Post-Game Talk: Pens/Stars: The stars came to play! As in the Sid/Geno, not Dallas.

[WayneSid9987]

Only Ruhwedel had more PK time for us in pre-season, and that was by 3 seconds. Maybe you're right and they don't trust him, I can't rule that out, but that marries up really weirdly with his usage there. And his usage down in WBS.

Don't really know but i think theres something they don't feel is NHL level in his game. Speed and/or strength...dunno.

 

[The Greatest 101]

What's the obssesion with Blueger? If they are going to call up a homegrown center, it will be Lafferty.
Also, I think JR should be more focusing on fixing the D. This team needs two more competent defensemen even when Schultz's back. Let's not pretend Maatta/Johnson/big Rig are anything more than 6/7 defenseman.

 

[Peat]

Don't really know but i think theres something they don't feel is NHL level in his game. Speed and/or strength...dunno.

There's gotta be something right but neither I nor anyone else knows. Other than maybe Sullivan and Rutherford.

 

[gorvenator]

Here are my notes from the game last night.

-Sid is awesome. Everyone knows that, but man it's great to have him back.
-Brassard belongs at center. He should stay there.
-Horny is the man. He's such a consistent battler out there. I'm glad he's signed long term.
-Pearson seems to be fitting in. He just looks like a solid player who doesn't have too many glaring holes in his game. Cerebral you might say
-Grant is a much better center than winger. In a forth line capacity of course.
-Letang played great, even if Dallas's goal was a result of his turnover. His positives far outweighs his negatives this year.
-Dumo is struggling with the puck on his stick the last few games. Still playing much better than any D not named Letang though.
-Big Rig annoys me. He plays so soft in the corners, it drives me crazy. I wish he could play with just a hint on intensity. I was disappointed he didn't step up after the Richie hit.
-Maatta was ok. Sometimes he moves the puck so quick and crisply that it's easy to understand how he's been solid 3/4 dman for years. Other times his slow foot speed and indecisiveness make me wonder if he's a 6th defense man at best.
-JJ is what he is. I think of him as our new Ian Cole. For better or for worse.
-Rikola took one hell of a hit. Way too late. Knowing the NHL likely nothing will come from it. I want him playing consistently. He has the tools to potentially be a solid player. Let him adjust and learn. It's not like we have great D. We have a great first paring with Letang and Dumo then we have a bunch of question marks who, in the ideal world would play sheltered minutes in a third pairing capacity.
-ZAR played well. He seems to be getting up to speed. Real solid in the corners and supported his teammates well. I see why Sullivan likes him.

Fun game to watch. Dallas sucks against us though, but a win is a win.

 

[vikingGoalie]

I'm trying to process of whether we were just *that* good, or if Dallas is *that* bad. I would like to see this level of effort and outcome consistently before I think we turned a corner. DeSmith made some incredibly huge saves to keep the momentum in this game and Sid was very Sid like. Our top 2 lines were fantastic and I already like the trade for Pearson, makes Geno's line Waaay better.

anyhoo off to eat some turkey, happy thanksgiving all!

 

[Randy Butternubs]

And now it's confirmed that Sullivan doesn't know how math works. Jeez!

 

[EightyOne]

I'm trying to process of whether we were just *that* good, or if Dallas is *that* bad. I would like to see this level of effort and outcome consistently before I think we turned a corner. DeSmith made some incredibly huge saves to keep the momentum in this game and Sid was very Sid like. Our top 2 lines were fantastic and I already like the trade for Pearson, makes Geno's line Waaay better.

anyhoo off to eat some turkey, happy thanksgiving all!

Dallas is pretty bad right now. Their injury list is a mile long.

There's two decent defenders and a starting goalie out. Plus others out creating holes needing to be filled by crap.


Still. Easily the kind of "trap game" the Pens would lose. Nice to see them not fall into the trap or be owned by the "stone wall backup goalie" like usual.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Hopefully Ritchie gets a fine (at the very least) for that charge/late hit on Riikola. I missed his apparent slew foot on Crosby.

 

[The Old Master]

Penguins sign coach Mike Sullivan to three-year extension

isn't that what teams do right before firing the guy?

 

[orby]

Lost in the noise around the Pens' brutal record is that Geno, Sid, and Kessel are all having really good seasons. Sid has 22 points in 17 games, Geno 28 in 20, Kessel 25 in 20. All 3 are on pace to score more than 100 points, and that's including Sid missing 3 games. Obviously a lot can happen, but it says a lot about where the problems really are on this team. I think more than any other player in particular, Bryan Rust turning into a pumpkin really took the roster down a notch. He went from a guy who could look good on any line and really bolster the bottom 6 to an absolutely useless player whose contract looks like a joke. If he can turn it around, I will be a lot more confident about the team making the playoffs. Same is true of Sheahan, to a lesser extent.

The defense on the other hand...yikes. Maatta seems like he will never be an above-average player again at this point, and Jack Johnson is just brutal. that's upwards of 6 million dollars being spent on bottom pair-tier guys that aren't playing bottom-pair minutes. This needs to be addressed if they want to make any noise whatsoever this year.

 

[Andy99]

Nothing can be done about the D at the moment, except maybe try Prow...it’s deck chairs on the Titanic..

But Sully needs to get some skill on L3...I’d try

Simon-Sid-Horny
Pearson-G-Phil
Jake-Brass-Rust/ZAR
ZAR/Sheahan-Grant-Rust/Sprong

Simon hasn’t looked as good anywhere but with Sid so why force it...

 

[Peat]

Nothing can be done about the D at the moment, except maybe try Prow...it’s deck chairs on the Titanic..

But Sully needs to get some skill on L3...I’d try

Simon-Sid-Horny
Pearson-G-Phil
Jake-Brass-Rust/ZAR
ZAR/Sheahan-Grant-Rust/Sprong

Simon hasn’t looked as good anywhere but with Sid so why force it...

I'd be down with that but, if Guentzel and Sid are going to have one of their spells where everything goes in, we probably get more out of loading the top 6.

 

[Andy99]

I'd be down with that but, if Guentzel and Sid are going to have one of their spells where everything goes in, we probably get more out of loading the top 6.

Yeah, it might depend on the team we’re playing whether to load the top lines, and maybe BOS is one you want to keep them loaded for, but we need to develop some bottom 6 scoring...just think the best use of Simon is with Sid and Brass needs some skill to work with and ZAR or Rust isn’t it....

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Good game overall. Kept the puck moving quickly.

Any weaknesses I blame on a lack of confidence after so many losses. They will iron themselves out.

Dallas sucks right now but we needed this!

I like Riikola. He clearly has defensive weaknesses to his game but he has great awareness and skill. Even at this stage he is equal to Ruh with tons of upside. I’d keep playing him sheltered minutes. Mark my works he’ll be part of our 2nd pairing by end of season. He looks fine with Maatta.

I would prefer seeing Sprong with Brassard. You need to give the kid time and then decide if he fits or not. We need to ride our big guys and develop our youth during the season.

 

[Son Goku]

isn't that what teams do right before firing the guy?

Article is from 2016

 

[RSPens]

No, I get to point out the fact that the Pens beat not so good teams. That's like Oleksiak beating the **** out of Sheary in a fight and bragging that Oleksiak did awesome in that fight!

Just thought that I would point out that the Flames are first in the Pacific after thrashing the Jets last night.

 

[Beau Knows]

Yeah the general sentiment here is accurate I would say. The star players are looking great this year, but too many passengers and zero depth. The team has lost the speed it used to have through all 4 lines and doesn't really have an identity or edge outside of the having Crosby/Malkin.

This team can be fixed with a few more roster moves (Pearson seems to be a good start) and could still be capable of winning the Cup.

 

[The Old Master]

Article is from 2016

i get that, but it dose seem like gm's give raises to coaches/players then the next day their gone.

 

[cheesedanish87]

One of the few benefits of struggling is that teams aren't getting up to play the Pens like they have the past couple years.

Pens played good last night, but Dallas was a no show.

Getting 19 shots on goal against the Pens def when Dallas was behind the whole game is pretty pathetic.

 

[EightyOne]

One of the few benefits of struggling is that teams aren't getting up to play the Pens like they have the past couple years.

Pens played good last night, but Dallas was a no show.

Getting 19 shots on goal against the Pens def when Dallas was behind the whole game is pretty pathetic.

I think they ineptly got like 17 in their 2-1 loss at NYR right before coming to Pittsburgh.

They're a sad team right now.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Nothing can be done about the D at the moment, except maybe try Prow...it’s deck chairs on the Titanic..

But Sully needs to get some skill on L3...I’d try

Simon-Sid-Horny
Pearson-G-Phil
Jake-Brass-Rust/ZAR
ZAR/Sheahan-Grant-Rust/Sprong

Simon hasn’t looked as good anywhere but with Sid so why force it...

Id rather our top 6 stay stacked and have all of our scoring come from there(as long as it results in wins like last night) so JR will make a move for our bottom 6. Trade someone out for a pick so we can bring someone(other than Wilson) up from WBS. Angello is my choice.

 

[treeni12]

Very tough 4 games coming up.

 

[Gurglesons]

Very tough 4 games coming up.

I feel like if this team plays the right way we should easily win all four.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Very tough 4 games coming up.

We’ll get 5 points minimum

 

[Andy99]

One of the few benefits of struggling is that teams aren't getting up to play the Pens like they have the past couple years.

Pens played good last night, but Dallas was a no show.

Getting 19 shots on goal against the Pens def when Dallas was behind the whole game is pretty pathetic.

Dallas isn’t indicative of anything...very injured, coming off long road trip...what it shows is that we can score at will on terrible goaltenders (see Calgary and Mike Smith) and slow WC teams...I won’t have any faith in this team until we start beating the Metro competition, TB, etc...