Post-Game Talk: |Pens vs Panthers | win | What did it cost us?

[Gurglesons]

He's the 82nd highest paid C. The 82nd highest producing C by ppg is Barbashev at .41 ppg. Blueger's at .36 ppg. He's like maybe a point off where you'd want for production by that metric. That doesn't seem a big deal for a guy who's the 4th most buried at 5v5 in the league among forwards who've played a 100 minutes.

His p/60 is 1.66, which is a bit of a dip from where he's been the last couple of seasons but not by much... playing 9:36 a night at 5v5 is probably the reason he's a little lower in terms of than what you'd want from the hit. And yeah, if he's only playing that much a night at 5v5, you do have to ask why he's getting 2.2m. But I don't think it's on Blueger.


The one thing I'd add on Bloogs statistically is that while his 1.5 GA/60 on the PK does indeed look like the reason we're better... his 8.52 xGA/60 against, second highest on the team among forwards, suggests either the predictive stats are badly out of whack (possible) or he owes Jarry a lot of dinners. We've got a 97.5 save percentage with Blueger on ice on the PK.

Statistically, if there's a forward personnel reason we're better on the PK, it's not letting Jeff Carter PK. His stats are "you can't do that" - a 12.48 GA/60, a 12.61 xGA/60. It looks like we're better since Blueger's back, but that's because Carter's only taken multiple PK shifts in about 3 games at a guess since Blueger's back. And yes, there is causation as well as correlation that Carter is off the PK with Blueger back... but arguably it could be anyone as long as it's not Carter.

We'll see over the long haul how much Blueger is getting shit done as to whether his stats regress to the mean like they surely should.

I just feel like I expected him to be an offensive difference maker this year given it’s his chance to get paid.

As I said, I’m sure the injury plays into it and I’m not denying his usage plays into it.

Just expected more.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Glad they fired Sullivan 12 games into the season

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Above the knee, but only just.

 

[Peat]

I just feel like I expected him to be an offensive difference maker this year given it’s his chance to get paid.

As I said, I’m sure the injury plays into it and I’m not denying his usage plays into it.

Just expected more.

Yeah, fair, although it'll be interesting to see how the season one develops.

One small additional point statistically that might play into this.

Blueger is currently in on 100% of the points the team has scored while he's on ice at 5v5. That's not sustainable, and it also means we're at about the lowest GF/60 of Blueger's career at 5v5.

So I think we're looking at one of two things. Well, three.

1) He's playing with linemates who can't do shit on their own and that's why Blueger's slipped a little (both Poehling and Archibald have higher point rates with Blueger, but I'm not sure the samples are significant)
2) Blueger's slipped and we'll see his points totals get even lower as his points share normalises
3) This is just random statistical noise from not so many minutes.

I guess there's option 4, between 1 and 2. But I think if we're looking at what Blueger is doing, minutes and linemates probably come into it a lot.

If this is the season where Blueger's regular season stats finally don't look like 2.2m because we don't have injuries, that'd be great except for the bit where statistically a Jeff Carter injury would be great.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Geno has accomplished a lot

He should consider retiring if he has to...

#NotADoctor

 

[Zbynek]

+Malkin is playing so good on both sides of the ice right now.
-Malkin took that shot to the same knee he had repaired a year ago.
-Florida's color commentator pronouncing it "GUNT-zel" on my feed
-Brian Dumoulin

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Special teams finally getting us some points in the standings. I thought they had a good game. You’re not going to beat a team like that without them getting some chances of their own.

I think my big fear is that we’re going to have to pay Jarry north of 7 million at this point.

I can't quite put my finger on what's changed with the PP. 4 of the 5 guys are the same as when they were struggling, so it couldn't possibly be that 5th spot since we were told that wouldn't make a bit of difference.

 

[Tender Rip]

I can't quite put my finger on what's changed with the PP. 4 of the 5 guys are the same as when they were struggling, so it couldn't possibly be that 5th spot since we were told that wouldn't make a bit of difference.

Puck luck is a thing also. Skate and nut/knee.
Helps.

But it did start to turn - for the first unit - when both of Letang and Rust were replaced. And I don’t think that is a coincidence.

Now Kris is back and it is still producent, which is probably about confidence as much as puck luck.

 

[Pancakes]

Puck luck is a thing also. Skate and nut/knee.
Helps.

But it did start to turn - for the first unit - when both of Letang and Rust were replaced. And I don’t think that is a coincidence.

Now Kris is back and it is still producent, which is probably about confidence as much as puck luck.

Rakell isn't the sole reason the PP is playing better. Note how the PP hasn't lost a beat with Petry going out for Letang even though Petry was playing quite well on it prior to getting hurt.

And the reason for that is because everybody on it is playing well right now.

 

[Gurglesons]

I can't quite put my finger on what's changed with the PP. 4 of the 5 guys are the same as when they were struggling, so it couldn't possibly be that 5th spot since we were told that wouldn't make a bit of difference.

Weird how Rust’s game has blossomed since he was put back on the PK and dropped from the top line. Who would’ve guessed..

 

[BusinessGoose]

Weird how Rust’s game has blossomed since he was put back on the PK and dropped from the top line. Who would’ve guessed..

Its good to see

He should have kept phoning it in there too and REALLY been an albatross

 

[Icarium]

This game could have easily ended 6-5 or something, it had more high danger chances in period 2 than the entire game against the Stars. Jarry was immense again. I don't know how line 1 didn't score 5 on 5, they created so many chances. You would want a bit better defending but the special teams winning us games is awesome to see. Fingers crossed Geno is okay, of course, it would be very Penguinesque to be seriously injured from friendly fire. Some dumb penalties but maybe with the PK rolling we are taking more chances.

 

[3ladesof5teel]

It’s amazing what happens when special teams anrent atrocious and Sully isnt sabotaging the team with idiotic lineup decisions.

Special teams will make or break a team, it has been one of our biggest issues outside of health.

One you can and should be able to control, the other not so much.

 

[Darren McCord]

I think having two goaltenders top ten in the league in SV% and top ten in GSAA on the PK since Blueger returned may have a little bit more to do with our PK being unstoppable, but I'm sure this won't follow the same exact script it did last year.



It's okay for me to have this opinion. I'm not really bashing Blueger. He's fine. I just don't think he's living up to his contract.

Barbashev, Jake Evans, and Jason Dickenson are the most comparable contracts to Blueger.

I'd take two of those over Teddy.

Those are all third line players who have better linemates. They arent good comparables.

Barbashev plays with Thomas and Kyrou while getting PP time.
Evans sucks and is producing less while playing with Anderson and Slaf
Dickenson has PP time too.

Also the carter thing is stupid. Take away Carters PP time and he is at 9pts.

Carter
27 gp 3g 6a 9pts +1 Ozone start time 27.6%
TB
15 gp 1g 4a 5pts -1 Ozone start time 11.6%

Carter is barely out producing TB at EVS with better linemates and more Ozone time. This whole Carter is handling so much better it is bull crap.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Has Rust gained his swagger back or what? Looks like a totally different player than a few weeks ago.
At worst, Malkin has a bone bruise which would knock him out for about 2-3 weeks.

 

[pistolpete11]

They are rollin' right now.

Rust looks to be back to normal after being dropped from L1.
Dumo still looks a little shaky to me, but can't argue with the results since being dropped from the top pairing.
The PK looks great since swapping Blueger in for Carter.
The PP looks great since swapping Rakell in for Rust.
Jarry and CDS have been playing well.

It's amazing how good this team can look when they are put in (obvious) positions to succeed.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

“I used to be a generational player. Then I took a Crosby slapshot through the knee…”

 

[orby]

It would really suck if that shot significantly injured Malkin's knee. He's looked great all year and the last thing we need is for his knee situation to go back to square one. I'm encouraged to hear he was walking around fine with just an ice pack on it, but you never know with this franchise...

 

[Sideline]

It would really suck if that shot significantly injured Malkin's knee. He's looked great all year and the last thing we need is for his knee situation to go back to square one. I'm encouraged to hear he was walking around fine with just an ice pack on it, but you never know with this franchise...

Pretty much guaranteed he will develop the first known case of blunt force trauma induced knee cancer.

 

[Josey Wales]

Yeah, fair, although it'll be interesting to see how the season one develops.

One small additional point statistically that might play into this.

Blueger is currently in on 100% of the points the team has scored while he's on ice at 5v5. That's not sustainable, and it also means we're at about the lowest GF/60 of Blueger's career at 5v5.

So I think we're looking at one of two things. Well, three.

1) He's playing with linemates who can't do shit on their own and that's why Blueger's slipped a little (both Poehling and Archibald have higher point rates with Blueger, but I'm not sure the samples are significant)
2) Blueger's slipped and we'll see his points totals get even lower as his points share normalises
3) This is just random statistical noise from not so many minutes.

I guess there's option 4, between 1 and 2. But I think if we're looking at what Blueger is doing, minutes and linemates probably come into it a lot.

If this is the season where Blueger's regular season stats finally don't look like 2.2m because we don't have injuries, that'd be great except for the bit where statistically a Jeff Carter injury would be great.

Blueger is Not that good !!!

 

[Syrinx]

“I used to be a generational player. Then I took a Crosby slapshot through the knee…”

But is he still the 101st best player ever or is that gone now?

 

[IcedCapp]

Glad they fired Sullivan 12 games into the season

This board has fired Sullivan 7,187 times

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Glad they fired Sullivan 12 games into the season

and placed Jarry on waivers!! lol

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

It would really suck if that shot significantly injured Malkin's knee. He's looked great all year and the last thing we need is for his knee situation to go back to square one. I'm encouraged to hear he was walking around fine with just an ice pack on it, but you never know with this franchise...

I know it sounds weird to say, but in terms of injuries, blunt force is the best kind. Bones heal and generally return close to pre-injury functionality/performance.

Ligaments, cartilage, tendons, etc tend not to repair themselves as well. His prior knee issues will not be impacted by what happened last night. Depending on the severity of the bruise, he'll be back to normal from 1 to 3 weeks.

 

[Ms Maggie]

and placed Jarry on waivers!! lol

And got rid of LeTang.