Post-Game Talk: Pens Advance! Kunitz Was There!

[Mr Jiggyfly]

And the crazy part is Guentzel's still leading the playoffs in goal scoring, even in spite of his slump against Ottawa.

Then again I'm not sure whether that's praise for Guentzel or condemnation of what the NHL has turned into that a guy can go an entire round without a goal and still be tops in an offensive category (ie. "let them play" officiating is sucking the offense out of the game).

Maybe a little bit of both?

He just needs to pot one and I think he will get his mojo back.

 

[StaalForOne]

Maybe a little bit of both?

He just needs to pot one and I think he will get his mojo back.

For sure. He was getting chances, but nothing was going in. Couple posts here and there.

And the crazy part is Guentzel's still leading the playoffs in goal scoring, even in spite of his slump against Ottawa.

Then again I'm not sure whether that's praise for Guentzel or condemnation of what the NHL has turned into that a guy can go an entire round without a goal and still be tops in an offensive category (ie. "let them play" officiating is sucking the offense out of the game).

Yea. Tough to say whether Ottawa's D played better than the Caps or Jackets or if they just got away wth more. I haven't looked at the PP numbers, but I'd be willing to bet there were much more Powerplays in the first 2 rounds.

Guentzel was fighting through similar interference and bigger blueliners agt Col and Was and setting records.

I think he's just worn down. He's never played this many games in his career and hopefully these few days off and all the two day breaks during the cup help him out.

Sometimes we forget these guys are human.

Good point on the Games Played. Easy to forget that kinda thing.

Goes without saying he's been a stud all year. Ott just wasn't his series. Happens every year though. Different players step up for each series.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Guentzel wasn't struggling any more than Crosby at ES. That's a false narrative. Sid racked up precisely one more point at ES than Jake did against Ottawa. The majority of his points came on the PP.

The issue is that they started ****ing with the complementary players on the 1st line, putting Kunitz and Rust there. Once Horny's restored and/or Sheary's back on track, everything else will follow suit.

 

[ColePens]

I look at struggling a lot different than many. Was Jake still dishing the puck well? Yep. Was he still getting chances? A ton. Was he turning the puck over? Nope. Was he playing solid defense? Yep.

So while the puck wasn't going in for him, his game was still there. His finish was gone and his confidence dropped. That is the youthful NHL experience. He just has to trust himself. Andy made huge saves. Jake has to continue to trust and believe.

 

[TimbitsHockey877*]

Guentzel wasn't struggling any more than Crosby at ES. That's a false narrative. Sid racked up precisely one more point at ES than Jake did against Ottawa. The majority of his points came on the PP.

The issue is that they started ****ing with the complementary players on the 1st line, putting Kunitz and Rust there. Once Horny's restored and/or Sheary's back on track, everything else will follow suit.

Are you implying Guentzel and Crosby were playing at about the same level at ES last series? Because I have to disagree. A lot of those great chances Guentzel didn't bury were setup by Crosby. What did Guentzel do by himself? Not much.

 

[Mattpilf]

The reason the Sens were "standing around" on the Kunitz goal is because Crosby created a scoring chance out of a mundane play. That's what makes Sid better than anyone else he recognizes opportunity and takes advantage.

Well that and I think it was an extended zone time by the Pens, the Sens were flat exhausted, Crosby had just jumped on the ice, Schultz drove towards the net before that confused the defense for a split second and Pageau had lost his man Schultz.

So I'd say there was a team effort on that chance.

 

[stratosphere]

It's a great thing that none of you are anywhere near the management of this team.

Seriously...

Fleury... Kunitz.. gigantic parts of this playoff run to the cup. And if it was up to most of you, they'd be gone a long time ago.

This.

Lotta hate for the guy on here. Good thing the Penguins saw it differently. Kunitz 2, Senators 1.

 

[imouttahereEdWinger]

One could argue 4th with Kunitz slotting in above him

Not even his teammates want to recognize him, receiving the helmet for the first time this season. I guess all those intangibles mean little to teammates when you score no goals.

https://twitter.com/penguins/status/868128960533737472

 

[Riptide]

Not even his teammates want to recognize him, receiving the helmet for the first time this season. I guess all those intangibles mean little to teammates when you score no goals.

https://twitter.com/penguins/status/868128960533737472

Probably because he played like **** most of the season. Had some moments, but never enough of one to earn the hat.

On a side note... Cullen... 8-0 in game 7s. Love seeing the behind the scenes stuff.

 

[EightyOne]

This.

Lotta hate for the guy on here. Good thing the Penguins saw it differently. Kunitz 2, Senators 1.

The Pens COULD have struggled less with a different player or players instead of the roster and salary Kunitz eats up.

 

[cygnus47]

Guentzel putting away his chances again will go a long way to us repeating.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Guentzel wasn't struggling any more than Crosby at ES. That's a false narrative. Sid racked up precisely one more point at ES than Jake did against Ottawa. The majority of his points came on the PP.

The issue is that they started ****ing with the complementary players on the 1st line, putting Kunitz and Rust there. Once Horny's restored and/or Sheary's back on track, everything else will follow suit.

I hope you're just talking about points only when comparing Guentzel to Crosby , instead of their overall games.

Even with scoring tho, this series...they still didn't compare. Crosby had 3 goals and 3 assists.

Of course losing Hornqvist was big. But Guentzel had plenty of quality chances that he messed up on in this series. There's nothing wrong in pointing that out. Nobody is saying he sucks and will be the next Rico Fata. He's gonna be great for us down the road.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Yeah I agree he brings something very different to this team and let's not forget JR brought some different things too. Succeeded where Shero failed, acquisision-wise.
...

Welcome back. I was just wondering about you the other day.

I really liked the Sully hire but I was very skeptical about JR. He's been great and I'm glad I was wrong. We'll have to see how he does without Botterill and whoever he poaches. Huge offseason coming.

Definitely not Guentzel's best series. Mix of snakebitten and not being big enough to battle through some of the interference and other OTT attempts at slowing guys up. I think he will bounce back against Nashville though.

I also would have thought Geno's faceoff numbers were worse, but I think the team as a whole improved in the last 2-3 games in that facet.

Hags also seems to be trending upwards, finally getting close to 100% perhaps?

Sid struggled a bit earlier in the series too. I'm sure that didn't help. We forget how young guys are sometimes. We're lucky fans.

Strange series. Faceoffs had some huge swings game to game. I think there was some coaching/trickery going on behind the scenes.

Hags is definitely looking better. I'm curious to find out what he's battling though. It's been 11 weeks.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Guentzel putting away his chances again will go a long way to us repeating.

Yup. Jake, Sheary, Bones, and Hags, for that matter.

I hope we play the points tight and maybe get some odd man breaks off of blocks. Those guys could get a boost from that.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Good point on the Games Played. Easy to forget that kinda thing.

Goes without saying he's been a stud all year. Ott just wasn't his series. Happens every year though. Different players step up for each series.

This is why I felt strongly that guys who were not being productive, like Sheary, Kunitz and Bones had to step up for them to advance.

Guentzel is a talented guy, but a rookie that isn't used to this grind. They couldn't keep relying on him while the vets above didn't contribute. Two goals total goals between the three of them going into game seven was simply unacceptable, especially given the minutes they played.

I look at struggling a lot different than many. Was Jake still dishing the puck well? Yep. Was he still getting chances? A ton. Was he turning the puck over? Nope. Was he playing solid defense? Yep.

So while the puck wasn't going in for him, his game was still there. His finish was gone and his confidence dropped. That is the youthful NHL experience. He just has to trust himself. Andy made huge saves. Jake has to continue to trust and believe.

He wasn't winning board battles as much as before or getting in on the forecheck as fast... he was also falling down a lot more, a sure sign of fatigue (unless your name is Sheary).

He was actually making the fourth line look more dangerous. I don't want him to stay there, but if he does, it's a good sign the other lines are clicking.

 

[Coastal Kev]

This.

Lotta hate for the guy on here. Good thing the Penguins saw it differently. Kunitz 2, Senators 1.

There definitely is a lot of group think on this board where if the group all agrees on a topic it becomes fact to them.

Just take a look back a few pages where Terp suggests adding some physicality to the team could be beneficial. The same group of posters who hammered Kunitz each night (when I stated he could be valuable if they cut his minutes by half) or begged for Fleury to be traded (when I suggested I could see a scenario play out where Murray is the one traded and it caused a meltdown).



This board would be a much better place if all opinions were given equal consideration. But that's living in fantasylans, this new generation thinks they know everything and has zero respect for those of us who have a bit more experience.


Consider this one last point new fish, if it wasn't for myself and the 12k of Pens fans that went to games before Mario, you wouldn't have a team to cheer.

Rick Kehoe says hi

 

[td_ice]

Was traveling and only caught the last 6 minutes of OT1 and all of OT2. Will have to go back and watch whole thing later.

I found this rant somewhat interesting (I thought the palpable anger was odd and just a bit disturbing).

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/spo...n-senators-and-good-riddance/article35123000/

Haha, that last line was harsh.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

There definitely is a lot of group think on this board where if the group all agrees on a topic it becomes fact to them.

Just take a look back a few pages where Terp suggests adding some physicality to the team could be beneficial. The same group of posters who hammered Kunitz each night (when I stated he could be valuable if they cut his minutes by half) or begged for Fleury to be traded (when I suggested I could see a scenario play out where Murray is the one traded and it caused a meltdown).



This board would be a much better place if all opinions were given equal consideration. But that's living in fantasylans, this new generation thinks they know everything and has zero respect for those of us who have a bit more experience.


Consider this one last point new fish, if it wasn't for myself and the 12k of Pens fans that went to games before Mario, you wouldn't have a team to cheer.

Rick Kehoe says hi

This is silly cmon now.

I've already said anyone can defend their opinion on here if they feel strongly enough about it. That is 100% fact, unless you have some concrete evidence our mods crush free thought and contrarian opinions, which I am quite certain would be BS.

This board is a total *****cat compared to back in the day. I got absolutely lambasted after the Pens lost the 04 lottery for suggesting Malkin was as good as AO. A majority of the people goofing on me had never even watched the two of them play at the time, I'm quite certain of that.

I never waivered my opinion or threw it in certain people's faces when Malkin became a superstar. All of us put bad ideas out there at times, it's just a reality of having your own opinions.

If people can't defend their opinions on a message board and feel the big scary mob is too much too handle, once again, that's a personal issue, not a board issue.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

There definitely is a lot of group think on this board where if the group all agrees on a topic it becomes fact to them.

Just take a look back a few pages where Terp suggests adding some physicality to the team could be beneficial. The same group of posters who hammered Kunitz each night (when I stated he could be valuable if they cut his minutes by half) or begged for Fleury to be traded (when I suggested I could see a scenario play out where Murray is the one traded and it caused a meltdown).



This board would be a much better place if all opinions were given equal consideration. But that's living in fantasylans, this new generation thinks they know everything and has zero respect for those of us who have a bit more experience.


Consider this one last point new fish, if it wasn't for myself and the 12k of Pens fans that went to games before Mario, you wouldn't have a team to cheer.

Rick Kehoe says hi

You guys have been so busy nailing yourselves to crosses that you didn't notice that much of the board spent the last week defending his play.

Climb on down from there and enjoy the finals with the rest of us.

 

[clefty]

Lot of people talking directly out of their ***** right now. What is this thread even about anymore?

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Anyone have a source for the advanced stats for this series?

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Some good lines in this thread.

 

[DegenX]

Let's move on to the series thread before someone loses an eye ....

 

[The Old Master]

Guentzel putting away his chances again will go a long way to us repeating.

not to knock jake....but he is not a sniper...and that's the one area he needs the most work at.......most of his goals are from in close, and the ones that you could say were snipes the goalie was looking for him to pass and was cheating a little. (wash.) very few of his goals are top corner that you would expect from a sniper. jake's been very lucky, but most of it is generated by his smarts and hard work.