Post-Game Talk: Pens 5, Ducks 2: The Despres -2, The Cup is Ours Edition

[Winger for Hire]

Some yes but you can see the overall narrative on here. Imagine if Cole or Lovejoy fell on their face like Perron and Lapierre.

Lapierre l 17 games with the Pens. 1 point and -1. Awful but it's all about how bad the Lovejoy trade was and Kunitz is the worst player in the NHL.

Now it's nothing but excuses for Perron.

A 4th line centre... not sure what kind of stats you're expecting from him... especially since Adams has been glued to him most nights.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

Lapierre has been...fine

 

[YinzAintBurgh*]

A 4th line centre... not sure what kind of stats you're expecting from him... especially since Adams has been glued to him most nights.

Hey! Apparently a 3rd pairing rookie defensemen is going to make our break our chances at a Stanley Cup. Looking at other Cup contenders 4th line centers they have anywhere from 15-20 points. You add up Lapierres points with the Blues and he's still underachieving... Horrible trade! Where was the asset management?

 

[IcedCapp]

a lot of people *****ed about the Lapierre trade when it happened and we were told to shut our hole and know our role.

Do you smell what the sock is cooking?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Most other teams' fourth lines don't feature offensive and possession black hole monster Craig Adams, either. Having to play shorthanded every shift makes a difference. The fourth line we saw a couple of games ago without Adams looked much more like the kind of line that would put up the points you are talking about.

Lapierre isn't the issue on that line. And I wasn't really a huge fan of bringing him on board, either.

 

[drpepper]

Lapierre has been...fine

Lapierre has been terrible in the FO circle (one game in 16 above 50% at 5v5) and his shot differential stats are worse than Sutter's.

Lapierre had a couple of decent one man efforts early on but has not been good since.

Cole and Pouliot were good in the offensive zone last night. Pouliot was also good in transition. But Cole (with Scuderi) was not good at all in transition or in the defensive zone, and Pouliot's d-zone coverage was terrible.

I also can't figure out wtf Lovejoy is doing on defensive coverage. It looks like he's attempting to cover when Pouliot's out of position. He did something similar on the second Duck's goal when playing with Scuderi. He's over with Scuderi instead of covering the goal area he should be covering.

Perron has had several really bad games in a row. It's not that he's not scoring (which is true), but he also not shooting and his passing is bad.

Martin also had another game where he wasn't great according to his standards.

EDIT: Also this idea that Crosby doesn't adapt to his linemates or needs to change his game to suit Perron is complete ********. Perron has looked terrible in the past two games and wasn't great in the game before that. Before those games, that line was passing well and getting opportunites, and Crosby-Perron looked good.

 

[orby]

Lapierre hasn't been great but it's not like Goc was lighting it up either. Overall i think the fourth line is negligible enough that it doesn't matter much to the team's prospects for success.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Didn't see this game but I have to agree re: Perron/Malkin. I realize that means the chances are good that Kunitz makes his way back on to the first line (and it really is kind of a shame that Malkin was able to help elevate that guy at just the right time, huh?) but Crosby doesn't really seem willing or able to adapt his game (Horns is like an upgraded Dupuis with less wheels -- hence the insta-chemistry). Like Jiggy said... Perron is attempting to compensate by playing a more straight-line game... but that isn't doing his natural skillset any favors.

Honestly, I'm about as big a Crosby fan as you're going to find but his inflexibility and seeming insistence on playing only one way has been pretty frustrating, this year. I think a lot of it is simply having only done things one way for years and years without anyone telling him different. But still.

I still believe Hornqvist can play with anyone. He doesn't change his game. He is a straight line guy that goes to the net and creates havoc, and he gets in on the forecheck and creates turnovers. It's a pretty simple game.

He wasn't himself with Malkin when he came back from his injury. Given time, I'm 99% sure those two look good together.

Crosby just seems to make it impossible to play with him. It's time we all admit that.

Some yes but you can see the overall narrative on here. Imagine if Cole or Lovejoy fell on their face like Perron and Lapierre.

Lapierre l 17 games with the Pens. 1 point and -1. Awful but it's all about how bad the Lovejoy trade was and Kunitz is the worst player in the NHL.

Now it's nothing but excuses for Perron.

Perron has had one game where you could say he looked like total ass, which was last night. People equating goals to how well a guy is playing is nonsense. Perron was battling in front of the net all night agt Col and made some nice plays with Hornqvist.

Lovejoy has made some mistakes, but I haven't seen anyone harp on them, so what's the problem here?

I'm split on what to do. Part of me wants this season to be about change as much as chasing after a Cup. I just don't think this team changes moving forward until Sid does as well.

I guess if you load up Malkin's line, Sid would likely see easier matchups and may possibly be able to produce with a couple of grinders. Or, if either coach is chasing a matchup with Sid, you tell Sid to do what he did against the Wings in 09 and play them to a draw at worst.

All this wont matter unless Sutter plays like he did last playoffs. Malkin can't carry us through 4 rounds.

Crosby does his thing and simply doesn't look willing to adapt to his linemates. He wants them to adapt to him, and if he was tearing things up, maybe one would have a case for him, but he isn't.

Sutter is killing his line, like I said. No one has looked good on his line in quite some time. I have no idea how it can be fixed. Hope Sutter plays better I guess.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Lapierre hasn't been great but it's not like Goc was lighting it up either. Overall i think the fourth line is negligible enough that it doesn't matt

I wouldn't even describe Lapierre as a "good" fourth liner, really. At least not in his time here, so far. I just don't believe he's bad enough to be more of a problem than the obvious one on that fourth line.

And I don't agree that it doesn't matter. This team relies entirely too much on it's top two lines for offense. WHEN that dries up... it matters.

 

[Shady Machine]

You haven't figured out HFBoards yet? Fleury has been given the most passes out of anybody on this team. They never call Letang out for his horrible play and Despres was Bobby Orr 2.0.

Edit - Also, Lapierre and Perron have been invisible and nothing about those trades.

What are you even talking about?

 

[plaidchuck]

Hey imagine that , some new faces but the bottom six is still a non impact group. This team needs to realize the 3C model and cooke staal Kennedy days are over. Just maximize what you get from the top six and hope for the best.

 

[plaidchuck]

Also they keep trying to build the ultimate balanced roster and keep failing miserably. Honestly no idea how they fix this short term. Either the top six gets shut down and the bottom six has no answer, or the bottom six gets prioritized and the star centers skate with scrubs. Suppose it's just the end result of poor drafting and development where you constantly have to trade for rentals to replace depth that should be coming up through the farm.

 

[gdsmack267]

Goc was better then laps but ill hold judgement until playoffs

 

[Rocket of Russia]

~Steigerwald. "Simon thinks Americans pronounce his name like a girl's name, so we've been mispronouncing it on purpose to shut him up. Thankfully he's gone so now we don't have to worry about it."

He's such a piece of ****.

On my phone, but here's this.

@JoshYohe_Trib: Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse greeted the Penguins after the game.

"ksssh...David, we just got word Symon Desspress is talking to Penguins players outside locker room...over...ksssh"

"ksssh....move in - this could work against our cancer narrative....over....ksssh"

You haven't figured out HFBoards yet? Fleury has been given the most passes out of anybody on this team. They never call Letang out for his horrible play and Despres was Bobby Orr 2.0.

Edit - Also, Lapierre and Perron have been invisible and nothing about those trades.

If your schtick wasn't so obvious people might be mentioning being in the running for the Norris. I imagine you're pretty close to having a lonely experience here.

Lappy just had 9 hits and Perron has 17 points in 26 games as a Penguin.

And funny enough the guy constantly making the reference to "a 3rd pairing defenseman is really gawn make or break dis team!!!" wants people to complain about a 4th liner not known for his scoring prowess.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hey imagine that , some new faces but the bottom six is still a non impact group. This team needs to realize the 3C model and cooke staal Kennedy days are over. Just maximize what you get from the top six and hope for the best.

How do you fix it though?

The fourth line looked good until Adams was back. So sit him and your fourth line looks NHL caliber.

But even with Downie, Winnik, BB and Spaling on the third line, it still mostly blows. Sutter is killing his line and how do you fix that?

I guess:

Winnik Spaling BB
Lap Sutter Downie

It's not happen though. Sutter has been mostly an empty jersey in the attacking zone since Dec and hasn't been demoted or benched, so it's highly unlikely. He still does well in his own end and on the PK, so again what do you do?

 

[Gurglesons]

I think Sutter defensively has been phenomenal the last two games. Offensively, he is the the worst on the team, but on the PK, he is arguably the best player in the league.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

How do you fix it though?

A few days ago. Now... the offseason. Or not. Probably not.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Perron has had to alter his game to play with Crosby. He's forcing himself to go north-south instead of east-west, which isn't his game. Malkin just seems like a better fit with his style and the way he slows things down. That's how Perron plays as well.

MJ claimed Perron was going to be tried with Malkin at some point, so what is the hold up?

Crosby wants balls to the walls straight line guys, so I give up worrying about finding a fit for him anymore. Malkin is the one carrying this team, so just load up his line and hope for the best.

Then he promptly failed to get the puck out. You can't even make this **** up...

Then Steigy had to tell us how the PK was struggling without him...

Sort of like how Scuds got smoked, then instead of pointing out how he got turned, Steigy and Errey claimed he made a great play taking out the guys legs, and it wouldn't have been a penalty a few years ago, don't you know?

Pretty much all this.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

How do you fix it though?

The fourth line looked good until Adams was back. So sit him and your fourth line looks NHL caliber.

But even with Downie, Winnik, BB and Spaling on the third line, it still mostly blows. Sutter is killing his line and how do you fix that?

I guess:

Winnik Spaling BB
Lap Sutter Downie

It's not happen though. Sutter has been mostly an empty jersey in the attacking zone since Dec and hasn't been demoted or benched, so it's highly unlikely. He still does well in his own end and on the PK, so again what do you do?

Crosby's quote about not wanting to be regular season champions gives my hope candle just enough to stay dimly lit, even though logic and precedence tell me there isn't a switch to be flicked. There's nothing I'd like more than to see Crosby, Sutter, Kunitz, and Martin return to playoff beast form in...the playoffs.

For the record, it doesn't feel right having Crosby's name with those others because of just the obvious sheer difference in talent, but I'm just saying those are guys who visibly seem like they are "reserving" something. I hope that's the case. My heart and head are disagreeing on the matter.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Sort of like how Scuds got smoked, then instead of pointing out how he got turned, Steigy and Errey claimed he made a great play taking out the guys legs, and it wouldn't have been a penalty a few years ago, don't you know?

The Anaheim announcers said the same thing

 

[IcedCapp]

The Anaheim announcers said the same thing

that also had a pretty decent discussion about how Crosby and Malkin aren't to blame for the team's playoff failures, since other teams just focus on shutting them down and no one else on the team scores.

 

[Asuna]

Sort of like how Scuds got smoked, then instead of pointing out how he got turned, Steigy and Errey claimed he made a great play taking out the guys legs, and it wouldn't have been a penalty a few years ago, don't you know?

I usually don't get mad about what Steigerwald and Errey spew, but that comment did.

It's absolutely sickening the way these announcers pump up these useless veterans. Steigerwald's comments about Adams and the PK made me mad too. ****ing dumbasses.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

that also had a pretty decent discussion about how Crosby and Malkin aren't to blame for the team's playoff failures, since other teams just focus on shutting them down and no one else on the team scores.

Somebody said this?!? This was said?!? On air?!?

I... don't think I understand. It's ALWAYS their fault, right?

 

[Lomez]

You haven't figured out HFBoards yet? Fleury has been given the most passes out of anybody on this team. They never call Letang out for his horrible play and Despres was Bobby Orr 2.0.

Edit - Also, Lapierre and Perron have been invisible and nothing about those trades.

Yinz definitely are Burgh. Ain't no doubt about it....

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Crosby's quote about not wanting to be regular season champions gives my hope candle just enough to stay dimly lit, even though logic and precedence tell me there isn't a switch to be flicked. There's nothing I'd like more than to see Crosby, Sutter, Kunitz, and Martin return to playoff beast form in...the playoffs.

For the record, it doesn't feel right having Crosby's name with those others because of just the obvious sheer difference in talent, but I'm just saying those are guys who visibly seem like they are "reserving" something. I hope that's the case. My heart and head are disagreeing on the matter.

Ya, I'm kind of hoping some magic fairy dust settles on a few of these guys and they take it to another level come playoff time.

This board as a whole, has seen these problems well before hand in the last several years though. I'm not sure how any of us can feel much confidence in a team that has one superstar having the worst year of his career, a mess of a third line, a good or bad fourth line decided by the whim of the coach, and a totally disjointed PP.

that also had a pretty decent discussion about how Crosby and Malkin aren't to blame for the team's playoff failures, since other teams just focus on shutting them down and no one else on the team scores.

Right.

I hate when certain posters feel the need to make up stories to get message board cred. Stop.