Post-Game Talk: |Pens vs Hawks | win | We won it for Geno.... Barely.....

[Allie Kitsune]

I don't really have high expectations, and it's getting harder for me to even find ways to watch, but at this point, I think I'm just rooting for Sid to hit 1500 career points this season.

 

[Tender Rip]

"Just the facts" kind of reporting.
Maybe, just maybe, in this case one could juxtapose this snippet with how L1 has done in that other configuration hitherto so loved by the Pens scribes?

Nikita cried when he realized his dad would have to play with Rust tonight



On the real, I know the on-ice results with Rust remain terrible but he is liking a little bit feistier to me out there. It couldn't get worse, certainly.

Today was a step back. The line was great 5 on 5 in Winnipeg, but Rusty was "controller disconnected" too many times defensively in this one, and has just sucked on the PP for a long time. The more frustrating because unlike the Letang situation, that is one issue we could just fix, just like with L1.

I still have every faith Zucker Geno Rust will be a more than adequate L2.

 

[Ryder71]

Paybacks a bitch!

It is indeed! LOL

 

[Pens x]

So now the coaching staff have to grow a mustache until the winter classics.

And just like that, Sullivan has officially gone full Bylsma.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Always great to beat the Shithawks.

f*** that fecal matter franchise.

 

[Fordy]

for the love of god get rakell on pp1 and they will start scoring immediately

 

[Andy99]

for the love of god get rakell on pp1 and they will start scoring immediately

This PP1 would be a lot better than what we have now: Sid, Geno, Zucker, Rakell, Petry/Pettersson

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Just to highlight how awful the powerplay has been this season, Sid currently has more ESP than McDavid.

Think about that. Sid would be battling with McDavid currently for the scoring title if it weren't for such an anemic PP (and yes, I know Sid's partially responsible for it). That's how bad the PP has been.

 

[Gurglesons]

Just to highlight how awful the powerplay has been this season, Sid currently has more ESP than McDavid.

Think about that. Sid would be battling with McDavid currently for the scoring title if it weren't for such an anemic PP (and yes, I know Sid's partially responsible for it). That's how bad the PP has been.

Probably would be leading the league in scoring and we’d be on a Boston / Jersey level tear if Guentzel - Crosby - Rakell was simply never broken up and Rakell was on the top PP. oh wel.

 

[Lustaf]

1000 Geno games. We’re blessed

So glad he did it in Penguin colours and not somewhere else.

 

[HandshakeLine]

It’s crazy how Crosby is suddenly producing after losing Rust!

We'd better go back to GCR for two months just to make sure that's really the reason.

 

[Rakell67]

Imagine if our PP wasn't trash or if Sully had split him from GCR earlier.

Might be hovering around Mcjesus right now. Not that Sid could ever keep this pace for a full season any more. But he might have an 100 pointer in him which is amazing considering his age.

Think Mcjesus gets like 120 though.

Crosby leads the league in even strength points (22).

 

[eXile3]

35 year old Sid who half assed half this season has more points than 27 year old MacKinnon. That’s crazy.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I'm not sure if this was talked about, but it's nice that his first goal was the GWG.

 

[wgknestrick]

Speaking of +/-. Rakell is a team leading +12.

+/- isn't a great stat obviously but in this case I think it's telling the correct story which is that Ricky Rak is owning on whatever line he gets put on.

Rakell is easily one of the most likable forwards this team has had in a long time. He consistently works very hard on every shift. It also helps he's not on PP1 getting minuses every other game.

23 GF (leads team)
7 GA

 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrots]

I'm not sure if this was talked about, but it's nice that his first goal was the GWG.

Indeed

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'm not sure if this was talked about, but it's nice that his first goal was the GWG.

It is insane to me that he didn’t have a goal at united center yet.

United Center is a fun barn to catch a game at, at least it was when I lived there.

 

[pistolpete11]

I just can't get over Sullivan playing Rust this much. Guy is now tied for the worst on the team at -10. I'm not calling for him to be scratched or even demoted to L3. Just stop putting him out there in important situation. He should take his normal shifts and that's it. No PP, no 4-on-4, no EN situations. Jake is not far behind him either. And honestly, Sid's offensive explosion is great, but he's still on the ice for far too many GA.

 

[Icarium]

This team is trying really hard to make me break something in frustration, even when it wins. The defending on the 4 on 4 (or rather the complete lack thereof), Guentzel's assist for Chicago's first goal, the way we seem more interested in who is going to score an EN goal than keeping the puck out of our own net, the disastrous PP once again, Letang taking a penalty after the buzzer...
Still, you can't argue with 3 wins in 4 nights, and the Hawks are a much younger team, so they had more left in the tank for the second half of this game.
Great to see Sid killing it offensively and Rakell contributing too, so Sully won't be too tempted to go back to his security blanket GCRust but this team has the mental resilience of Game 7 Maple Leafs. Considering this, the shaky goaltending, the calamitous PP1, the PK which was disastrous until recently, the brutal schedule, being so close to a playoff spot is pretty impressive actually.

 

[LOGiK]

I don't really have high expectations, and it's getting harder for me to even find ways to watch, but at this point, I think I'm just rooting for Sid to hit 1500 career points this season.

Back in the day it wasn't even on tv they were so bad. What was it before root, FSN (or whoever) only broadcasted some of the home games hah...
Then it wasn't even on cable in eastern pa.
Then it was on some cable providers (60-ish d$ a month for DSL + Cable TV in 2005ish)
Then it was in HD spotty, around 2006 NHL-Network only broadcast in SD biglaugh: )
THEN it was finally on all games and it was root or watever... cable still 60 ish...
Now... it's not even worth having the channel and cable is 140$ a month (which very seldom amount of people even have)
Once my argh! stream goes down *my last way of watching - live /+ replays* I'll be in viewing trouble....

 

[Headshot77]

Shut up Yohe

He ain't wrong though

 

[SEALBound]

Mike Sullivan should be fired for the 2-9 record that began when he put Rust on L1 and ended when he was taken off.

The offensive output and record of this team with Rakell on L1 and Rust on L2 is too significant for the FO to just be like "Oh, well, what are ya gonna do, keep at it Mikey!"

No, that overall was a serious error in judgment that he doubled down on night after night despite the entire world screaming for the switch back. Back one game, 6 goals.

 

[Clare2904]

Not sure if this is on Twitter but Anna posted this to her Instagram

 

[orby]

This is a silly extrapolation, but Crosby is scoring at a 116 point pace right now. He's two points shy of third in the NHL. This is in spite of him looking like he was coasting for weeks straight. The team has been wildly inconsistent this year, but if nothing else, Crosby is clearly still an elite player and one of the very best scoring centers in the league even at 35.

 

[Andy99]

This is from a poster on another site…

“Here's a look at the 4th line since Blueger returned:

vs Toronto - 60% CF, 4 SCF 1 SCA, 95.6 xGF%
vs Minnesota - 73.3% CF, 6 SCF 1 SCA, 92.6 xGF%
vs Winnipeg - 41.2% CF, 3 SCF 5 SCA, 56.1 xGF%
vs Chicago - 41.2% CF, 1 SCF 3 SCA, 44.87 x GF%

Through 4 games the 4th line has been on for 1 5v5 goal for and zero against. A little hemmed in their zone the last two games, but not being on the ice for a 5v5 goal against is nice to see.

Brock McGinn is a career 10.4% shooter. He's currently firing at a 20.0% rate.
Bryan Rust is a career 12.7% shooter. He's currently shooting 9.8%
Zucker is a career 12.3% shooter, he's currently 11.4% and shot a measly 7.8% last season. Injuries matter.

Over the last two weeks there are only 5 skaters with a CF% over 51%. Geno's line (which has been outstanding), Ruhwedel (3 games) and Rutta. McGinn is dead last at 38.46%. His high shooting % has kept him afloat. Not a recipe for success. Not far behind McGinn are Carter and Heinen. Maybe, just maybe that 3rd line isn't very good?

Kris Letang sits at an ugly 44.4 CF% over the last two weeks with a 43.9 xGF% and a 42.1 SCF%. His struggles are real right now.

The Pens are 5-3-2 in their last 10 with a 3 game winning streak, but the underlying numbers aren't great. Over the last 2 weeks, the Pens have a CF% of 48.89 and sit at 20th. They've been out chanced as well, albeit not by a huge margin. Their 5v5 shooting % sits 3rd in the league over this time, but you could actually say they're 2nd as the first two teams are only separated by .2. I'm not sure they can ride this shooting % all season.”