Post-Game Talk: Pens 3, Isles 2 - Sid Remembered How to Shoot a Puck

[deakka]

Missed the game unfortunately. What were the lines?

Guentzel - Sid - horny
Rust - Geno - Hags
Simon - Brassard - Phil
Kuhn - Sheahan - Sheary

 

[ColePens]

HFBoards is funny. Crosby scores an OT winner and the general consensus is that he’s not doing enough. He just scored a game winning goal, jeeze guys.

Some people dont just watch the stat box and actually analyze the game.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Guentzel - Sid - horny
Rust - Geno - Hags
Simon - Brassard - Phil
Kuhn - Sheahan - Sheary

Nice. How did they work out?

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Nice. How did they work out?

Pretty good.

L4 was particularly impressive. Sheary had his best game in weeks. Sheahan always looks good when given skill to work with. Even Kuhn didn't look bad.

Sid looked disinterested for most of the game, but his line looked better than in games passed.

HGR were our best line. Phil and Brassard had moments, but Simon is clearly not the third wheel they need.

All in all, match better mix than what we saw in the last week.

 

[BlankFrank416]

That's probably the issue, that he's been fine and not dominant. I think people still expect to see him look like McDavid every shift, but that's not realistic anymore.

At McDavid's age, he could do that every shift and terrorize the league. He's older now and done almost everything possible he could have hoped for.

I think he's trying to find the balance between staying healthy and motivated until he gets to the playoffs.

Maybe Phil is rubbing off on him. He's studying under the master. It's Phil's fault see...

He’s right outside top ten in scoring and his metrics are good. Unless he gets a line that clicks for a bit that’s pretty much what you can expect. And that’s fine. If his preferred wing option didn’t have to play third line center for a while and he had a few more PP points it’d be a different story.

 

[BlankFrank416]

Some people dont just watch the stat box and actually analyze the game.

My barber did absolutely nothing except give me a nice haircut, man. He sucks.

 

[OnMyOwn]

I think Sid can still win another scoring title at a later age, ala St. Louis. But, he doesn’t HAVE to do it all by himself anymore, doesn’t have anything to prove and he’s coasting some to stay healthy IMO.

I think his focus is solely on winning in the playoffs and not individual season stuff. That showed the last two years with the MVP’s. He’s getting older, which sucks, but he’s been everything we could have hoped for.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I think Sid can still win another scoring title at a later age, ala St. Louis. But, he doesn’t HAVE to do it all by himself anymore, doesn’t have anything to prove and he’s coasting some to stay healthy IMO.

I think his focus is solely on winning in the playoffs and not individual season stuff. That showed the last two years with the MVP’s. He’s getting older, which sucks, but he’s been everything we could have hoped for.

Hey, if he can continue producing at a ppg pace well into his 30s you sure as hell wont hear me complaining lol

 

[cheesedanish87]

Nice job by Sully last night with the lines and d pairings.

I'd still like to see Sheahan get more minutes then he is.

Besides Geno i don't think their is a pens player that's playing better then Sheahan is right now.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

He’s right outside top ten in scoring and his metrics are good. Unless he gets a line that clicks for a bit that’s pretty much what you can expect. And that’s fine. If his preferred wing option didn’t have to play third line center for a while and he had a few more PP points it’d be a different story.

I doubt if a few more points would make it a different story.

If you are unbiased and watch say, McDavid, it's pretty clear he's the best player in the game right now. He terrorizes blueliners almost every shift and creates a ridiculous amount of scoring chances every game.

That's how Crosby was at his age, but he's older now, beat up a little, and not 21 anymore. I think many people are just afraid to admit age and the grind have slowed him down some.

I'm fine with him coasting through various games and trying to preserve himself for the playoffs. I think he realized last summer that he has to pace himself if he wants to give his best for a run at a third cup.

If some want to call him lazy, that's their choice. Crosby is one of the hardest working NHL players of all time, and he knows how his body is feeling better than any of us.

 

[The GM]

I doubt if a few more points would make it a different story.

If you are unbiased and watch say, McDavid, it's pretty clear he's the best player in the game right now. He terrorizes blueliners almost every shift and creates a ridiculous amount of scoring chances every game.

That's how Crosby was at his age, but he's older now, beat up a little, and not 21 anymore. I think many people are just afraid to admit age and the grind have slowed him down some.

I'm fine with him coasting through various games and trying to preserve himself for the playoffs. I think he realized last summer that he has to pace himself if he wants to give his best for a run at a third cup.

If some want to call him lazy, that's their choice. Crosby is one of the hardest working NHL players of all time, and he knows how his body is feeling better than any of us.

Pacing himself until the playoffs, another thing we can thank Orpik for teaching

 

[Andy99]

I don't think Sid's issues are completely due to just pacing himself for the playoffs. You could have argued the same thing about him last year (long playoff run, age etc), but he was consistently going to the net and scoring. This year he's not going to high-scoring, high-risk areas. He still could win trophies if he wanted, but I don't think he's as motivated this year. Maybe the third in the row Cup opportunity isn't as motivating as the second in a row. IMO that has quite a bit to do with it. I'm sure he'll pick it up in the POs but will we see Conn Smythe Sid for most of the POs? I doubt it...

 

[Empoleon8771]

I hope the Penguins continue to use Sheahan in spot duty in the top-9. I like the idea of a Brassard-Sheahan-Kessel line to keep Sheahan's minutes up, I like the makeup of that line. If they had a better 4C, I might suggest seeing how that looks over a couple of games.

 

[BlankFrank416]

I doubt if a few more points would make it a different story.

If you are unbiased and watch say, McDavid, it's pretty clear he's the best player in the game right now. He terrorizes blueliners almost every shift and creates a ridiculous amount of scoring chances every game.

That's how Crosby was at his age, but he's older now, beat up a little, and not 21 anymore. I think many people are just afraid to admit age and the grind have slowed him down some.

I'm fine with him coasting through various games and trying to preserve himself for the playoffs. I think he realized last summer that he has to pace himself if he wants to give his best for a run at a third cup.

If some want to call him lazy, that's their choice. Crosby is one of the hardest working NHL players of all time, and he knows how his body is feeling better than any of us.

I’d don’t know, if he had 7 more points and was tied with Stamkos would we really be in the post game thread (of a game where he scored the OT winner) wondering why he’s had a bad season? It’s just a weird takeaway from this game when there are lots of other stuff to talk about. Of course, I’m also one of the people talking about it so....

 

[Will Hunting]

Some people dont just watch the stat box and actually analyze the game.

Not that I disagree, but it seems to me that you are holding Sid to higher standard than even Geno. I understand that Geno deserves a pass even when he has an off game occasionally, because he is having a great season, but this is still a PGT. And you are talking about Sid having *** game and you said how excellent Geno was in this game. When the truth is that Geno had a relatively average game, he even made some dumb things. There is basically no way you would evaluate them like this if it was reversed. Sid and Geno deserve the same standards and those standards are higher than for other players. But when it comes to Sid and Geno, they should be evaluated equally. And I can argue that you are not doing that.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Pacing himself until the playoffs, another thing we can thank Orpik for teaching

Nah that’s Phil’s influence.

Paces himself and still kicks ass in the regular season and playoffs.

Orpik was just ass at the end.

 

[Ryder71]

My biggest concerns moving forward other than the health of our star players is depth. Losing Cole really hinders us in that regard. We also lose a physical presence and shot blocker. That dimension to the team is really in short supply now. One injury to the blue line and we'd be in a lot of trouble.

 

[Turin]

I doubt if a few more points would make it a different story.

If you are unbiased and watch say, McDavid, it's pretty clear he's the best player in the game right now. He terrorizes blueliners almost every shift and creates a ridiculous amount of scoring chances every game.

That's how Crosby was at his age, but he's older now, beat up a little, and not 21 anymore. I think many people are just afraid to admit age and the grind have slowed him down some.

I’m still not giving him that title until he outpaces the previous generation in any meaningful way. He barely edged out Crosby last year in points per game despite a huge linemate disparity. His skating is likely the best all time already, but Malkin, Kucherov and MacKinnon all have him beat in points per game right now.

 

[ColePens]

Not that I disagree, but it seems to me that you are holding Sid to higher standard than even Geno. I understand that Geno deserves a pass even when he has an off game occasionally, because he is having a great season, but this is still a PGT. And you are talking about Sid having *** game and you said how excellent Geno was in this game. When the truth is that Geno had a relatively average game, he even made some dumb things. There is basically no way you would evaluate them like this if it was reversed. Sid and Geno deserve the same standards and those standards are higher than for other players. But when it comes to Sid and Geno, they should be evaluated equally. And I can argue that you are not doing that.

There are a couple things..

1) I'm 100% fine with Sid/Kessel/Geno mailing some games in, not going into corners, not even thinking about blocking shots until playoffs. I'm 100% fine with that.

2) Last night's game was a 3 game skid and the team obviously had a mindset of "Let's play this like a playoff game and get the W." Every player, from the drop of the puck, came out with a purpose. Sid did not. Do I think Sid can turn it on when he wants? Yeah. But why didn't he last night? There were many opportunities where he just didn't try.

And I do hold Geno to this same standard. If we were winning 3 in a row, i'm totally fine if 71, 81, or 87 just take the game off. If Sid played hard, like the team did, and Geno took last night off - i'd be pissed. Last night was one of those "Let's get this win" games. That's where I had a tiny bit of a problem with Sid's effort. It was poor.

 

[BlankFrank416]

My biggest concerns moving forward other than the health of our star players is depth. Losing Cole really hinders us in that regard. We also lose a physical presence and shot blocker. That dimension to the team is really in short supply now. One injury to the blue line and we'd be in a lot of trouble.

If two d-man got hurt (knock on wood) who would be the eighth guy? I haven’t been following the baby pens recently.

 

[Ryder71]

If two d-man got hurt (knock on wood) who would be the eighth guy? I haven’t been following the baby pens recently.

My guess would be Corrado and Pedan, but I really don't watch minor league hockey. Apparently Pedan has played well there according so some in this forum.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I'm fine with him coasting through various games and trying to preserve himself for the playoffs. I think he realized last summer that he has to pace himself if he wants to give his best for a run at a third cup.

If some want to call him lazy, that's their choice. Crosby is one of the hardest working NHL players of all time, and he knows how his body is feeling better than any of us.

I can’t say I disagree and we’ll see what happens in the playoffs but next season I’d like to see some more middle ground coasting as opposed to the rollercoaster from him and the team.

My biggest concerns moving forward other than the health of our star players is depth. Losing Cole really hinders us in that regard. We also lose a physical presence and shot blocker. That dimension to the team is really in short supply now. One injury to the blue line and we'd be in a lot of trouble.

It can’t be Hunwick getting in. Go with Corrado, imo. After that... hope they can pump them full of the good drugs to keep them on the ice.

 

[BlankFrank416]

A lot of Crosby posts here seem to be implying that he went into this game with the intention to purposely suck to save energy for April. That really doesn’t sound like Crosby. A player can have a bad game or bad shift without it being a matter of ‘motivation’ or ‘heart’ or ‘hustle’ or whatever. Also, he won the game.

 

[Richard]

I'm honestly surprise how a guy with over 500 NHL games looks so, so bad. Hunwick is our worst player by far, and it's pretty laughingly noticeable when Ruh, who no all-star, immediately steps in and, you know, actually plays defense.

Hunwick will cost us a pick to dump this summer, which sucks.

 

[Will Hunting]

There are a couple things..

1) I'm 100% fine with Sid/Kessel/Geno mailing some games in, not going into corners, not even thinking about blocking shots until playoffs. I'm 100% fine with that.

2) Last night's game was a 3 game skid and the team obviously had a mindset of "Let's play this like a playoff game and get the W." Every player, from the drop of the puck, came out with a purpose. Sid did not. Do I think Sid can turn it on when he wants? Yeah. But why didn't he last night? There were many opportunities where he just didn't try.

And I do hold Geno to this same standard. If we were winning 3 in a row, i'm totally fine if 71, 81, or 87 just take the game off. If Sid played hard, like the team did, and Geno took last night off - i'd be pissed. Last night was one of those "Let's get this win" games. That's where I had a tiny bit of a problem with Sid's effort. It was poor.

It was pretty mediocre. It wasn´t a terrible game accoording to basic standards, but Sid should do more, so yeah, he deserves some criticism. But just one thing. There really wasn´t that gross of a difference between Sid´s and Geno´s game yesterday. There was some, but not huge. One would say that Sid even compensated it with that OT winner, while Geno was quite responsible for that 2nd Isles goal. So you are saying that you use the same standards for Sid and Geno (and Phil). Yet you say Sid was poor and Geno was excellent yesterday. Which is a bit.... weird.