We are the best team in the league, why doesn't it feel like it?

[Whale Mingo]

Standings-wise at least, nobody is better than we are, technically tied with Nashville (GG James Neal) for the top spot overall in the league 1/4 of the way through the season but it sure doesn't feel like it.

Is it just me?

Several games recently (win or lose) have felt like an exercise in frustration. We look lost in the neutral zone most of the time, Sid (while leading the league in scoring) just doesn't seem to be, well, Sid. Geno, at times has been brilliant and other times maddeningly bad. The PK isn't what it started out to be and we lead the league in SHG against and we take the dumbest penalties.

We have a GLARING need for top 6 wingers and that is what really stands out about this season so far.

Maybe it is just me, but we don't seem like the class of the league at this point, yet, we are. I guess the good news is if we do add that top 6 winger it should be bad news for the rest of the league.

Am I way off here or does anyone else feel we aren't "all that", yet?

Click to read more...

 

[Shockmaster]

After the last five years of playoff disappointments, nobody really cares what this team does in November anymore.

 

[BobCole]

We're obviously not a complete team at the moment. Our winger situation is atrocious and lately our defense has been playing as less than the sum of its parts. We also are a poor transition team at the moment. With that said, there's lots to like. Our goaltending has been very good. Individual forwards are playing well, from Crosby, to Malkin, to Hornqvist, to Comeau (?!), to Sutter and Downie intermittently.

We have work to do. We need to solve our issues on the breakout and we still struggle with consistently as much as any other "good" team. We need to get healthy. And we desperately need two top six wingers.

 

[Boocock]

This is still a veteran-led team. Doing well in the regular season isn't a surprise. That being said, this squad simply isn't built to win in the playoffs.

 

[The Old Master]

we've seen this fish before..

 

[Captain Hook]

It feels that way because as currently constructed we are not a Stanley Cup caliber team. Rutherford has time to change that but only time will tell if he can get the job done.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Team is still in transition. They still get off the wall injuries.

But as Bob above stated there are good things happening, and we can't expect a quick fix is gonna do the job.

 

[Pancakes]

We're good enough to beat anybody in the East, but that's because the East is dog doo.

Chicago would roll us, as would several other Western teams.

If we get more balance in our lines, I'd take our chances against anybody.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

You can do very well in the regular season with 3-5 players doing all the heavy lifting, which is basically what the Pens have done for the past 5 years. The POs is all that matters and we're not built for the POs.

 

[Michael8771*]

The only thing that matters to the majority of Pens fans is post season success. And understandably so.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

As long as our scoring lines are as jumbled and inadequate as they are, we're not going to look good.

 

[Shrimper]

Probably because there is still a bit of dead-weight on the team. See: Sill, Adams, Scuderi.

Our fourth line outside of Goc is ass. Fix the wingers and then I'd feel more "strong" about the team.

 

[SEALBound]

For me its the fact that despite it being a glaring hole for 6+ years, we still have ONE top 6 winger. Its just dumbfounding to me.

Had we not nabbed Ernhoff we could have had Kulemin and Grab which would have solved several issues with the team. Yet we keep our young dmen prospects in the gutter...that we drafted in leau of organizational needs at wing mind you...and we deal with Spaling and Comeau in the Top 6.

Its just frustrating. Its like not getting that toy for Xmas that you've asked for over and over and over again...and then you have to watch the other kids play with it at recess...who then go on to achieve greatness while you're still stuck with your alcoholic mom and cluelessly doppy dad at home wondering not only what could have been...but what may never be. In the Sid and Geno era...its sad we've wasted that much of it.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Chronic holes, deadweight that needs to be shed and history. But tbf, even now the team looks less like a meltdown is almost always imminent.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Who are you going to believe? Our record or our lying eyes?

No one with an ounce of sense saw the Pens in that top tier of cup favorites when the season started, and nothing thus far has changed that POV. That doesn't make the Pens a bad team. Nor does it mean that the Pens can not win the cup. Merely that the team belongs in the next tier where they fit.

 

[Whale Mingo]

Its like not getting that toy for Xmas that you've asked for over and over and over again...and then you have to watch the other kids play with it at recess...who then go on to achieve greatness while you're still stuck with your alcoholic mom and cluelessly doppy dad at home wondering not only what could have been...but what may never be.

Are you OK? Should we send someone over to the house for you?


All of the sudden, I feel much better about myself.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

After the last five years of playoff disappointments, nobody really cares what this team does in November anymore.

This.

Also, this team has so many positives that the few negatives are amplified.

 

[SEALBound]

Are you OK? Should we send someone over to the house for you?


All of the sudden, I feel much better about myself.

On your way, stop by the local library and read up on metaphors and similes.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It's far from perfect but they are actually playing a lot better than I thought they would, all things considered. Their top players have generally been their top players... which is very important.

 

[Whale Mingo]

On your way, stop by the local library and read up on metaphors and similes.

Will do

 

[Jacob]

It doesn't feel like it because we got schooled in a home-and-home against the Islanders very recently. And we continue to struggle against big & physical teams.

 

[cheesedanish87]

There are 9 teams in the league who have 33 or 34 points, pens happen to have 1 less game played then most of those teams, pens are really just a 2 game losing streak from having the 8th or 9th best record in the league.

As far as the playoffs go i put the pens in the same category as the Blues Sharks and Ducks, i'l never believe in any of those teams in the playoffs til i actually see them do something in the playoffs.

 

[Your Boy Troy]

Probably because there is still a bit of dead-weight on the team. See: Sill, Adams, Scuderi.

Our fourth line outside of Goc is ass. Fix the wingers and then I'd feel more "strong" about the team.

What? I am certainly not a fan of the fourth-line, but they aren't the main problem of Pittsburgh's lack of success in the playoffs. Although the fourth-line certainly does need to get bigger, tougher, and better. No doubt about that.

The lack of depth/talent on the wing is probably the main concern for the team. There are other problems that revolve around the inconsistency surrounding the goaltending and how poorly the defensemen and forwards can look in the defensive zone. The amount of size and grit is a weakness. The willingness to drive to the net to open up lanes and create a screen has certainly haunted the team in the past. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have frequently shown that can be taken off their game by abuse.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

We have the most points. We're not the best "team." There's a big difference IMO.

 

[Whale Mingo]

We have the most points. We're not the best "team." There's a big difference IMO.

That's a fair distinction. Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say "we lead the league, but it doesn't feel like it".