Post-Game Talk: Pens 8, Caps 7 (OT) - Pens Win On the 2 Point Conversion

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

The only time I was convinced there was crooked officiating was during the Downie witch hunt. I am convinced that the refs had enough of his antics from early in his career and were determined to ruin his career. Mission accomplished by the way.

Downie ruined his own career, and it's an absolute embarrassment that he was ever a Penguin.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Downie ruined his own career, and it's an absolute embarrassment that he was ever a Penguin.

He was nothing but a quality player during his time in Pittsburgh. He made a hell of a lot of mistakes early in his career, but he did eventually clean up his act. He would have likely signed in Pittsburgh for an additional contract had he not been constantly thrown in the box for increasingly ridiculous "infractions" during his season here.

I'm not saying what he did doesn't matter, but Cooke had a very similar transformation in Pittsburgh and did not receive the same treatment as Downie.

And get off your high horse calling it an embarassment. They signed him because he was a quality and cheap player to use in the bottom 6 and he performed that role very well. If you want to follow a team without a history of dirty play and dirty players, then you aren't going to find it in the nhl.

 

[DoktorZaius]

The only time I was convinced there was crooked officiating was during the Downie witch hunt. I am convinced that the refs had enough of his antics from early in his career and were determined to ruin his career. Mission accomplished by the way.

He was a total madman and talked massive **** to the refs. More so than even fiery players, like Horns. At least with Horns you chalk the over-intensity up to compete level. Downie was something else entirely. He was dim, chaotic, brutish, and had zero respect for the refs. That's just not something they're going to ignore.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I hope that 4:1 PP ratio had nothing to do with Sullivan losing his **** at the refs a few games back.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Side note: I don't actually think there's a conspiracy, just that refs are not super sharp and have too much stimuli going on that distracts them like a toddler inside of the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

 

[Erz8771]

I woke up this morning still wondering why Sullivan left Murray in lastnight.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I woke up this morning still wondering why Sullivan left Murray in lastnight.

That, I totally get. Murray's gotta learn through to play through that and it's a vote of confidence for him.

 

[Peat]

Why is Hagelin not being tried more with Crosby?

Because you don't want to move Sheary to the right wing and Sheary-Crosby is one of the very few "Don't mess with it" parts of our top 9. Maybe the only one.

I'm happy. Confidence regained, but not in a way they can be overconfident. Some nice stat padding for our attackers. Onwards and hopefully upwards.

Deal for a 7th dman looks pretty overdue though.

 

[Ogrezilla]

TBH, I thought the Horny hit on Oshie was dirty as hell and Geno's 3rd very well could've been called back. But the Caps are dirty as hell too, and could've been called for any number of infractions that the refs turned a blind eye to.

as I always say in ref arguments: the refs are terrible, but they aren't intentionally biased for or against teams. They will ref to the score and situation, and they are biased against certain players, but they don't go into a game with a favored team.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

+ Can't say it wasn't entertaining

- Maatta, Murray, Daley

 

[ncm7772]

What a stupid game. Hated every second of it. Well, not really. But it was incredibly frustrating.

Going to the Bell Centre tomorrow. Let's hope the Pens can allow less than half a dozen.

 

[Shaftception]

I don't take anything the main boards say seriously when it comes to the refs, outside of Toronto the Pens are the most hated team on this site.

Case in point, two years ago against the Rangers, the prevailing logic for why the Rangers had such a powerplay advantage for the series against the Pens was because the Pens were too undisciplined, it was a literal meme by the end of the series it was regurgitated so much.

Then comes last year against the Rangers and especially the Caps, where any advantage in the Pens direction was now ref bias like usual.

Double it for last night. I actually agree with the logic that if a team commits 7 legit penalties in a given game while the other team commits zero it should be enforced to the letter without the score playing a factor. Unfortunately I'm also aware this never happens so I tire of the argument being selectively used as if yours is the only team ever on the short end of the ref incompetence stick.

An aside, whoever it was the mentioned Downie being the only time there was clear irrefutable proof of intentional bias by the refs was correct. The Pens jumped to one of the highest penalized teams in the league out of the blue and returned to normal levels as soon as he was gone, that was not a coincidence. The refs had it out for him, and they were determined to punish any team that was willing to sign him. Thankfully we learned that lesson.

Going forward I agree I'd rather see the right wingers changed around back to the combination of SCH, HMK, GBR, KCF. If only so the forwards can get back to the full court press style of team defense that was the reason for their success in the playoffs, it wasn't because of outstanding play by the defensemen, they just had a full team effort in front of them helping them out, which they've yet to have at any point during this one.

I'm still not sold on Hornqvist being the offensive solution on Crosby's wing though, unlike some. I watched all the replays of Crosby's goals a while back that a certain few outspoken individuals attribute to his presence as justification for wanting him there, and almost all of them would've produced nothing of value had Crosby not pulled a rabbit out of his hat to produce them. That's not thanks to Hornqvist influencing the play, that's Crosby's work entirely, outside of the few Hornqvist did a good job at screening the goalie on. Most of them were deflections, bank-ins off the goalie or defensemen, or absolute snipes. He needs to contribute more creatively, and if he's not capable I'd hope they continue to experiment though without disrupting at least Malkin's line. If he can revert back to his playoff form I'll have no issue with him at all, and hope he does, but I'm simply not sold yet.

 

[Daeni10]

Just finished watching the game. Happy I didn't let my anger take control of me and kept watching after the 3-0. Fun game to watch even though I am not really happy with the way we played obviously. If a game ends 7-7 both teams should lose points, what a **** show defensively. Glad we got the 2 points though.
Also if you play Kunitz on the 4th line you might aswell bring Adams back too because they play the same **** but Adams does it around 3 millions cheaper. Seriously how the **** can you scratch Kühnhackl for this *************************

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

What a stupid game. Hated every second of it. Well, not really. But it was incredibly frustrating.

Going to the Bell Centre tomorrow. Let's hope the Pens can allow less than half a dozen.

Me too

Thing is, the Habs don't have the offense the Caps have and I doubt they score 7 on us, even if we stink that bad again.

So many crazy bounces for goals last night, those 2 Caps goals in the 3rd were so lucky with the puck going off Daley both times

Hopefully we don't play another pathetic game like we did here in October!

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

A major one was when Ovechkin and Oshie laid out Kunitz away from the puck while they were on the PP and scored just seconds later to cut the lead to 7-6.

I probably enjoyed that way too much to think it was a penalty.

With Malkin's goal, I'm chalking it up as being inconclusive and not having the evidence to overturn the call on the ice. I just hate this agenda that the refs somehow favor the Penguins, they're just bad at reffing games. The refs are just bad at their jobs, they're to incompetent to be biased towards one team.

as I always say in ref arguments: the refs are terrible, but they aren't intentionally biased for or against teams. They will ref to the score and situation, and they are biased against certain players, but they don't go into a game with a favored team.

Absolutely. And the last ****ing team on earth I'm going to feel sorry for when it comes missed missed calls are the Washington "Passionate Charges and High Hits".

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

+ Can't say it wasn't entertaining

- Maatta, Murray, Daley

Daley by far had the worst night in a Penguins uniform, even when he didn't want to play the puck it found a way to hit him and go strait to a Caps player

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Just finished watching the game. Happy I didn't let my anger take control of me and kept watching after the 3-0. Fun game to watch even though I am not really happy with the way we played obviously. If a game ends 7-7 both teams should lose points, what a **** show defensively. Glad we got the 2 points though.
Also if you play Kunitz on the 4th line you might aswell bring Adams back too because they play the same **** but Adams does it around 3 millions cheaper. Seriously how the **** can you scratch Kühnhackl for this *************************

It's not right, but we just have to hope it's part of the natural progression of getting him the hell off the team. If he stays on the 4th with no PP time from here on out, he obviously isn't getting many points from here on out. Once the (already mediocre) phantom production is gone, maybe we can get Kuhn back.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Kunitz is gone, he will not be coming back, the only negative is that he will be here until the end of the season, unless JR can pull another crazy trade and get him out of here.

 

[The Greatest 101]

Just finished watching the game.I'm surprised no one has mentioned how bad Warsofsky was.

Glad Sullivan finally realized how bad Kunitz was. Better late than never.

Guentzel was a bit struggling against a heavy team like Washington. Not surprising.Figured he would be better on the third line.May still take a while to get comfortable in NHL.

Horny really stirred the pot in this one.Had some questionable plays. Thought Geno's third goal was a good one though. Horny was tripped first.

 

[SirBrad]

Just finished watching the game.I'm surprised no one has mentioned how bad Warsofsky was.

Cole mentioned it a few times. That was about all I saw here. And yes he was absolutely brutal. They definitely need to make a trade for another defenseman. They look incredibly thin and weak at the position to begin with and then you deal with 1 or 2 injuries and forget it. The entire thing goes up in flames.

 

[Shaftception]

Watching replays again, I actually don't disagree too much with those that took issue with the 3rd Malkin goal, Hornqvist definitely swings his stick forward unnaturally into Holtby's pad before Malkin's shot, I wouldn't have had a problem with the call had they ruled it interference.

The complaints of interference on the ot winner however are nonsense. Crosby even went out of his way to hold his stick in the air hesitantly in order to avoid Holtby's head before bringing it down to whack at the puck once it was visible between Holtby's legs, zero interference there.

 

[SirBrad]

I woke up this morning still wondering why Sullivan left Murray in lastnight.

Same, but he probably had visions in his brain of Fleury coming in and letting up the first goal and then eventually allowing as many more as Murray would. So he figured he'd just let Murray deal with it and hopefully grow from it. Not that we're trying to develop players at this level, but sometimes you have to.

 

[Pengu]

That defense right now is a horror show.
22 GA in 4 games, ugh. And right now it doesn't matter which goalie is in net.
There is enough goals in the forwards if used properly, but the defense needs an upgrade.

 

[Captain Hook]

That was the weirdest game we've played in a while. I was happy with the offensive production and the fact that after falling behind 0-3 we didn't quit and showed the trademark comeback ability we've shown under coach Sully since he took over last year. Blowing two different two goal leads and having to win it in OT kind of ruined the mood though. The victory was kind of bittersweet at best.

Our defense needs a lot of work and improvement before the playoffs. This could be a blessing in disguise though. At least the issues are rearing their ugly head early enough in the season that maybe JR can make a deal or two to shore things up a bit.

 

[Al Smith]

Watching replays again, I actually don't disagree too much with those that took issue with the 3rd Malkin goal, Hornqvist definitely swings his stick forward unnaturally into Holtby's pad before Malkin's shot, I wouldn't have had a problem with the call had they ruled it interference.

The complaints of interference on the ot winner however are nonsense. Crosby even went out of his way to hold his stick in the air hesitantly in order to avoid Holtby's head before bringing it down to whack at the puck once it was visible between Holtby's legs, zero interference there.

FWIW, I thought Horny's interference last night was far worse than Malkin's on the goal they took away in Detroit. It's pretty much a random call, from the on-ice call to the off-ice review.