POST GAME TALK: Bolts 4, Walking Wounded 3

[Fordy]

Ya but he compensates it by being infinitely smarter in game planning than Bylstard.

And by knowing his team can get away with murder and can always get the call. I can't remember the last time I knew Crosby or Malkin would get the call after getting hauled down

 

[Lomez]

I have been a Scott Harrington fan since his junior days (captain Canada baby!) and always thought he would be our next good/great defensive d-man. Let us say that I am VERY VERY VERY happy with the way he has been playing so far. Honestly, out of all the young Ds, he is the one who has earned a permanent spot. Dumoulin is ok, but not on Harrington's level and Pouliot, while more talented and better offensively, still has a lot to learn at the AHL level.

The day Harrington gets a permanent spot is the day I buy a #6 jersey. I love this kid. Cool, calm, collected. THe perfect security blanket for Tanger.

Tanger, Maatta, Harrington, Desprès, Pouliot. That, my friends, is the make up of the future best D in the league - honestly, I would totally let Martin and Erhoff walk at the end of the year, we have to win with these kids while they are "cost-controlled". Too bad we won't be able to keep all of them down the line.

This is really something to look forward to. It's so encouraging watching these guys play envisioning what it'll be like in a couple years.

Off topic--actually washed and waxed my car on Christmas Eve in Pittsburgh. Amazing!

 

[penguins2946*]

It's awesome that long term, we could realistically be running with a D group of:

Harrington-Letang
Maatta-Despres
Pouliot-Bortuzzo

All of those pairs are great.

 

[Fordy]

It's awesome that long term, we could realistically be running with a D group of:

Harrington-Letang
Maatta-Despres
Pouliot-Bortuzzo

All of those pairs are great.

that's my target for next year

 

[penguins2946*]

that's my target for next year

I would be happy with that, but I'd also be happy with re-signing Ehrhoff short term as well. Assuming we move Dumoulin, 1 injury to one of Harrington, Letang, Despres or Maatta would put us in a pretty bad bind since we wouldn't have any top end D prospects in the AHL. I don't see any problem with us running with a D group of:

Maatta-Letang
Despres-Ehrhoff
Harrington-Bortuzzo/Pouliot
Pouliot/Bortuzzo

For next year either.

 

[Will Hunting]

Just watched the DVR.. I wanted to turn it off, glad I didn´t do it. This team has holes even when healthy (this situation was just extreme), but they sure have heart which is great and re-freshing. I have a good feeling now, this loss was kinda positive.

Just a few notes:

Kucherov & Johnson are the heart & soul of that Tampa team. Man, are they good and treat to watch, I wasn´t even mad. They carried that team to the victory, but other than that we were able to keep up with the rest of the Bolts. There´s not a reason why we shouldn´t be confident against that group in a 7-game series.

I know it´s easy to criticize kids and that they were overmatched.. But geez, was Rust TERRIBLE. He was trying, but EVERYTHING WENT WRONG for him. Horrible horrible game. Guy wasn´t able to take the pucks on his stick, flubbing all night long and turning the puck over.

Sutter is missed a lot, you can see why. Goc is not a 3C, not even close. Losing Sutter hurts.

Crosby needs help, his linemates are terrible (Kunitz, Rust). Glad that he was shooting more, that´s the right attitude. Eventually they will start to go in.

Out of our d-prospects, Dumoulin is CLEARLY the most expendable. We should explore trading him. He is decent in everything but he doesn´t have a special strengts. Just expendable.

Scuderi is terrible, it´s a shame that Pouliot has to play with him. That said, I´m all for playing Pouliot in the AHL this year and maybe even for the start of the next year. The kid has the weapons though, that´s without a question (I would say that he´s already better than Dumoulin but not better than Harrington who looks just READY).

Merry Christmas, I think we have a lot to look forward with this team! For example, we´re gonna smoke the Caps after that Christmas break with some guys hopefully back in the lineup

 

[Amen evil king]

Did anyone catch a replay of that epic Malkin rush? I'd love to see some slow-mo and different angles on that thing of beauty.

It reminded me a bit of this incredible play that went largely forgotten due to the lack of result at the end: