Post-Game Talk: Pens 5, Flyers 4 (OT) - The Rust Does Something with Sid Edition

[Ryder71]

I like Benn but he didn't get traded at all so maybe he wasn't really available. He does block a lot but not much else compared to what we have. Gives away the puck a lot though for the minutes and role he plays. That's not something I think JR would want to add to the team. For example Benn 72 giveaways (73 games), Ruhwedel 8 giveaways (40 games).

Connauton I don't think adds much at all (Ruhwedel is better) and like Benn didn't get traded at all. Cole was a cap casualty. Yeah we could have tried to move Hunwick but then you risk Brassard being snapped up by someone (especially Winnipeg) while trying to do that. Sheary was the only real other one but same situation as Hunwick plus I imagine they wanted to keep him for this cup run at least. Remember they had a meeting before the deadline with the WBS guys to nail down what we had in our group.

Trust that JR tried to do his best. Trust that Sully will have a game plan to accommodate any deficiencies. Trust that the players will give it their best shot. They have earned it.

Hey I sincerely hope it all works out. I just don't like what I'm seeing of late from this defense. We can turn it around, but I'd like to see some evidence of that prior to the playoffs.

 

[Gurglesons]

I mentioned Benn, Connauton, and Cole himself. I think there were one or two others.

Look, Shady and I were some of the harshest
voices on JR the entire year. His deadline acquisition was nothing short of miraculous and all we gave up was a #6.

You’re trying to act like Ron Hainsey was an absolute defensive stud here. I think Hainsey was a lot better than some say he was, but you’re selling him and Cole way too hard.

If we can overcome losing our number one Norris / Conn Smythe finalist. We can lose Ian Cole. And I guarantee if Rutherford could’ve brought in a D solution, he would
have. That being said, we have at the very least an equivalent D group to last year.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I.. just noticed Schultz had 3 assists today Just now.

The scoreboard wasn't flattering but at ES I thought we were much better at keeping them wider. Murray really should have got a couple of goals back. He'll get back into it. He looked better as the game went on. Playoff Murray is still in there.

The forwards don't do him or the D any favours. Still taking off early up at the redline when we get it back and not pushing back when we lose it. Not all the time but enough to help the opposition score to tick over. When we are on though it's beautiful.

 

[Ryder71]

Look, Shady and I were some of the harshest
voices on JR the entire year. His deadline acquisition was nothing short of miraculous and all we gave up was a #6.

You’re trying to act like Ron Hainsey was an absolute defensive stud here. I think Hainsey was a lot better than some say he was, but you’re selling him and Cole way too hard.

If we can overcome losing our number one Norris / Conn Smythe finalist. We can lose Ian Cole. And I guarantee if Rutherford could’ve brought in a D solution, he would
have. That being said, we have at the very least an equivalent D group to last year.

We have more talent this year on defense, better in transition. But worse in PK, D zone coverage and positioning. Hopefully we can improve upon that, but we have six games left, it'd be nice if we start shoring things up. Because right now it's a mess.

 

[ColePens]

The scoreboard wasn't flattering but at ES I thought we were much better at keeping them wider. Murray really should have got a couple of goals back. He'll get back into it. He looked better as the game went on. Playoff Murray is still in there.

The forwards don't do him or the D any favours. Still taking off early up at the redline when we get it back and not pushing back when we lose it. Not all the time but enough to help the opposition score to tick over. When we are on though it's beautiful.

When Mur came back after his father's passing, he was at like .929 which is slightly higher than his normal .924 (i didn't fact check, i just remember the graphic the Pens showed). He's REALLY struggled the last 3 games. But he will find it. He seems to be that type of goalie.

 

[Gurglesons]

We have more talent this year on defense, better in transition. But worse in PK, D zone coverage and positioning. Hopefully we can improve upon that, but we have six games left, it'd be nice if we start shoring things up. Because right now it's a mess.

No.

You sound like every pundit about our D last year and the year before.

 

[Ryder71]

No.

You sound like every pundit about our D last year and the year before.

I don't care what pundits say TBH. I know what I'm seeing, and fundamentally we aren't playing well defensively. Not in any facet of the game.

The question is, can we remedy these matters? I don't know, most of you think we can, I'm not so sure.

 

[Gurglesons]

I don't care what pundits say TBH. I know what I'm seeing, and fundamentally we aren't playing well defensively. Not in any facet of the game.

The question is, can we remedy these matters? I don't know, most of you think we can, I'm not so sure.

Most of us think we can absorb the lost of a # 6 defenseman. Yes.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Hey I sincerely hope it all works out. I just don't like what I'm seeing of late from this defense. We can turn it around, but I'd like to see some evidence of that prior to the playoffs.

You probably won't see as much as you like but don't let it get you down. We are still getting results so they aren't going to be blocking a bunch of shots or putting their body on the line. You'll see patches of us dominating but not full on commitment until the playoffs.

Although the last two games I feel they are pushing the opposition out wider which is more our style. Still not pressuring the opposition too much though for the most part.

 

[Tom Hanks]

When Mur came back after his father's passing, he was at like .929 which is slightly higher than his normal .924 (i didn't fact check, i just remember the graphic the Pens showed). He's REALLY struggled the last 3 games. But he will find it. He seems to be that type of goalie.

Yeah. We really rely on team defence too which isn't fully committed right now.

 

[Ryder71]

You probably won't see as much as you like but don't let it get you down. We are still getting results so they aren't going to be blocking a bunch of shots or putting their body on the line. You'll see patches of us dominating but not full on commitment until the playoffs.

Although the last two games I feel they are pushing the opposition out wider which is more our style. Still not pressuring the opposition too much though for the most part.

I agree that we're pushing them out a bit wider but we're still giving up quality scoring chances at an alarming rate. The shot total doesn't concern me as much as number of grade A scoring chances we're allowing. We need to insulate better all over the ice. That includes the forwards obviously, but beyond that our D are pinching way too much and IMO taking way too many unnecessary risks.

 

[Ryder71]

Most of us think we can absorb the lost of a # 6 defenseman. Yes.

I consider him more a weak four or strong five but whatever. That's not really my point anyhow.

 

[Tender Rip]

Rocky stuff. Don’t think we deserved that W.

But it is as many have touched upon simply a matter of us needing to be harder to play against, and it is all about support.
Basically we need to be what Sully always preaches we should be. Of course, it is a problem that for most the season he hasn’t gotten then to be that (lineup gripes notwithstanding).
Offense comes too cheap for our opponents. Missed assignments, half arsed back tracking, over ambitious pinches... and in this one also a few unscreened shots Murray needs to have when it matters.

We can be so much better. Question is if there is switch to flip on “team defense”?

NB: I thought Letang was good defensively. That pairing started out looking idiotic with Oleksiak overcommitting five times in the first, but Letang was D first in this one. He needs to stay with that and only take the O the game gives him.

Sid and Schultz were great.

 

[Dick Sledge]

One thing we need to start doing more, especially in the playoffs, is rolling all 4 lines. That's something the last 2 Cup teams did all the time. We had that attitude of you put any line out there you want, we're still gonna roll our lines. Match ups be damned. Because we're going to win those matchups. Start trusting Sheahan more. He's an excellent 4th line center. I'd say put Simon back with Sid and Rust on the 4th and let him wreck shit on that line like he has in the past.

 

[Andy99]

One thing we need to start doing more, especially in the playoffs, is rolling all 4 lines. That's something the last 2 Cup teams did all the time. We had that attitude of you put any line out there you want, we're still gonna roll our lines. Match ups be damned. Because we're going to win those matchups. Start trusting Sheahan more. He's an excellent 4th line center. I'd say put Simon back with Sid and Rust on the 4th and let him wreck **** on that line like he has in the past.

If Sully is going to keep the first three lines as is, ZAR-Sheahan-Simon could be solid. Not as fast, but I don’t see Sully using Rust on the fourth....

 

[Ryder71]

I'd put ZAR with Sid, they starting gelling prior to the injury. I'd like to give them a longer look.

 

[3074326]

I consider him more a weak four or strong five but whatever. That's not really my point anyhow.

I'm with you. The defense looks like **** since the deadline moves. So does the PK. He helped both of those for sure. Also, I miss his physicality.

Cole looks awesome in Columbus btw.

 

[Pancakes]

Food for thought: everyone says Sid is having a down year, but he's going to outscore his 2015-16 year in which he was on an absolutely torrid pace after a rough first half. He's also only 6 points behind last year which was a great year.

He good folks.

 

[Pancakes]

I'm thrilled we got Brassard, I'm just dismayed in the process we didn't fill the hole created in Coles absence. I think it's clear that our depth and our cohesion took a big hit.

Losing Cole stinks but having Brassard for an extra year and with how cheap we have him is great. We're actually in a better cap situation moving into the off season then we were going to be without Brassard. So JR did real well there.

Brassard now has 8 points in 13 games with us. Pretty good pace for a 3c.

 

[Ryder71]

Food for thought: everyone says Sid is having a down year, but he's going to outscore his 2015-16 year in which he was on an absolutely torrid pace after a rough first half. He's also only 6 points behind last year which was a great year.

He good folks.

It's weird, because there are times he looks tremendous in all areas of his game. And then there has been stretches where he's an empty jersey. It's been an up and down year for him. But lately he's looking like he's ready for a big playoff performance. Heaven knows we'll need it.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Food for thought: everyone says Sid is having a down year, but he's going to outscore his 2015-16 year in which he was on an absolutely torrid pace after a rough first half. He's also only 6 points behind last year which was a great year.

He good folks.

Even strength is down and goals per game too. The first half of 15/16 was a system thing which didn’t suit us. Malkin seemed the only one to do ok.

He looked disengaged way more this season than any other time. I trust he was pacing himself though and no doubt he kills it in the playoffs.

You can see Sid’s breakdowns here.
Sidney Crosby Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[Pancakes]

Even strength is down and goals per game too. The first half of 15/16 was a system thing which didn’t suit us. Malkin seemed the only one to do ok.

He looked disengaged way more this season than any other time. I trust he was pacing himself though and no doubt he kills it in the playoffs.

You can see Sid’s breakdowns here.
Sidney Crosby Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

I'm not trying to say he's having a banner year, I'm just saying even with him having an "off" year he's still put up a ton of points. And iirc from looking at the metrics he's had poor luck this year with his line converting 5v5 chances. If they were converting at the normal rate, he's got a few more points and maybe we're not having this discussion.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I'm not trying to say he's having a banner year, I'm just saying even with him having an "off" year he's still put up a ton of points. And iirc from looking at the metrics he's had poor luck this year with his line converting 5v5 chances. If they were converting at the normal rate, he's got a few more points and maybe we're not having this discussion.

Off Sid is still good! That’s how good he is.

If he’s engaged he’s still the best though. Probably battled fatigue and some of the effort was probably by design so he’s primed for when it really matters.

 

[Pancakes]

Off Sid is still good! That’s how good he is.

If he’s engaged he’s still the best though. Probably battled fatigue and some of the effort was probably by design so he’s primed for when it really matters.

The one plus side if we ever do lose in the playoffs again is I think (barring it being the Cup final or something) that you'll see a recharged Sid next season.

Or we can just three peat and Sid just puts up another 85 point season next year because he's gassed from all that hockey. Y'know I'm fine with that too.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Off Sid is still good! That’s how good he is.

If he’s engaged he’s still the best though. Probably battled fatigue and some of the effort was probably by design so he’s primed for when it really matters.

The bolded is an example of when I really need to read the entire post before drawing a conclusion.

For a second there, I was like, "When did Crosby get engaged? Is it to that blonde chick?!"