Post-Game Talk: Sill knocks home the Pens 1st Win

[ProgOg]

‏@OtherNHLCrosby
Malkin said he doesn't feel great and isn't in great shape, but is glad to be done with the injury.

 

[UnrealMachine]

If that was the case, MAF would've been pulled last night. He was pretty brutal IMO and would've cost them the game without tremendous goal support.

If I see him go down on his knees, paddle down when a guy goes in the corner again......... ......and stays there as the guy brings it out front...... Top of the net is ALWAYS wide open there.


Can't wait for Jesus Greiss to save us from this.

He went paddle-down for the 3rd goal as well, despite the shot being taken from the slot. Reminded me of the last goal that Brodeur gave up for Team Canada in 2010 before he was permanently benched.

 

[Malkin112*]

Kasperi Kapanen ‏@kasper1kapanen 4m4 minutes ago
I told Olli to score lots of points, I guess he took my advice?

 

[Uemoda]

Now that I've had some time to digest it.

++ Sid, Maatta, Dupuis

++ Sill, Downie, Comeau (We are a team again?)

+ Speed and support through the neutral zone

+ Creative system seems to complement our personnel beautifully


- Defensive miscues

- Fleury gaffe - it just can't happen

--Malkin looks lost at wing

--PK



I'm more excited to watch this team than I have been in a long, long while. It's really nice to see the drastic changes. We have some kinks to work out, obviously, but I liked what I saw. There's some serious promise here.

Let's go Pens.

 

[Frederick Stanley]

Is Malkin playing wing permanent?

 

[billybudd]

Is Malkin playing wing permanent?

I tend to doubt it. Geno looked like he doesn't really know the system last night and claims to be out of shape due to lack of practice.

 

[Cherpak]

Without a doubt, he is a question mark.

I know im gonna get flamed for this ....

He definitely makes his blunders. He definitely makes his gaffes. He is definitely mentally fragile.

But I honestly believe that if the Dzone coverage tightens up more; if the D doesnt give guys enough time to set up and have tea and a scone in front of the net, etc etc .. it will mitigate enough of his blunders.

I often wonder how MAF would play on a team like Nashville where they are SO defense oriented and give VERY little to the opposition and conversely, how would someone like Rinne play on an "offense first, defense second" team like the Pens.

Im not saying MAF would go there and win the Vezina but I guarantee his numbers would be better.

Tighten things up and I think MAF will do a good enough job to give us a chance to win.

Trotz doesn't coach there anymore. Lavy's teams are offense first. Fleury would do no better.

 

[Cherpak]

Is Malkin playing wing permanent?

Johnston just wants to give him time to acclimate back to center. Said the defensive responsibilities are much less at wing. I just don't see anyone thinking that Malkin is better off as a permenant winger.

And Sutter is no where good enough to replace Malkin on the second line.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Another plus from last night .. did anyone see the Potash / Dupuis interview?

Gotta say .. Dupes is pretty amusing. "Thanks Daaaaan." lol

 

[Cherpak]

Another plus from last night .. did anyone see the Potash / Dupuis interview?

Gotta say .. Dupes is pretty amusing. "Thanks Daaaaan." lol

Potash is like the kid brother that always wants to be hanging with the older kids. He thinks they like him hanging around but it seems that he is just there for their amusement.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Potash is like the kid brother that always wants to be hanging with the older kids. He thinks they like him hanging around but it seems that he is just there for their amusement.

Cause the point of my post was TOTALLY about Potash and not at all about Dupes.

 

[Cherpak]

Cause the point of my post was TOTALLY about Potash and not at all about Dupes.

I don't get this at all. Your taking offense to the fact that I didn't mention Dupuis?

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

If the way the team executed in the second period, until Fleury decided to make things interesting, a sign of things to come, this should be a fun season. Without a doubt the best the team, as a whole, has looked with possession in a long time.

Still, the game was quite symptomatic of an early season game, some good, some great and some bad mostly due to the lack of timing, automatism and chemistry.(particularly evident in the first period, which should have been much closer scoring wise had Gibson not crap the bed.)
Also I liked our mentality, the way we pressured with the lead at the end.

On a side note, not that I care much, but Johnston' system certainly won't help Fleury's stats : on any good night, we probably won't give up many shots but a high percentage of them will probably be great scoring opportunities.

I don't think I've seen Malkin that badly misused in a long time.. I don't think it's really worth commenting any further. Ah si, just one thing, I though Spalling and Downie looked good, put them on a line with him and go from there.
I've not seen many comments on Sutter but he struggled quite a bit, about the only Pens that had a hard time with Malkin and to a lesser degree Martin and Scuderi.

The Pk was way too much passive but gotta give it to the Ducks, they have a real great PP(puck movement, personnel) so we'll see how it evolves.

You can see Johnston' system put a lot of emphasis on your dmen(mostly) and centers being able to make plays from their own end, in that aspect he couldn't come to a better team. It's like Shero had foreseen that when he drafted and signed all those great Ds that were misused by Bylsma.. More seriously, the more I see them play, the more Johnston looks like a great choice from Mario and co.

 

[Beauner]

It was only the first game but you could tell the systems difference. When we got the puck, we didn't get it into Anaheim's half by any means possible, as quickly as possible (stretch pass, dump, chip, etc.). It was more methodical. Look for a pass, and if nothing was there, loop back around and try again. It was really refreshing and allowed for a ton of chances off the rush.

 

[vodeni]

If the way the team executed in the second period, until Fleury decided to make things interesting, a sign of things to come, this should be a fun season. Without a doubt the best the team, as a whole, has looked with possession in a long time.

Still, the game was quite symptomatic of an early season game, some good, some great and some bad mostly due to the lack of timing, automatism and chemistry.(particularly evident in the first period, which should have been much closer scoring wise had Gibson not crap the bed.)
Also I liked our mentality, the way we pressured with the lead at the end.

On a side note, not that I care much, but Johnston' system certainly won't help Fleury's stats : on any good night, we probably won't give up many shots but a high percentage of them will probably be great scoring opportunities.

I don't think I've seen Malkin that badly misused in a long time.. I don't think it's really worth commenting any further. Ah si, just one thing, I though Spalling and Downie looked good, put them on a line with him and go from there.
I've not seen many comments on Sutter but he struggled quite a bit, about the only Pens that had a hard time with Malkin and to a lesser degree Martin and Scuderi.

The Pk was way too much passive but gotta give it to the Ducks, they have a real great PP(puck movement, personnel) so we'll see how it evolves.

You can see Johnston' system put a lot of emphasis on your dmen(mostly) and centers being able to make plays from their own end, in that aspect he couldn't come to a better team. It's like Shero had foreseen that when he drafted and signed all those great Ds that were misused by Bylsma.. More seriously, the more I see them play, the more Johnston looks like a great choice from Mario and co.

Funny you mentioned Sutter, i also thought he was very pedestrian, lost bunch of pucks all in all not the best performance (not that i worried about that) but all the genious hockey minds today are talking about his great game ( just because he scored that shortie). just tells you that these guys really don't pay attention and don't care they just make s... up

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Puck support. Is this a new concept in hockey? I don't believe I've seen the Penguins under Bylsma utilize this breakthrough strategy.

 

[billybudd]

God forbid Sutter gets one plus (and no further praise) from one person (me) for being one of two specks of light on an awful night of penalty killing. I'll try and tone down all that gushing next time.

 

[Shrimper]

I think last night showed the kind of plays that Maatta can do and if he can play like that on a fairly regular basis. Well,

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Kasperi Kapanen ‏@kasper1kapanen 4m4 minutes ago
I told Olli to score lots of points, I guess he took my advice?

I love this kid. I love our Finns. Let's keep 'em coming, scouts!

 

[cygnus47]

Puck support. Is this a new concept in hockey? I don't believe I've seen the Penguins under Bylsma utilize this breakthrough strategy.

The funny thing is, we actually did, for a long time. Once a season (until probably 2 seasons ago) we would 'remember' that puck support is good and we would go on a winning streak and then slowly forget about it again. Was one of the more frustrating parts with the regime.

 

[Captain Hook]

‏@OtherNHLCrosby
Malkin said he doesn't feel great and isn't in great shape, but is glad to be done with the injury.

That was pretty obvious watching the game. Nice to hear it straight from the horses mouth though.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Fleury gifs so we can relive the magic.

I particularly like how 3 Penguins manage to be off their skates by the end.

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

Funny you mentioned Sutter, i also thought he was very pedestrian, lost bunch of pucks all in all not the best performance (not that i worried about that) but all the genious hockey minds today are talking about his great game ( just because he scored that shortie). just tells you that these guys really don't pay attention and don't care they just make s... up

Well I hadn't see many comments on his play going either way, obviously everybody was commenting on Malkin's performance so maybe he was kind of sheltered. (add to that I skipped over most +/- posts without analysis)
But to play devils' advocate, you gotta admit it was a nice shorty.

To develop a bit more, I though he had a hard time especially in his own zone which is rather odd for him.
IMO, he looked like someone who's put a lot of pressure on himself to perform and convince his coaches he wouldn't be out of place on that 2nd line center spot.
I don't know, maybe he was trying to do a little too much or second guessing, looking for Malkin, whereas he's usually a player who likes to keep it simple.
Zhenya being all over the zone defensively and even sometimes switching roles didn't help him either.
In the end, he did look a bit out of place but it's only one game and with time I'm pretty sure he would do better although I hope the experiment end ASAP for a completely different but obvious reason.

But like you said, nothing to be concerned about, as soon as he's back in his usual spot I expect him to resume where he left of in the preseason.

 

[Tender Rip]

Sutter was poor in the first period ES. Might have something to do with playing with two guys having their first hockey game in months and getting beaten up in the direct matchups with Getzlaf and Kesler (can happen, it's not as if these guys are not elite).

Thought he did much better in latter periods, and lets not forget that his drive to the net was integral to making Dupuis' goal happen.

 

[titaniumexpose]

Not sure if this has been posted...but the best quote from DK's column.

"If you freeze the frame right there, that’s important in and of itself, as the Penguins were quicker to move the puck out of their zone than the norm under Bylsma, in part because defensemen only needed to look 50 or 60 feet up ice — or less — rather than the standard 110 feet of the get-to-our-game range."

Forgot about that quote . DK doesn't need a whole column, just a sentence to get it done.