Post-Game Talk: |Pens vs Ducks | Win | Flightless Ducks vs Flying Ducks

[AuroraBorealis]

Ehhh they both were bad. POJ was a disaster but if Ruh doesnt flop to the ice and plays the man, Not everyone comes all the way back.

Also Ruh didnt cover the back door. Lots of NHL players can make that saucer pass over him.

If Ruh plays the man then the pass probably gets through and we're relying on Malkin to win a stick battle.
Giving guys time to get back means they had no excuse not to cover Zegras.

Sure you can saucer pass, but those are much slower and woulda given Casey time to get across potentially. It'd also give Malkin time to get body position and break it up. It's a lot easier to react to for him.
In this situation it was a low percentage play imo.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Just listened to DK’s morning podcast where he actually said Hextall was “not equipped” to make any trades to help the bottom six lol…gives kudos to Sullivan for finally seeing Carter is no longer a center and also says they need more spark plugs in the bottom six but there’s only so much they can do and Hextall needs to get on his horse by the all star break…lol…he really should be talking about how our D can’t help generate offense and why our system doesn’t allow us to defend in the NZ and try to generate turnovers there to help our players produce offense lol…

I mean, they DO, but at the same time, they also have a bunch of players who are supposed to bring that and don't for whatever reason anymore. Kapanen, Rust, Rackell, McGinn, Archibald, Heinen, and Carter are supposed to have that edge. Kapanen seems like he's trying, Rackell's been good, Archibald's injured, Heinen and Carter are dogshit, McGinn's been maddeningly inconsistent, and Rust... well, god knows what's up with Rust.

I wouldn't mind seeing us get more physical, but at the same time, it is quite noticeable how lots of players with that edge lose it here, and the even more sandpaper dudes like Friedman never play unless we have injuries.

 

[Victor Z]

The lack of compete isn't really a roster problem or a strictly personnel issue. It's a mental one or a locker room thing. We've got tons of players who should, in theory, bring that. But they don't or they did and no longer seem to for whatever reason.

I believe we were told that Jan Rutta was supposed to be a physical, crease-clearing type -- the type we so very desperately need around here -- and yet he's turned out to be just another Penguin of the passive vanilla variety.

Did Rutta change his game upon donning a Pens sweater, or was he never really anything but vanilla to begin with... or was any aggressiveness he might once have had been Sullied out of him? Mark Friedman, as recently as last year a serviceable pest on the ice, has definitely allowed himself to be Sullied -- despite the fact that his pestiness was the only real asset he possessed, and without that he's just another AHL defenseman.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I believe we were told that Jan Rutta was supposed to be a physical, crease-clearing type -- the type we so very desperately need around here -- and yet he's turned out to be just another Penguin of the passive vanilla variety.

Did Rutta change his game upon donning a Pens sweater, or was he never really anything but vanilla to begin with... or was any aggressiveness he might once have had been Sullied out of him? Mark Friedman, as recently as last year a serviceable pest on the ice, has definitely allowed himself to be Sullied -- despite the fact that his pestiness was the only real asset he possessed, and without that he's just another AHL defenseman.

It's a real issue. I think we have enough of a sample size to know that players are told that if they play on the edge like that, then they're not going to get ice time. And they're not stupid, especially guys like Friedman who don't have tenure with the team and who are looking to stay up in the big show as much as they can.

Then, on top of that you have situations like we had with JR where physical players are explicitly brought in and then sat.

So, sure, the team could use more sparkplugs and energy guys, but I think Sully hears that and thinks "present day Rust" not "prime Kunitz or Claude Lemieux".

 

[Darren McCord]

If Ruh plays the man then the pass probably gets through and we're relying on Malkin to win a stick battle.
Giving guys time to get back means they had no excuse not to cover Zegras.

Sure you can saucer pass, but those are much slower and woulda given Casey time to get across potentially. It'd also give Malkin time to get body position and break it up. It's a lot easier to react to for him.
In this situation it was a low percentage play imo.

Sure but if Ruh plays the man right and takes his stick away the pass isnt getting through. Just cause our defense is terrible infront of the net doesnt mean thats not the right play.

Ruhs job is to eliminate that pass and man. Let the shooter have Casey one on one.

Again its not all on Ruh but at the same time he did not play that well .

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sure but if Ruh plays the man right and takes his stick away

Also related to my kvetching above, but man, this is the problem with our "positional" defensemen in a nutshell in that frequently they don't make the smarter, more physical play.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Even when this team wins I kinda hate them.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Yeah, the Penguins are too soft on defense, especially minus Letang, Petry and Rutta.

If they want to do anything at the deadline, go for a top 4 d with sandpaper who will make opposing forwards think twice about carrying the puck over the Pens' blue line.

 

[canadianguy77]

Problem is, he's won everything he needs to win or cares to win. Getting older, like everyone else, realizes he has his health and family to take care of. So with the aging and every aspect of his (lucrative) pro sports career dwindling down day-by-day ... he's not going to kill himself out there like he was 18 years old skating through an entire defense... guy worked his hinder off for 20 some years to get where he is.
He just won't have it every single night... mentally and/or physically.

My guess is this is his last contract. He isn't going out old and washed up.

You guys are crazy. His production drops anytime Rust ends up on his line. But let’s give the benefit of the doubt to Bryan Rust and not the guy who has led the league in even strength points this season when Rust isn’t on his line.

If not for 87, this team is in a race to the bottom for Bedard.

 

[Andy99]

He’s going to play against the Pens…expecting a loss to Ottawa tomorrow lol

 

[Angrrus]

Problem is, he's won everything he needs to win or cares to win. Getting older, like everyone else, realizes he has his health and family to take care of. So with the aging and every aspect of his (lucrative) pro sports career dwindling down day-by-day ... he's not going to kill himself out there like he was 18 years old skating through an entire defense... guy worked his hinder off for 20 some years to get where he is.
He just won't have it every single night... mentally and/or physically.

My guess is this is his last contract. He isn't going out old and washed up.

Exactly. That's why I say Pens shopuld've been rebuilding by now. How do they hope to win anything any more with this kind of motivation and attitude from their biggest star and captain?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You guys are crazy. His production drops anytime Rust ends up on his line. But let’s give the benefit of the doubt to Bryan Rust and not the guy who has led the league in even strength points this season when Rust isn’t on his line.

If not for 87, this team is in a race to the bottom for Bedard.

Sid's 5on5 raw production:
With Rakell - 12 goals, 20 points (377:42 TOI)
With Rust - 5 goals, 10 points (243:52 TOI)

Sid's 5on5 per 60 production rates:
With Rakell - 1.91 goals, 3.18 points
With Rust - 1.23 goals, 2.46 points

Sid's 5on5 per 60 metrics:
With Rakell - 10.17 iSCF, 5.72 iHDCF
With Rust - 6.4 iSCF, 2.21 iHDCF

The proof is literally in the numbers how much Rust is dragging Crosby down. Or do people think Crosby just happens to show up when Rakell is on his line, but then decides to suck every time Rust is on it?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sid's 5on5 raw production:
With Rakell - 12 goals, 20 points (377:42 TOI)
With Rust - 5 goals, 10 points (243:52 TOI)

Sid's 5on5 per 60 production rates:
With Rakell - 1.91 goals, 3.18 points
With Rust - 1.23 goals, 2.46 points

Sid's 5on5 per 60 metrics:
With Rakell - 10.17 iSCF, 5.72 iHDCF
With Rust - 6.4 iSCF, 2.21 iHDCF

The proof is literally in the numbers how much Rust is dragging Crosby down. Or do people think Crosby just happens to show up when Rakell is on his line, but then decides to suck every time Rust is on it?

The weird thing to me is that if Rust was a UFA signing with no previous tenure on this club, people would be calling to trade him like Perron. I don't get it.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

The weird thing to me is that if Rust was a UFA signing with no previous tenure on this club, people would be calling to trade him like Perron. I don't get it.

I'm with you on how Rust's game from 2017 and before is the one we need and not this current perimeter guy.

The problem just gets magnified when he's on a line with Sid and Jake. When you're playing with those two, the third guy should be the "dirty areas" guy. But too often, Sid and Jake seem to have to be the ones doing the battling while Rust's kind of just skating around. It's why Rakell works with that line, even if Rakell individually wasn't racking up points. He did all the little things that allowed the other two to play more of a skill game. With Rust, Sid and Jake essentially have to adopt the Rakell role and neither guy is capable of doing that (Sid because of age and Jake because he's smaller than my 12 year old nephew).

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'm with you on how Rust's game from 2017 and before is the one we need and not this current perimeter guy.

The problem just gets magnified when he's on a line with Sid and Jake. When you're playing with those two, the third guy should be the "dirty areas" guy. But too often, Sid and Jake seem to have to be the ones doing the battling while Rust's kind of just skating around. It's why Rakell works with that line, even if Rakell individually wasn't racking up points. He did all the little things that allowed the other two to play more of a skill game. With Rust, Sid and Jake essentially have to adopt the Rakell role and neither guy is capable of doing that (Sid because of age and Jake because he's smaller than my 12 year old nephew).

Yeah, this is why GCRakz worked and GCrust doesn't! The other option would be to flip Zucker and Jake because Zuck has that same kind of element to his game, but we won't see that either. I hate our coaching philosophy so much.

But this is why I don't think it's necessarily a roster problem. The pieces are there on paper, we're just putting them in the wrong places and refuse to admit that might be a thing.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Yeah, this is why GCRakz worked and GCrust doesn't! The other option would be to flip Zucker and Jake because Zuck has that same kind of element to his game, but we won't see that either. I hate our coaching philosophy so much.

But this is why I don't think it's necessarily a roster problem. The pieces are there on paper, we're just putting them in the wrong places and refuse to admit that might be a thing.

I think it was those old EHM hockey simulators, but the ideal line was something like shooter/playmaker/two-way forward. Even if we have the pieces for something similar, Sully would be the guy to play all his shooters on one line, all his passers on one line, and all his two-way grinders on one line and not understand why it's not working.

Oh and he's set every single line's offensive instructions to dump-and-chase.

 

[ncm7772]

Oh I meant from the 2010-2011 squad, not the defending cup champs. But mostly I find this team plays a boring, vanilla game, no physicality, no drive, no sense of team solidarity or excitement. Most of the other teams I’ve at least wanted to stay up and watch the game. This one, I’m losing interest even trying to get through the game without fast forwarding the day after and that’s not a good sign.

I agree w/ you 100% about this year’s team.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The weird thing to me is that if Rust was a UFA signing with no previous tenure on this club, people would be calling to trade him like Perron. I don't get it.

Good thing everybody gets NTC/NMC nowadays. Shit, a 90 year old Carter got one iirc.