Post-Game Talk: | Pens vs Ducks | 4-1 win | Geno rocks our socks |

[AuroraBorealis]

haha 80% of the Coyotes roster is a free agent this summer wtf are they doing.

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They have 7 players signed beyond this season, and one is on the trade block.

Sometimes I find looking at random teams' CapFriendly to be more interesting than their games...

Good lord that's a lot of guys to deal with in the summer. They have us beat!

 

[Gurglesons]

If Malkin resigns with the Penguins will Crosby and Geno go down as the best one two punch in the history of the NHL?

 

[Coastal Kev]

Pretty much sums up the rivalry once Mario arrived...

 

[Jaded-Fan]

If Malkin resigns with the Penguins will Crosby and Geno go down as the best one two punch in the history of the NHL?

They might not even be the best of all time on this team.

Mario and Jagr have a pretty strong argument.

Of all time?

Gretzky and Messier have to be on most people's short list of best duo on a team of all time.

 

[Gurglesons]

They might not even be the best of all time on this team.

Mario and Jagr have a pretty strong argument.

Of all time?

Gretzky and Messier have to be on most people's short list of best duo on a team of all time.

I don't see how you argue Mario and Jagr were better than Crosby and Malkin.

Sid and Geno won three championships and had 4 cup appearances in a much more competitive league than Gretz and Mess.

 

[Coastal Kev]

I just go back to last season where I said the same. I see the same player in Zohorna on the two occasions he has been up this year. It is a very limited sample size, but in 10 NHL games he has 5 points (2 goals) and is +6. Good things happen when he is on the ice, and the puck is usually in the opponents end.

And of course the cap-hit remains a big reason. 750k vs. 5.5 million is a big difference and does a lot for relative value.

and a guy like Boyle would be better playing every 3rd game

 

[Coastal Kev]

I don't see how you argue Mario and Jagr were better than Crosby and Malkin.

?

Are u serious?

 

[Gurglesons]

?

Are u serious?

Yes. Unless we are talking about regular season achievements.

Jagr was a boss in the second cup run, but he never contributed like Malkin did in 2009 and 2017 in a cup run.

Do you think Jagr is better than Malkin in terms of his career?

 

[Coastal Kev]

Yes. Unless we are talking about regular season achievements.

It’s hard to compare different eras, but Sid isn’t in Mario’s league....Jagr was more dynamic than Geno....

 

[Gurglesons]

It’s hard to compare different eras, but Sid isn’t in Mario’s league....Jagr was more dynamic than Geno....

Agreed on the first point. As someone who grew up with Jagr, I take Malkin every day of the week.

Granted this is about the best one two punch in history in terms of championship accolades. Not the best two players on the same team.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Agreed on the first point. As someone who grew up with Jagr, I take Malkin every day of the week.

Granted this is about the best one two punch in history in terms of championship accolades. Not the best two players on the same team.

malkin & jags are close.....Geno being a C helps as well

 

[Russian Factor]

Tb and McGinn are terrific together. I think DOC would be the best LW options. Would be an awesome 4th line.

Jake - Sid - rust
Erod/carter - Geno - kap
Zucker - carter/erod - Henien
Doc - tb - McGinn

would be an awesome line up

I kinda like

Guentzel - Sid - Rust (self explanatory)
Heinen - Malkin - Carter (two smart wingers who have chemistry and are good at D, Carter can take Genos weak side faceoffs)
Zucker - ERod - Kapanen (this was essentially the best xG line in the league when together, did it for a decent chunk of games)
McGinn - Blueger - ZAR (Sully loves it so aint broke dont fix it etc, and rightly so its basically the best xGA line in the league)

I would also like to try switching McGinn and Heinen but understand if Sully disagrees. McGinn could do all Malkins dirty work and be the puck retriever and is good at popping into spaces after he gets the puck out of the forecheck. But Zucker at the height of his powers was also supposed to be a better version of that guy and maybe itd be worth it to try him with Gene again to see if this years much better version can click better than last years Zucker that wasnt even doing his normal forechecking thing.

Also I just think itd be interesting to try someone on Bluegers line thats good at driving offense since I think it would basically make them even more possession monsters than they are. Heinen or Zucker could be good for that. Plus Zucker had his best season ever playing with a Blueger type guy at C (Koivu) who let him dictate offense.

We basically have no bad options because of ERod coming out of nowhere and playing at almost a f***ing 1C level lol

 

[Gurglesons]

malkin & jags are close.....Geno being a C helps as well

If we are talking about individual talent, I take Jagr over Malkin.

But, I think the idea here is the cumulative dominance of a duo in their career. Gretzky and Messier probably are up there with Sid and Geno. Sakic and Forberg too, but Geno and Sid have been two top ten forwards willing their teams to the playoff for the better part of nearly 15 years now.

4 Cup appearances another conference finals in a league that is very different from Gretz and Mess. I dunno. These two are truly remarkable.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Sid didn't get an assist tonight, but he deserves one for this.
Linked the time stamp.

Pretty spry for an ole boy. He Matrixed that shit.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Am I the only one that would say "great to see you still have it Geno. Now go wrap yourself in bubble wrap and we will unwrap you when the playoffs start"?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Sid didn't get an assist tonight, but he deserves one for this.
Linked the time stamp.

Pretty spry for an ole boy. He Matrixed that shit.

Dude looked like he was levitating.

Also lol @ even the opposing team's announcers laughing off the notion of Malkin "disrupting" anything.

Interesting discussion re: Sid/Geno one-two punch in a historical context. My brain says Gretz/Mess is obvious choice but I loathe Skeletor so much and am so admittedly biased that I'm gonna play along and say "sure." I think Mario/Jagr better talents but less impact. Sid/Geno also play a good deal less actually together than those two did.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Dude looked like he was levitating.

Also lol @ even the opposing team's announcers laughing off the notion of Malkin "disrupting" anything.

Interesting discussion re: Sid/Geno one-two punch in a historical context. My brain says Gretz/Mess is obvious choice but I loathe Skeletor so much and am so admittedly biased that I'm gonna play along and say "sure." I think Mario/Jagr better talents but less impact. Sid/Geno also play a good deal less actually together than those two did.

They play against much more organized defenses and way better goalies. The whole opposition is so well versed in what to game plan for.
Less time and space. It's really hard to compare. Everything looks better when the opponent gives you more.
Plus 87+71 are relied on much more defensively.

I'd argue Sid does more from a leadership perspective than Mario, who was pretty quiet. Sid communicates on the bench all the time.

There's still a strong case to be made that Mario and Jagr just had better killer instinct in the O-zone though. Better hands. Mario's a better passer than Sid, all things considered. He was more careful with possession. Didn't make low percentage plays as frequently. Was more patient.

66+68 were more willing to make east-west plays too, which was less discouraged at the time I guess too.

It's hard to top Jagr's stickhandling in tight against goalies as well. Mesmerizing.

There's no way to sum this discussion up quickly. It would have to be an essay

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

They play against much more organized defenses and way better goalies. The whole opposition is so well versed in what to game plan for.
Less time and space. It's really hard to compare. Everything looks better when the opponent gives you more.
Plus 87+71 are relied on much more defensively.

I'd argue Sid does more from a leadership perspective than Mario, who was pretty quiet. Sid communicates on the bench all the time.

There's still a strong case to be made that Mario and Jagr just had better killer instinct in the O-zone though. Better hands. Mario's a better passer than Sid, all things considered. He was more careful with possession. Didn't make low percentage plays as frequently. Was more patient.

66+68 were more willing to make east-west plays too, which was less discouraged at the time I guess too.

It's hard to top Jagr's stickhandling in tight against goalies as well. Mesmerizing.

There's no way to sum this discussion up quickly. It would have to be an essay

All valid points though I am loathe to get deep into intra-generational comparisons, GOAT, etc. It must also be acknowledged the extent and degree of physical abuse Lemiuex suffered in the late '80s and '90s due to the lax enforcement of NHL's cro-magnon rules at the time. Graves' slash/baseball swing at Mario's wrists. 2 minutes for that shit. Pathetic. (yeah, I know he got a four game suspension after the fact)

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Untouchable player. Drives the bottom six.

Exactly, if the Pens ever entertain moving Blueger, it sure as shit better have a younger version that is as good with potential to be better otherwise you’re gifting a team a type of player that is not easy to find.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kapanen is one of those blokes that needs to be scratched a game when Rust is back. More so to light a fire under his ass. He’s got the talent, but my goodness, the blinders on this lad are just nuts. It’s hard to see a talented winger look so lost almost all the time. We all know he can be better. I’d still give him the Cali trip (5 or so games total) to see if he can find some of that Geno chemistry, if not, it’d be time to look at other line-up options. I’d be down to see something like…

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Zucker, Malkin, Carter
McGinn, Blueger, Kapanen
ZAR, Rodrigues, Heinen

God damn we’re looking at depth, we’ll never be this healthy though.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Kapanen is one of those blokes that needs to be scratched a game when Rust is back. More so to light a fire under his ass. He’s got the talent, but my goodness, the blinders on this lad are just nuts. It’s hard to see a talented winger look so lost almost all the time. We all know he can be better. I’d still give him the Cali trip (5 or so games total) to see if he can find some of that Geno chemistry, if not, it’d be time to look at other line-up options. I’d be down to see something like…

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Zucker, Malkin, Carter
McGinn, Blueger, Kapanen
ZAR, Rodrigues, Heinen

God damn we’re looking at depth, we’ll never be this healthy though.

Kapanen set up Malkin's second goal with a solid diagonal pass to the point under pressure. He had a breakaway tonight, which hasn't happened in a while...which also tended to happen a lot on Malkin's line last year.
The previous 2 games he's had a lovely primary assist to Erod and a deft deflection goal.

This is absolutely not the time I would demote or scratch Kap, even when Rust gets back. His confidence and influence on the game is rising. He very clearly enjoys playing with Malkin.

And I am 100% against Zucker stepping foot on that line again when healthy. Nothing personal against him, but we have like 4 better options. Look at the impact Carter had tonight. Zucker had precious few great games like this with that trio. Enough is enough.

I was probably at the forefront of his supporters when he got here but I don't see him as top 6 worthy on this team. His price tag shouldn't dictate his spot in the lineup. He's been outplayed and it's a deep forward group.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Malkin rules.

 

[KareemTrustfund]

Best part of the night was Errey calling Malkin “The human Genome”

 

[PensandCaps]

If Malkin resigns with the Penguins will Crosby and Geno go down as the best one two punch in the history of the NHL?

In terms of long term dominance? yes.

But hard to say they're better than peak Gretzky/Messier, Mario/Jagr and Sakic/Forsberg

 

[PensandCaps]

Love Malkin, But im taking peak Jagr even over Sid lol.