Post-Game Talk: The Russian Bear Wakes Up - Pens Win!

[LOGiK]

The powerplay never recovered from the loss of Gonchar. It was good when Kessel was here, it was great under Gonch. His point shot and PPQB abilities allowed the powerplay to run so much more efficiently

Gonchar was great. Man could that guy straddle the blue line and hit a dime from out there.
Zubov was another too... I can't remember back that long ago. Was ray bourque a qb? Adam Foote...
I never understood why John Slaney never made it to the NHL... he was a really good qb'er. Seemed like he had more to offer than a life long AHL'er.

How did gogo turn out as a ppqb?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

As an aside, I think it's a little curious to say this team doesn't care when they have gutted all these points out all season long.

Even individually I find it a bit ugly to bag on a guy like Malkin SO hard after he just pulled them into OT and has generally been a factor ES, lately.

I don't think effort has much to do with it. Their body language is more hopeless than careless. Like they don't believe in their direction, anymore.

Hmmmmmmmm

 

[ChaosAgent]

Zucker and Crosby didn't really light it up last year:

Line Stats - Natural Stat Trick

But I think Zucker could be a good fit with Crosby. I agree with the better-finishing, worse-defensively Dupuis comparison. And that's a good player.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I feel like Perron's issue in Pittsburgh was that:

1. He was played on RW with Kunitz and Crosby for the most part, while he was tailor made to be a LWer with Crosby and Hornqvist
2. He played under Mike Johnston when the Penguins were at their worst under Mike Johnston
3. This may just be repeating #2, but the Penguins with Daley, HBK (remember Bonino stunk at the start of that season), Rust and whatnot were a completely different team than what started the year.

I think Pearson was just a legitimately bad fit for this team though. He's a vanilla player with a hard shot and didn't have the speed to work with Crosby or Malkin IMO.

Zucker and Crosby didn't really light it up last year:

Line Stats - Natural Stat Trick

But I think Zucker could be a good fit with Crosby. I agree with the better-finishing, worse-defensively Dupuis comparison. And that's a good player.

You also have to remember that the Penguins were a tire fire before COVID shut down the year, so I think that has to be considered.

 

[radapex]

If you think GMR wouldn't work, all I can say is that it might be worth trying before we label Malkin old and defective and trade him for pennies on the dollar.

This team has bungled more than enough "problem" assessments without losing a talent of Malkin's magnitude because of it too.

GMR may work. I'd bet a lot on Zucker-Crosby-Kapanen not even remotely working. One of the consistent attributes guys need to work with Crosby is high hockey IQ; Kapanen is nowhere close to that.

 

[ChaosAgent]

As an aside, I think it's a little curious to say this team doesn't care when they have gutted all these points out all season long.

Even individually I find it a bit ugly to bag on a guy like Malkin SO hard after he just pulled them into OT and has generally been a factor ES, lately.

I don't think effort has much to do with it. Their body language is more hopeless than careless. Like they don't believe in their direction, anymore.

Hmmmmmmmm

I'd bag on him for yesterday because he couldn't execute simple passing plays. Not to get all Rondu on this but he's an NHLer making $9.5M. He also had odd-man rushes on his stick and predictably made bad decisions with the puck.

He was getting better up until yesterday. I thought the game before he was terrific.

 

[Andy99]

You aren’t getting one of those.

Well, Pens need more skill and they ain’t winning without it...

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think my biggest overall complaint with the idea thrown out around putting Guentzel and Malkin together is that I really don't like any of the internal options they have at RW for Zucker and Crosby. Zucker-Crosby-Rust just looks like a Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis redux, and I'm not sure Kapanen would be much better there.

I love the Kapanen and Malkin combination, so I think the 2nd line should be Guentzel-Malkin-Kapanen if you go with Guentzel and Malkin. I don't know what you do about the top line RW spot, though. I want someone like a better version of Simon for that RW spot, not Rust. And I'll say it now, before someone says Kahun. Kahun is on pace for 26 points this year despite playing a team with McDavid and Draisaitl. Kahun's not that.

 

[dogthateats]

It’s weird how we have only tried 7 former 1st rounders from the 2012 entry draft that was held in Pittsburgh.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I think my biggest overall complaint with the idea thrown out around putting Guentzel and Malkin together is that I really don't like any of the internal options they have at RW for Zucker and Crosby. Zucker-Crosby-Rust just looks like a Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis redux, and I'm not sure Kapanen would be much better there.

I love the Kapanen and Malkin combination, so I think the 2nd line should be Guentzel-Malkin-Kapanen if you go with Guentzel and Malkin. I don't know what you do about the top line RW spot, though. I want someone like a better version of Simon for that RW spot, not Rust. And I'll say it now, before someone says Kahun. Kahun is on pace for 26 points despite playing on the NHL team with the most goals in hockey right now. Kahun's not that.

Zucker-Crosby-Letang obviously.

 

[vodeni]

I would keep Rust and Kapanen with their RWs and just flop Guentzel and Zucker.

Since that ain’t happening I’d flop ZAR or Tanev at this point tbh with Zucker.

now thats a hard one, it seemed like last year we had way more options to mix and match...Last year I would get a heart attack if someone suggested tp put ZAR or Tanev with Geno, now I am kind of OK...wow our 7th best forward is ZAR or Tanev (excluding Bluegs)

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I think my biggest overall complaint with the idea thrown out around putting Guentzel and Malkin together is that I really don't like any of the internal options they have at RW for Zucker and Crosby. Zucker-Crosby-Rust just looks like a Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis redux, and I'm not sure Kapanen would be much better there.

I love the Kapanen and Malkin combination, so I think the 2nd line should be Guentzel-Malkin-Kapanen if you go with Guentzel and Malkin. I don't know what you do about the top line RW spot, though. I want someone like a better version of Simon for that RW spot, not Rust. And I'll say it now, before someone says Kahun. Kahun is on pace for 26 points this year despite playing a team with McDavid and Draisaitl. Kahun's not that.

KCD was the best line Crosby's ever had that didn't include Malkin or Hossa.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I'd bag on him for yesterday because he couldn't execute simple passing plays. Not to get all Rondu on this but he's an NHLer making $9.5M. He also had odd-man rushes on his stick and predictably made bad decisions with the puck.

He was getting better up until yesterday. I thought the game before he was terrific.

Those all sound like a guy with confidence problems thinking WAY too hard about every single minute detail.

I'm just saying it's not like he doesn't care. He probably cares TOO much.

Frankly I'm just getting a little fed up with every single post-game breakdown being one giant slag-on-Malkin fest when there are clear signs of improvement there among an ENTIRE team that is a damned trainwreck. Like I get it to a degree but it's already getting really old. I'm not trying to make this a "LeAvE tEh GiNo AlOnEz!" thing. He's a big boy and makes plenty of money. But there are a ton of factors as to why the whole team looks bad and it trickles down to every single individual... not just one guy who... coincidentally I'm sure... is ALWAYS the guy that gets it the worst from the fans when things aren't going great.

He's even been pretty damned respectable in other areas of his game this year but nobody talks about that. That's reserved for when he IS on his usual pace. It's almost like for some people it will always be something, eh?

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

GMR may work. I'd bet a lot on Zucker-Crosby-Kapanen not even remotely working. One of the consistent attributes guys need to work with Crosby is high hockey IQ; Kapanen is nowhere close to that.

I think my biggest overall complaint with the idea thrown out around putting Guentzel and Malkin together is that I really don't like any of the internal options they have at RW for Zucker and Crosby. Zucker-Crosby-Rust just looks like a Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis redux, and I'm not sure Kapanen would be much better there.

So it'd look like Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen does now.

It may well look just as bad. But I'd like to find out, and then we'd know whether this is a Malkin problem or a supporting cast problem. If Crosby struggles and Malkin thrives with the new configuration, we have a lot better idea of where we're at.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

So it'd look like Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen does now.

It may well look just as bad. But I'd like to find out, and then we'd know whether this is a Malkin problem or a supporting cast problem. If Crosby struggles and Malkin thrives with the new configuration, we have a lot better idea of where we're at.

It's a lot easier just to say Malkin sucks and handwave it away though.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

I feel like Perron's issue in Pittsburgh was that:

1. He was played on RW with Kunitz and Crosby for the most part, while he was tailor made to be a LWer with Crosby and Hornqvist
2. He played under Mike Johnston when the Penguins were at their worst under Mike Johnston
3. This may just be repeating #2, but the Penguins with Daley, HBK (remember Bonino stunk at the start of that season), Rust and whatnot were a completely different team than what started the year.

I think Pearson was just a legitimately bad fit for this team though. He's a vanilla player with a hard shot and didn't have the speed to work with Crosby or Malkin IMO.



You also have to remember that the Penguins were a tire fire before COVID shut down the year, so I think that has to be considered.

Johnston made everyone look bad. I remember thinking what is wrong with Crosby, is he losing it already. A bad coach can make any player or team look bad. Once he is fired we win a Cup in the same year. It just shows you not to judge a team and it's players until they are tried with a new coach.

 

[Pittsburgh1776]

Those all sound like a guy with confidence problems thinking WAY too hard about every single minute detail.

I'm just saying it's not like he doesn't care. He probably cares TOO much.

Frankly I'm just getting a little fed up with every single post-game breakdown being one giant slag-on-Malkin fest when there are clear signs of improvement there among an ENTIRE team that is a damned trainwreck. Like I get it to a degree but it's already getting really old. I'm not trying to make this a "LeAvE tEh GiNo AlOnEz!" thing. He's a big boy and makes plenty of money. But there are a ton of factors as to why the whole team looks bad and it trickles down to every single individual... not just one guy who... coincidentally I'm sure... is ALWAYS the guy that gets it the worst from the fans when things aren't going great.

He's even been pretty damned respectable in other areas of his game this year but nobody talks about that. That's reserved for when he IS on his usual pace. It's almost like for some people it will always be something, eh?

I haven't checked the stats but seems like he's been used on the draw in the D zone a lot more this year, and has won a lot of his key faceoffs. He's been getting better at the critical draws for the last couple seasons. I think he's been more than fine defensively most games, although he tends to swoop and cheat at times when pressing to score.

The town has a Jagr complex, and Malkin is just the easiest Euro target at which to express those sentiments IMO. Malkin's been nothing but gold for this organization 95+% of the time he's been here for 15 years, but some people will always jump to trash him. It's more than sober criticism that any player deserves from time to time, it's weirdly personal.

I'm also not sure why we are talking trades for anybody when we haven't even changed the lines. Whenever Sullivan gets his head out of his ass, he might try Zucker somewhere else.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

It’s weird how we have only tried 7 former 1st rounders from the 2012 entry draft that was held in Pittsburgh.

I want to make an alt account called dogthatshits

 

[Will Hunting]

12 games into the season. Pens have had a 2-goal lead for 0 seconds still. Wonder if it ever changes. The fact that we are over 50% is crazy tbh. Considering this and considering our goaltending and that they are playing everything on the road and haven't played Buffalo or Jersey still. Crazy.

 

[Ugene Magic]

As an aside, I think it's a little curious to say this team doesn't care when they have gutted all these points out all season long.

Even individually I find it a bit ugly to bag on a guy like Malkin SO hard after he just pulled them into OT and has generally been a factor ES, lately.

I don't think effort has much to do with it. Their body language is more hopeless than careless. Like they don't believe in their direction, anymore.

Hmmmmmmmm

It took help the last time, so I can imagine it wouldn't take it again now they are 4 years older.

They need another impact player because, it was okay when one isn't going, you still had two pulling out the efforts to get by, but when they were all on, that's what we saw in 15/16. Not one team had an answer for it.

A Laine, Hall, even Kessel back here would drive play. The overall point is they need more help If they are serious about contending, they'll do it.

I don't think there's one winger we can send down to to help the bottom six consistently. Jake, but he's your best winger and he won't be put down there. Rust, Zucker or Kap will be, okay, just that they are not drivers. That's still not the end of the needs.

 

[Icarium]

12 games into the season. Pens have had a 2-goal lead for 0 seconds still.

They haven't had a lead heading into the third period either. Pretty crazy stats. Almost as crazy as Geno's 0 PIM. Maybe he needs to get penalised to break the spell.

 

[dogthateats]

I want to make an alt account called dogthatshits

Not a bad idea

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Russian bear+

ZAR, the sun did come out...+

99 Rusty balloons...

Captain my captain+

DeMoose...+

Overall, they pulled one out of their butts... Not going to be negative...

This needs to be used...more often...I should have posted one for the OT.

LGP...!

Are you highjacked Ginger Papas account?

 

[Ugene Magic]

Are you highjacked Ginger Papas account?

I make my own....

 

[Ugene Magic]

Not a bad idea

Could you imagine what the rest of this board would be like if we all took on dogthat__?__ and put multitude of endings?

We'd drive the board nuts. Playoff names if they make it, of course.

eats
sniffs
farts
poops
shits
licks
hunts
humps
hockets
pukes
balls
pucks
sins
itches
fleas
swims
shakes
pisses
sticks
shaves
harasses
bones
cats
sweats
bats
meds
sneaks
on and on.....