Post-Game Talk: Pens 3, Bolts 2: Kunitz Inspires Sid to Score the OT Winner

[mpp9]

Sid's one of the more unique stars in the league. His coach wants him out there against top lines, and the opposing coach wants his top D pairing against him.

Look at his QoC this postseason. It's ridiculous.

Toews gets credit for shutting down other team's top players while producing nothing for long stretches playing with star caliber wingers in the past. Sid has 12 points in 13 games. He dominated the Rangers. Forced Trotz to move Backstrom away from Ovechkin. And now has the task of facing Johnson, Kucherov and Hedman every shift. But he should learn from a whiny kid like Drouin.

 

[SEALBound]

Anyone who calls Crosby a whiner is a sheep who is incapable of an original thought. Crosby is no more of a whiner than about 40% of the rest of the league.

This. Trotz is a 1%'er.

Interesting discussions going on. We should start an OFFICIAL QUESTIONNAIRE that clearly explains each posters views on Penguins subjects. It's tough to follow what everyone thinks of everyone.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I will say again.

The Pens in this series haven't been passing as crisply as they had really since March 1st. Part of that is credit to Tampa Bay and their board work and system of sitting back and waiting for mistakes. But more the Pens simplify have been off. Get that back and combine it with the effort of game two and the Pens will be a hard out, even in Tampa.

 

[Shady Machine]

I will say again.

The Pens in this series haven't been passing as crisply as they had really since March 1st. Part of that is credit to Tampa Bay and their board work and system of sitting back and waiting for mistakes. But more the Pens simplify have been off. Get that back and combine it with the effort of game two and the Pens will be a hard out, even in Tampa.

I agree and I think Schultz in there was a big help on that front. Olli is a good passer when he's going, but right now he's not a threat at all to skate the puck out. Schultz provides another guy that can skate the puck out of danger, which opens up passing lanes.

 

[MtlPenFan]

The funny thing is, he gets open. He puts himself in spots to score but the guy's hands are completely and utterly gone. It's fascinating to me.

I get the legs leaving. I get slowing down, but I've never seen such a drastic drop in a guy's ability to handle or shoot.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I agree and I think Schultz in there was a big help on that front. Olli is a good passer when he's going, but right now he's not a threat at all to skate the puck out. Schultz provides another guy that can skate the puck out of danger, which opens up passing lanes.

Yep, Schultz was a great add last game.

With the way we've assembled the team, icing 3 skaters who can't skate well was really clogging up the machinery.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Example. Tampa Bay is great with their board work, but are not better than the Caps. The Rangers' forwards had a ton of speed and had north of 50 hits a night to start the series. But the Pens simply took the hit, made the right pass, and completely neutralized that aspect of both teams' games.

The Pens are not making that pass to cleanly exit the zone this series. Nor hitting often enough on the stretch pass.

Tampa gets some credit, but more of it is on the Pens. Again, the Lightning are not better than the Caps at board work, nor faster than the Rangers.

The Lightning have been held to under twenty shots a game. The Pens have almost forty shots a game. No team should be winning with that kind of possession discrepancy.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Whether Kunitz is an NHLer in a vacuum is kind of beside the point.

Scuderi and Glass are NHLers.

The point is that all 3 are terrible NHLers locked into "vet status" roles no matter how poorly they play, and we have been/will be better off replacing any and all of them with hungry young players. The hungry young players won't all work out, but when they don't, at least we'll have the option of swapping them out without having to worry about how all the useless old guy's star buddies are gonna react.

As bad as Kunitz can be at times, comparing him to Glass and Scuderi is just unusually cruel.

 

[66-30-33]

Imagine this roster with Glass, Adams, Scuderi, Kunitz? hehe, i'm so evil.

 

[SEALBound]

Imagine this roster with Glass, Adams, Scuderi, Kunitz? hehe, i'm so evil.

Mother of God...

Could you imagine where we would be if the Scuds-Daley trade wasn't made. Or the Perron-Hagelin trade.

Or hell, what if Porter hadn't gotten hurt. Or if Duper hadn't retired. Sadly, our success and where we are at right at this moment was built on the ashes of adversity. Good on us for persevering but man what a trail of tears that lays behind us.

I will say again.

The Pens in this series haven't been passing as crisply as they had really since March 1st. Part of that is credit to Tampa Bay and their board work and system of sitting back and waiting for mistakes. But more the Pens simplify have been off. Get that back and combine it with the effort of game two and the Pens will be a hard out, even in Tampa.

Absolutely. The Pens seem to have a hard time settling the puck down. The possession hasn't been as solid as it was in the first two series. Could be because of the speed and skill of Tampa, could be because they are fatigued, could be bad ice...but it's noticeable.

 

[66-30-33]

Mother of God...

Could you imagine where we would be if the Scuds-Daley trade wasn't made. Or the Perron-Hagelin trade.

Or hell, what if Porter hadn't gotten hurt. Or if Duper hadn't retired. Sadly, our success and where we are at right at this moment was built on the ashes of adversity. Good on us for persevering but man what a trail of tears that lays behind us.

FOOOOOOUUUuUUUURRRRR!!! Golf times with good ol Tie Domi and crew. Murray traded for a ****** veteran aswell.

 

[Son Goku]

Matt Murray and 2 2nds for Doug Murray.

 

[SEALBound]

FOOOOOOUUUuUUUURRRRR!!! Golf times with good ol Tie Domi and crew. Murray traded for a ****** veteran aswell.

Murray for Winnik or Russell would have been about right....

 

[Waffle Fries]

So apparently Phil was battling sickness all day yesterday. What a guy.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Mother of God...

Could you imagine where we would be if the Scuds-Daley trade wasn't made. Or the Perron-Hagelin trade.

Or hell, what if Porter hadn't gotten hurt. Or if Duper hadn't retired. Sadly, our success and where we are at right at this moment was built on the ashes of adversity. Good on us for persevering but man what a trail of tears that lays behind us.



Absolutely. The Pens seem to have a hard time settling the puck down. The possession hasn't been as solid as it was in the first two series. Could be because of the speed and skill of Tampa, could be because they are fatigued, could be bad ice...but it's noticeable.

Logic says it is mostly us, not what Tampa Bay is doing. As I pointed out, the Lightning are not better at board work than the Caps, nor faster or hit more than the Rangers.

The good news is fix that and we should dominate if those possession numbers remain the same. The Pens are almost doubling the Lightning in shots, which we expected going into the series.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

So apparently Phil was battling sickness all day yesterday. What a guy.

What kind of sickness? Food poisoning from bad hot dogs?

[/Glenn Healy/Toronto media]

 

[KIRK]

Good stuff. But, a little bit of a let down too. Nothing will compare to your Tocchet tweets in the pawnage department.

 

[djt153]

phil was more animated on the bench than i can ever remember him. specific instance that stuck in my mind was when rust(?) went offsides on a very close play.

 

[Coach Travis]

I'd like to see Sundqvist over Sheary next game, especially if Sheary's going to be the 12th forward now in terms of ice time.

Sundqvist has the size to hang with Sustr, Coburn and Hedman, and he's just more beneficial in a limited capacity than someone like Sheary.

That and Sundqvist gives you the option for 4th Line C if Sully wanted to move Malkin with Crosby.

 

[ncm7772]

Pens won, tied the series, Crosby scored the OT winner, team played well, Sullivan actually changed the lines up a bit. Why is everyone so hurt in the sphincter area?

 

[KIRK]

That and Sundqvist gives you the option for 4th Line C if Sully wanted to move Malkin with Crosby.

1. Sully will NOT bench his pet.

2. Kunitz is tied to Sid's hip again, at least as a 'regular' linemate in a game. Horny is the LW.

3. What bears watching is the other two lines after KCH and HBK . . .

IF Cullen centers Kuhn, then you have Malkin centering two of Sheary, Rust, and Fehr. This is what I expect, as Sully has little use for (or sees little advantage in leveraging, if you prefer) Malkin.

IF Sully learned something last game, then he plays Malkin with Cullen and Rust or Kuhn and barely uses a fourth line.

 

[Riptide]

Anyone who calls Crosby a whiner is a sheep who is incapable of an original thought. Crosby is no more of a whiner than about 40% of the rest of the league.

The difference is he gets hacked and wacked more than most, and because he's usually the best player on the ice, the camera's follow him around more. So the fans do in fact see him *****ing more then say someone like Shaw. That doesn't mean Shaw doesn't moan and ***** just as much - just that it doesn't get picked up 90% of the time.

 

[KIRK]

The difference is he gets hacked and wacked more than most, and because he's usually the best player on the ice, the camera's follow him around more. So the fans do in fact see him *****ing more then say someone like Shaw. That doesn't mean Shaw doesn't moan and ***** just as much - just that it doesn't get picked up 90% of the time.

That's a really, really good point.

 

[Riptide]

Tampa gets some credit, but more of it is on the Pens. Again, the Lightning are not better than the Caps at board work, nor faster than the Rangers.

The Lightning have been held to under twenty shots a game. The Pens have almost forty shots a game. No team should be winning with that kind of possession discrepancy.

I really question that. Tampa is a fast team. Not as fast as Pittsburgh, but easily one of the faster teams in the league. I think the difference between TBLs and NYR's speed, is who's fast. In NY it was (for the most part) the bottom 6 guys. In Tampa that speed is coming from guys in the top 6.

 

[Al Smith]

That's a really, really good point.

People also seem to forget the "C" on his Jersey, which means part of his job description is to "whine" to the officials.

Last night was almost a reversion to DPE, as far as interference/hooking/pulling down near the net went. Not so much through the NZ. But I suspect as the series goes on, the interference will expand in that direction. Which would be a shame, because the skill and speed of these two teams should continue to be on display.