from Sheahan. He can hang onto the puck down low by protecting it with that big frame, make plays and he actually has a hard (but unfortunately not too accurate) shot. He had 2 goals and 13 points in 80 games last year, he has 3 goals and 13 points in 32 games here.

 

[UnrealMachine]

Waking up undefeated in 2018. Feels good, man.

 

[BigEezyE22]

Say what you will but Reaves was never the problem with the fourth line. He looked better early on with McKegg, and with Sheahan I think he would be just fine. Rowney has been the problem with the fourth line all along. He is a replacement player, a depth player.

If Rust-Sheahan-Reaves is our fourth line down the stretch, we're going to win a lot of games.

It's not so much about any 1 player being an issue as it is upgrading 1 or 2 of the 3. What they had for a while wasn't enough to float as a whole.

 

[Fordy]

once again i have no idea what fleury has to do with last night's game

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

once again i have no idea what fleury has to do with last night's game

You didnt see him and Kunitzx in there. Cant win without'em

 

[Ugene Magic]

There's certainly blame to go around. The top 6 has underachieved for whatever reason, but we at least get a little something out of them, just not enough. Conversely we get almost nothing out of our bottom 6, especially the 4th line. The 4th line is probably the worst it's been since the dreaded Glass/Adams days. We're currently icing nothing more than 3 plugs on that line.

I think it's pretty obvious we need another center. I guess we could use a winger to help out the lack of top 6 scoring too but another center would at least allow Sheahan to move down to the #4 center spot and make our lineup a little deeper.

Yeah, me too.

Agreed. And glad to see you around.

 

[Ugene Magic]

once again i have no idea what fleury has to do with last night's game

It had nothing to do with it.

What it does mean is that he's better than most would be willing to give him credit for.

White hot Pens, or any other team is all relative.

When a team is bad a goaltender is part of that team just like when a team is good he is part of that as well.

Just be happy we had him, have Murray, Jarry and Gus.

 

[Shady Machine]

Missed the game last night but catching up on the thread. Why am I reading about MAF in a post game thread for the Penguins?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

McCurdy has the Pens' playoff chances slightly better, 43 percent. And that was before last night's game.

 

[Shady Machine]

In former-Pens news, Fleury just recorded his 2nd shutout in his last 3 starts bringing his season numbers to 8-1-1, 1.77 GAA, and .943 SV%. He's had only 1 game with a SV% under .921, and that was the Detroit game in which he suffered a concussion (and stayed in to finish the game).

Wrong thread

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

I only saw bits and pieces last night- why was Sheahan playing 4C? Who was 3C then?

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Didn't watch last night.

So let me guess...even though we beat the Criers garbage dump of a team decisively, we still look like ass I assume??

 

[NMK11]

Im not sure why exactly Rowney was kept up over McKegg in the first place. McKegg was decent in the dot if I remember and PKs well, and his speed actually brings something to the fourth line. I guess it makes it that much more frustrating that we could have had Wilson/Archi-McKegg-Reaves. And for the price we paid for Reaves, Im sure we could have gotten a fast PKing fourth liner who was better at hockey, if not Sheahan himself and rolled Wilson-McKegg-Archi. That last combo makes me drool.

Thank you, funny how some miss the glaring problem at center, then proceed to blame Reaves. I chalk most of it up to trade bitterness.

You actually think the people who have been vocal about Reaves are missing the center depth problem? Really? Where have you been all year?

 

[wej20]

I only saw bits and pieces last night- why was Sheahan playing 4C? Who was 3C then?

Rowney got injured in the first, so we rolled just the 3 centres. 4th line actually looked solid with Sheahan centring it, though I'm still not a fan of Kuhnhackl and Reaves together (both had good games though yesterday).

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Didn't watch last night.

So let me guess...even though we beat the Criers garbage dump of a team decisively, we still look like ass I assume??

Not complete ass, but not great either. Three shots total through the bulk of the first period is indicative of the passion they came out with in response to being embarrassed ..... I was going to say in Detroit, but let's call it the entire season.

You know that pass to the guy sitting about fifteen feet in front of the goalie that has to go through the entire team that usually ends up intercepted with an odd man break the other way? A couple got through last night and the guy, Reaves for one if you would believe, did not miss the net wide by twenty feet. Over half a season that will happen now and then. I would not expect it to be repeated often though.

Hey they won, some shots and passes that usually do not work went in this time. I did not see much that said 'turn around game' though.

 

[molon labe]

I only saw bits and pieces last night- why was Sheahan playing 4C? Who was 3C then?

Shh, just let it happen.

And so long as they keep Sheahan on 4C, so that Reaves can play to his strengths and we can rotate Kuhn or Rust in there...

- who plays 3C


Edit: Not serious though - we definitely need someone decent for 3C lol

 

[Jaded-Fan]

No comment, only horror.

 

[SEALBound]

Lol our stars suck.

Those three will probably never be another star of a game for the rest of the season. Gotta toss guys like that some love when you can. I hate Reaves and Kuhn right now, but hell why not give it to them. Oleksiak did deserve it though. Last two games I've really seen him pick it up. Very encouraging. Another Cole like turnaround could be huge for us being so light on the back end.

It's not enough because it's 10 games on a team that has made 3 goalies look like Vezina candidates over short periods.

While true, I'd like to point out a couple things: 1. We've always had the knack for doing that. Not just this season but literally every season I can remember. 2. We've made Vezina winners look average in the playoffs when it matters. 3. We pass up a ton of high percentage shots for low percentage pretty plays. If we took this talent and simplified their game, I think we'd see much higher shooting percentages.

Subban has played about as many as Jarry has (14 vs 13) and has solid numbers, Boston sure ****ed that one up, which is awesome of course.

Karma for the Rask for Raycroft trade.

Gotta say, seeing some really good stuff from Sheahan. He can hang onto the puck down low by protecting it with that big frame, make plays and he actually has a hard (but unfortunately not too accurate) shot. He had 2 goals and 13 points in 80 games last year, he has 3 goals and 13 points in 32 games here.

Absolutely. I've been VERY happy with his last two games. I don't know what clicked, but he's got some more jump in his step, he's using his body more, looks more competent in the offensive zone...just looks like he's gained some much needed confidence. I thought his game against the wings was fantastic and last night he seemed to build on it. Still think we need a better 3C, but if we can take him and slot him into 4C with two decent wings, that could certainly help replace some scoring depth.

You didnt see him and Kunitzx in there. Cant win without'em

Right next to Fleury...and Bonino...and Cullen...and Pouliot...and Hanzal...and Karlsson...and Daley...and of course, who could forget our good friend Niemi.

McCurdy has the Pens' playoff chances slightly better, 43 percent. And that was before last night's game.

I love that guys work but I learned in the playoffs that if you study what he puts out too much, you'll go crazy. It's like the cryptocurrency markets. Lol.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

No comment, only horror.