Post-Game Talk: Pens Lose 3-1: I Hate Saying We Told You So But Not Really

[Jag68Sid87]

I can see both sides of the argument (Jiggy's and Pghkev's). On the one hand, I think last night we showed a LOT MORE moxie than we're accustomed to seeing. But was that strictly the competition/rivalry/moment? Probably. On the other hand, I felt the Caps' size wore us down slowly, but surely, last night.

And they completely neutralized our two best weapons for much of the night.

 

[cheesedanish87]

The Caps have been extremely lucky this season with injuries, they haven't had any injuries to any key players to my knowledge, its hard to believe that a team can go through the entire year without any injury problems.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Do you really believe hit stats?? At one point in the first Steigy mentioned the hit totals as being 11 for the Pens and 6 for the Caps. I remembered nearly all of the Caps 6 hits, they were bone crushing. The Pens hits on the other hand seemed more like rub-outs.

Confirmation bias. Yeah the Caps layed a couple good ones in the first but so did the Pens. The Pens really pick up physically after the Ovi/Letang incident.

 

[Boocock]

That's kind of my point. Everyone get's a huge ***** when they see his offense and just assume he'll figure out how to play D at this level. I'm sure people assumed the same thing about MAB.

I agree. The issue I have with your question is the fact that Marc-Andre Bergeron is the NHL's version of a guy like Desmond Howard or Ted Ginn: high-upside player when he came into the league, taken with a high draft pick, but turned out to be only a specialist.

It's like asking if every wide receiver who comes into the NFL will be Jerry Rice or Desmond Howard / Ted Ginn --> not a bust, but a player who didn't live up to his full potential in normal situations.

It might be more accurate to state that he'll be someone like Reggie Bush (position-switching within a different sport, I know). Perhaps a tad bit overrated in his areas of expertise (Bush: special teams; Pouliot: offense), but underrated where people may believe he is deficient (Bush: between the tackles; Pouliot: defense).

 

[Fordy]

worth pointing out that Hornqvist did not see the ice in the last two minutes of the game but comeau and kunitz did

And when they "loaded up" the powerplay? Kunitz, no Perron or Hornqvist

Should have turned the game off then

 

[Nei1ey*]

I can see both sides of the argument (Jiggy's and Pghkev's). On the one hand, I think last night we showed a LOT MORE moxie than we're accustomed to seeing. But was that strictly the competition/rivalry/moment? Probably. On the other hand, I felt the Caps' size wore us down slowly, but surely, last night.

And they completely neutralized our two best weapons for much of the night.

Been pretty much the theme this year when we played good teams. Our top 2 centers getting shut down. I hate to say its the coach because Geno & Sid are both having godawful years, epsecially Sid. But i MJ is handcuffing them big time with his decisions.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Do you really believe hit stats?? At one point in the first Steigy mentioned the hit totals as being 11 for the Pens and 6 for the Caps. I remembered nearly all of the Caps 6 hits, they were bone crushing. The Pens hits on the other hand seemed more like rub-outs.

I believe what I saw on the ice and the stats backed it up. You saw a couple of big hits from Orpik and the one on Despres, and magnified it. The Pens put plenty of Caps on their ***** as well. Malkin lit up Green and Bortuzzo put Laich on his ass, and those hits were just as hard as the two above. I saw plenty of Caps on the ice along the boards from hits all night.

If you think every effective hit is some bone jarring, snot bubbler, you need to watch more closely. Rub outs are exactly what you want and I saw Pens players taking the body all night and it caused pucks to be moved too quickly and had Caps blueliners peeling off of the puck.

The only guy I really saw on the Pens letting guys off the hook was Crosby. All the power comes from your legs on up, and he could crush guys if he wanted to. Seriously, even Sutter was rubbing guys out.

 

[djt153]

I believe what I saw on the ice and the stats backed it up. You saw a couple of big hits from Orpik and the one on Despres, and magnified it. The Pens put plenty of Caps on their ***** as well. Malkin lit up Green and Bortuzzo put Laich on his ass, and those hits were just as hard as the two above. I saw plenty of caps on the ice along the boards from hits all night.

If you think every effective hit is some bone jarring, snot bubbler, you need to watch more closely. Rub outs are exactly what you want and I saw Pens players taking the body all night and it caused pucks to be moved too quickly and had Caps blueliners peeling off of the puck.

The only guy I really saw on the Pens letting guys off the hook was Crosby. All the power comes from your legs on up, and he could crush guys if he wanted to. Seriously, even Sutter was rubbing guys out.

Crosby could get himself so much more space if he just blew up a guy on the forecheck instead of going for the steal every time.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

I believe what I saw on the ice and the stats backed it up. You saw a couple of big hits from Orpik and the one on Despres, and magnified it. The Pens put plenty of Caps on their ***** as well. Malkin lit up Green and Bortuzzo put Laich on his ass, and those hits were just as hard as the two above. I saw plenty of caps on the ice along the boards from hits all night.

If you think every effective hit is some bone jarring, snot bubbler, you need to watch more closely. Rub outs are exactly what you want and I saw Pens players taking the body all night and it caused pucks to be moved too quickly and had Caps blueliners peeling off of the puck.

The only guy I really saw on the Pens letting guys off the hook was Crosby. All the power comes from your legs on up, and he could crush guys if he wanted to. Seriously, even Sutter was rubbing guys out.

Also off the top of my head, Letang stuck someone pretty good in the first and LaPierre popped one of their defenseman behind the net leading to a loose puck.

 

[CrosbytoKessel]

Dave Molinari @MolinariPG

Rutherford says he has no conventional "hockey trades" in the works now, but "that doesn’t mean there won’t be in the next week or so."

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Crosby could get himself so much more space if he just blew up a guy on the forecheck instead of going for the steal every time.

Be the predator, not the prey.

With his tree trunk legs, speed and upper body, he could **** guys up. He has his reasons for what he does, but I saw him let at least 6 Caps off the hook when he could have blown them up. Instead he peeled off or slowed down and gave them a nudge.

The first few times I was like oh ****, he's gonna put their chalk line on the boards... By the end of the game I was rolling my eyes and wondering if he was going to give them a slap on the ass.

Dave Molinari @MolinariPG

Rutherford says he has no conventional "hockey trades" in the works now, but "that doesn’t mean there won’t be in the next week or so."

Do the right thing JR.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Dave Molinari @MolinariPG

Rutherford says he has no conventional "hockey trades" in the works now, but "that doesn’t mean there won’t be in the next week or so."

I just don't see him doing much, I do believe he get's another bottom 6 forward but nothing more then that

 

[Nei1ey*]

Man i love JR as our GM, you never know what this Demented Old Geezer is gonna do. GR is not happy with this team, you can tell from his comments last couple of times, i definitely expect some changes before TDL.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I agree. The issue I have with your question is the fact that Marc-Andre Bergeron is the NHL's version of a guy like Desmond Howard or Ted Ginn: high-upside player when he came into the league, taken with a high draft pick, but turned out to be only a specialist.

It's like asking if every wide receiver who comes into the NFL will be Jerry Rice or Desmond Howard / Ted Ginn --> not a bust, but a player who didn't live up to his full potential in normal situations.

It might be more accurate to state that he'll be someone like Reggie Bush (position-switching within a different sport, I know). Perhaps a tad bit overrated in his areas of expertise (Bush: special teams; Pouliot: offense), but underrated where people may believe he is deficient (Bush: between the tackles; Pouliot: defense).

I just have to roll my eyes when People start referring to him as the next Orr or whatever then get up in arms any time someone suggests that DP may not be the savior they want him to be.

I don't think he'll be the next MAB, but he sure as **** isn't the next Orr.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I just have to roll my eyes when People start referring to him as the next Orr or whatever then get up in arms any time someone suggests that DP may not be the savior they want him to be.

I don't think he'll be the next MAB, but he sure as **** isn't the next Orr.

Who cares? He's not a bust. He SHOULD be the team's PP quarterback for the next decade...if the coach has the stones to level-jump his blueliners.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

It really wasn't a bad game in retrospect. As usual the pp and 87 and 71's production are problems but the team as a whole played the game the right way. Everybody in the gdt was pleased until that horrible call on Kunitz which led to the 5 on 3 gwg. It's a shame the refs decided to ruin a really good rivalry game with their laughable officiating in the 3rd period.

Forget the no call on OV's slash, that call on Kunitz was one of the worst I've ever seen. Normally when an official calls a clean hit like that boarding it's because they saw it out of the corner of their eye and thought it was worse than it was. You could see from the replay that the ref was looking right at the hit from 20 feet away and decides to call it a penalty for god knows what reason. That is what is so horrible about these refs: consistency. A very physical game where they are letting things go then all of a sudden with 10 minutes left a body check is a penalty. Inexcusable garbage from that ref.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

It really wasn't a bad game in retrospect. As usual the pp and 87 and 71's production are problems but the team as a whole played the game the right way. Everybody in the gdt was pleased until that horrible call on Kunitz which led to the 5 on 3 gwg. It's a shame the refs decided to ruin a really good rivalry game with their laughable officiating in the 3rd period.

Forget the no call on OV's slash, that call on Kunitz was one of the worst I've ever seen. Normally when an official calls a clean hit like that boarding it's because they saw it out of the corner of their eye and thought it was worse than it was. You could see from the replay that the ref was looking right at the hit from 20 feet away and decides to call it a penalty for god knows what reason. That is what is so horrible about these refs: consistency. A very physical game where they are letting things go then all of a sudden with 10 minutes left a body check is a penalty. Inexcusable garbage from that ref.

Disagree entirely. I think your argument is masked by the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. He is the only reason why this game was close. If Flower doesn't make those big saves to start the game, it could have been 3-0 within the first 10 minutes EASILY. If Greiss was in goal, we would have been manhandled. So many turnovers, no entry into the offensive zone, the Capitals entering our zone with ease. Same song and dance for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Disagree entirely. I think your argument is masked by the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. He is the only reason why this game was close. If Flower doesn't make those big saves to start the game, it could have been 3-0 within the first 10 minutes EASILY. If Greiss was in goal, we would have been manhandled. So many turnovers, no entry into the offensive zone, the Capitals entering our zone with ease. Same song and dance for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

You can say the same about Holtby.

 

[FRUSTRATEDPENFAN*]

14, 16, and 27 need to be shipped off asap.

Crosby and Malkin need to play better if they lose again in the first two rounds again this year. One of Crosby or Malkin need to be traded I wouldn't be surprised if Crosby would welcome a change.

 

[Fordy]

Crosby and Malkin need to play better if they lose again in the first two rounds again this year. One of Crosby or Malkin need to be traded I wouldn't be surprised if Crosby would welcome a change.

who's your favorite pittsburgh sports writer? they really nail it sometimes don't they

 

[FRUSTRATEDPENFAN*]

who's your favorite pittsburgh sports writer? they really nail it sometimes don't they

Crosby is playing like he is bored doesn't care

 

[BobCole]

You can say the same about Holtby.

Not sure I agree. We didn't test Holtby all that much until late in the game. In the 1st and 2nd periods, we had trouble generating high quality scoring chances. Most of our shots came from the outside. That's been a recurring theme for us lately. MAF was exceptional and had to be basically from the first drop of the puck onward.

 

[Terrapin]

I learned two things from this game.
1) Our power play sucks. If it did not suck, we would have won a lot more games than we lost.
2) I just don't care anymore when other team's players get hurt. There is such a double standard with the Penguins it is insane. I went on the main boards and people are praising Ovechkin. If that was Downie or Cooke people would be calling for banishment from the NHL. I don't wish for anyone to get hurt. But now, I just don't care. Letang's career could have been ended and Ovechkin didn't even go for the puck. That was Adam Graves on Lemieux all over again. I used to join all the pity parties when Cooke did something and apologize over and over again. I will always remember when Crosby got hit in the mouth with a puck and people were cheering that the best player in the game was seriously injured.
Everyone get ready because these playoffs are going to be fun. We are slowly but surely gathering all the **** starters in the league and people are upset about it. Downie or Lapierre is going to do something dirty most likely and people are going to over react. I am predicting this year will be the year that our organization is dragged through the mud.

The biggest mistake anyone can make in life is to go out of their way worrying about what other people think of them. Most people learn that in like highschool. So why anyone on an internet message board would go apologizing to some other 'fan' is absolutely mind-boggling to me, especially when you're apologizing on behalf of somebody you don't, and will never know. Why any Penguin fan would care if some teenage geek in Ontario thinks we're 'dirty' is astonishing.

As bad as it is for fans to do that, it's even worse for an owner, coach, or player to do it. I'm so sick of the Penguins trying to be the moral authority of the league. You think Bob Kraft in New England gives a **** if other teams like the Patriots? All he cares about is money and Super Bowl trophies, and he has lots of both.

Point is, I could give two ***** if this organization is dragged through the mud. Winning is what matters. This isn't a popularity contest.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

You can say the same about Holtby.

Not really, the Capitals don't turn the puck over as much as the Penguins do and they had way more quality scoring chances than we did. 0-3 against Holtby being outscored 10-1 is pretty telling as to why the Penguins lost those games, highly doubt it was Holtby being Holtby.

 

[Shwag33]

Last nights game was pretty even. They got a 5 on 3... and capitalized; thats the difference. Both teams dominated for stretches.