Post-Game Talk: | Pens vs Wild | win | We score 6 and we win, it’s science

[AuroraBorealis]

We should try to buy low on Gibson. Worst case, you’ve still got crappy goaltending.

Gibson's been .904 or lower the last 4 seasons.
Jarry recovering seems much more likely.

Wild fans ecstatic with Billy G

In fairness to Billy he inherited a garbage cap situation with the Suter + Parise contracts.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Two points out of WC2 with only two teams to climb over. 5 points out of Metro3 with a game in hand.

 

[Fordy]

What do we have 5 wins with Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell?

Stick with it Sully. Stick. With. It.

dude. they literally lost a game. yeah jake was hurt. but THEY lost a game

Jarry was terrible but it's really hard to make any complaints beyond that.

I'm so glad that I was dead wrong about POJ sucking and not being able to play in the NHL. They really need to increase his responsibilities to make sure he can work in a top-4 role. Knowing POJ can work in a 2nd pair role with Petry really opens up the Penguins to moving on from Dumoulin and replacing him with Smith.

have to applaud any time someone admits they were wrong lol


anyway… kinda seems like rakell is the straw the stirs the drink?

 

[Fordy]

Say what you will about Sullivan, at least he eventually changes things when they aren't working. Bylsma rode his dumb tip pass system right into the ground.

Sullivan has some of that arrogance too but he'll usually eventually make adjustments if things aren't working. It's just often later than we'd all like. But better late than never I guess.

yeah i’ve been on this tip for a bit. i don’t understand why an nhl coach shouldn’t Notice faster than a bunch of randoms. i guess being conservative with the roster is part of the gig. but unlike bylsma who was happy to torpedo his own career if it meant never changing his mind… sullivan has pretty consistently come around the last few years

Zero passes given. He needed GCR to flame out that spectacularly to make the most obvious of changes, after such a long time of sucktitude and losses that it means nothing. Less so when he keeps the PP going the same. I don't care that it scored twice tonight. One was a 5 on 3 and the other a rush play. Says little to nothing about its overall design, and it is certainly not out of the woods by any means.

all people are saying is that it’s more than we’ve come to expect in the post therrien era

 

[crosby87]

am i missing something here or like wtf was jarry doing?

 

[Fordy]

I'd give ZMRust the road trip, but if Rust doesn't get out of this slump, he needs to move down with Carter. Zucker and Malkin had a couple moments between themselves, but Rust brought that line down.

Plus, the Carter line stinks. McGinn got a goal, but they had an xGF of 18%.

Might be worth scratching Heinen and playing Kapanen against Winnipeg.

And I have a lot of concerns about Jarry long-term.

rust is the problem. i have no interest in killing geno’s fantastic season to boost the ego of a guy who is stuck here for 6 years anyway

am i missing something here or like wtf was jarry doing?

he was trying to be cool. unironically

Weren't 2 of those powerplay points, not with Rakell? And empty nets...bah, whatever.

The switch was badly needed, but I didn't see some mystical Rakell-Crosby chemistry. It was moreso that the staff sent the message that things weren't honky-dory with L1, and removed its worst player currently.

there’s no mysticism. rakell is just the best rw on the team by a huge margin right now. whatever line he’s one will put up multiple points

 

[Fordy]

Weren't 2 of those powerplay points, not with Rakell? And empty nets...bah, whatever.

The switch was badly needed, but I didn't see some mystical Rakell-Crosby chemistry. It was moreso that the staff sent the message that things weren't honky-dory with L1, and removed its worst player currently.

there’s no mysticism. rakell is just the best rw on the team by a huge margin right now

This team won’t play to it’s offensive capabilities until Bryan Rust starts moving his legs. I think the dude has bought into his own hype and is playing like end-stage Mario out there. He needs to remember how he played to get those fat cheques in the first place.

Dumo again was outmuscled all over the ice. I don’t think that’s going to change until he’s out of the league tbh. But it doesn’t mean we have to send him for extra shifts to kill penalties. You’re just asking for trouble when you do that.

If this coach could just find it in himself to be honest about his own players abilities and level of play, I’m fairly confident we’d be a lot closer to the top of the division right now.

when a defenseman is bad and can’t move that means that they’re a pk specialist. that’s just science

Gibson's been .904 or lower the last 4 seasons.
Jarry recovering seems much more likely.


In fairness to Billy he inherited a garbage cap situation with the Suter + Parise contracts.

gibson’s been on garbage teams hasn’t he? we’ll play renegade every game and it’s a lock

 

[AuroraBorealis]

gibson’s been on garbage teams hasn’t he? we’ll play renegade every game and it’s a lock

True but the stats that factor that in also look bad.
I mean I guess it's possible he takes off here. Just the change alone for him could help a great deal mentally.
Seems like a big roll of the dice though, just because Jarry started a season poorly.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sid passes the rat

View attachment 609408

What did Bryan Trottier ever do to you?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Say what you will about Sullivan, at least he eventually changes things when they aren't working. Bylsma rode his dumb tip pass system right into the ground.

Sullivan has some of that arrogance too but he'll usually eventually make adjustments if things aren't working. It's just often later than we'd all like. But better late than never I guess.

Why are we giving Sullivan credit for doing something he should have done a dozen games ago just because another idiot was worse?

 

[BusinessGoose]

am i missing something here or like wtf was jarry doing?

I think it was a broken set play

Also

Buddy, we had well over a decade of far more room temp IQ plays from MAF.

Jarrys f*** ups are nothingburgers after that shit.

Every Jarry "losing" that one playoff series a few years ago isn't anything.

 

[HandshakeLine]

+ I finally have a win to watch with my morning coffee.

 

[Gurglesons]

Top nine should be…

Guentzel - Crosby - Rakell
Zucker - Malkin - Kapanen
McGinn - Blueger - Rust

Plug and play for the bottom line.

 

[PensandCaps]

True but the stats that factor that in also look bad.
I mean I guess it's possible he takes off here. Just the change alone for him could help a great deal mentally.
Seems like a big roll of the dice though, just because Jarry started a season poorly.

The problem with "Gibson only has bad numbers because of a bad team" is its not true, he just sucks, and more importantly we are also a garbage team, atleast defensively.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Top nine should be…

Guentzel - Crosby - Rakell
Zucker - Malkin - Kapanen
McGinn - Blueger - Rust

Plug and play for the bottom line.

If we're throwing some dipshit 30pt nobody playing healthy scratch hockey on Geno's wing, why not Heinen?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Also, f*** Kapanen.

 

[Pancakes]

Why are we giving Sullivan credit for doing something he should have done a dozen games ago just because another idiot was worse?

Because he at least recognizes and makes changes when needed. Sometimes later than he should, but he does make them.

He's willing to adapt and adjust, which is more than most coaches, and is part of why he's had longevity/success.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Because he at least recognizes and makes changes when needed. Sometimes later than he should, but he does make them.

He's willing to adapt and adjust, which is more than most coaches, and is part of why he's had longevity/success.

Adapt and adjust? He's the one who f***ed up the lines! This is like when people used to give JR credit for scrambling to undo unforced, glaring f*** up *he* made.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Two points out of WC2 with only two teams to climb over. 5 points out of Metro3 with a game in hand.

Yep, we jumped over the Capitals, Flyers, and Canadiens today.

 

[Gurglesons]

If we're throwing some dipshit 30pt nobody playing healthy scratch hockey on Geno's wing, why not Heinen?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Also, f*** Kapanen.

Because Heinen has been worse than Kapanen this season. If Heinen was wearing a Kapanen jersey tonight you would’ve came/

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Because Heinen has been worse than Kapanen this season. If Heinen was wearing a Kapanen jersey tonight you would’ve came/

I wouldn't have noticed, tbh. Because invisible is all I expect of Kap after the past 100 games.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'd take bad Kap over Rust right now on Geno's wing. Rust looks like he's actively hurting the lines out there. Kap just is a RW version of MAF.

Edit: Woof, just got to the Erikson goal.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

The problem with "Gibson only has bad numbers because of a bad team" is its not true, he just sucks, and more importantly we are also a garbage team, atleast defensively.

We'll look better defensively if/when the goalies step it up.
At least the PK looks to be turning a corner. We're 26th in GA/G right now but I could see us ending up in the middle of the league by season's end.

I think these new top 6 combinations are gonna help in that regard too, because they'll control the play more, and the puck won't be in the D-zone as much.
In this game for example, Sid's line only had 1 high danger chance against. 60% corsi.
Compare that to the Leafs game where Sid had 6 HDCA's. I know the Leafs are a better attacking team than the Wild, but it was night and day.
Geno's line was a net negative today, but they were still only minus 1 in HDC's.

The point is I think this top 6 is gonna help us control outcomes more.
Today 2 of those goals are on Jarry straight up. It wasn't that bad of a defensive performance at all. The Wild had 23 shots and 7 high danger chances the whole game. You'll take that on the road every single time. It's a step in the right direction.

 

[Pancakes]

Adapt and adjust? He's the one who f***ed up the lines! This is like when people used to give JR credit for scrambling to undo unforced, glaring f*** up *he* made.

Isn't recognizing you made a mistake a strength? How many coaches are willing to do that? How many would gleefully dig their own grave before admitting fault.

I also could be wrong but I think GCR may have been put together during the losing streak anyways. But maybe I'm off and it got put together and that in part lead to the losing streak. Honestly don't remember.

Either way, I've been as hard on Sully as anyone this season, but when he actually makes the right move, I'm not gonna shit talk him over it.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I for one commend the captain of the Titanic for getting out the lifeboats eventually. Shame about that weird artist kid though.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Isn't recognizing you made a mistake a strength? How many coaches are willing to do that? How many would gleefully dig their own grave before admitting fault.

I also could be wrong but I think GCR may have been put together during the losing streak anyways. But maybe I'm off and it got put together and that in part lead to the losing streak. Honestly don't remember.

Either way, I've been as hard on Sully as anyone this season, but when he actually makes the right move, I'm not gonna shit talk him over it.

Yeah, I dunno, man. Hard disagree. I'm not gonna golf clap for a guy undoing an unforced error that f***ed up the forward lines for a dozen games. Dude's a schmuck.

And he'll go right back to GCR sooner than later. We've seen this movie a million times.