Series Thread: 2016-17 Stanley Cup Final Nashville Predators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

[BGDave]

Surprised to hear some questioning of Murray. Maybe Rinne has outplayed him in Nashville, but hardly his fault that his team scored twice in those two games. No way you go back to MAF at this point.

 

[dash]

Nashville Predators defenceman P.K. Subban was not on the ice to begin the team's practice Wednesday.

Subban was down on the ice in pain for a couple of moments after blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in the third period of the Predators' 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He eventually got up and skated gingerly to the bench and said after the game he was not concerned he would miss any time.

Subban has been great for the Predators during their postseason run, with two goals and 12 points in 20 games.

On the Pittsburgh side of things, both winger Patric Hornqvist and centre Nick Bonino missed practice on Wednesday.

 

[pixburgher66]

Nashville Predators defenceman P.K. Subban was not on the ice to begin the team's practice Wednesday.

Subban was down on the ice in pain for a couple of moments after blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in the third period of the Predators' 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He eventually got up and skated gingerly to the bench and said after the game he was not concerned he would miss any time.

Subban has been great for the Predators during their postseason run, with two goals and 12 points in 20 games.

On the Pittsburgh side of things, both winger Patric Hornqvist and centre Nick Bonino missed practice on Wednesday.

I don't read into practice abscences too much this time of year...no reason to do it if you're banged up.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

I don't read into practice abscences too much this time of year...no reason to do it if you're banged up.

Plus, in both Subban and Bonino's case would any of us be surprised to see them fake an injury in any way, shape or form?

 

[dash]

Plus, in both Subban and Bonino's case would any of us be surprised to see them fake an injury in any way, shape or form?

In Subban's case, his teammates probably told him to save his bad breath for the Penguins on Thursday night.

 

[forty_three]

There is an argument you can make that Fleury is better at making certain types of saves - like maybe on fast breaks - but even if that were settled, I don't think it would be enough to make up for most of what Murray does well. He made some huge saves on Monday to keep the game close - the game was lost when we failed to take a 2-1 lead on multiple chances.

Surprised to hear some questioning of Murray. Maybe Rinne has outplayed him in Nashville, but hardly his fault that his team scored twice in those two games. No way you go back to MAF at this point.

Fleury's only point over Murray is his ability to make some saves that no one expects him to make. He is more athletic. Murray is calmer, bigger, steadier and more consistent. And anyone who honestly thinks that Fleury should be in for what can be described as a must win game is insane. Yeah, Murray whiffed on the breakaway, but they are coin flips anyway.

Patrick Roy said to play in the NHL you have to stop 90 of 100 shots. That's what it takes to be "good enough" to make it at that level. The difference between good and great is how many of the other 10 you get to.

A goalie who scrambles and makes the "get the fans cheering" save is actually not as good as the one the puck hits in the chest all the time. Jonathan Quick is one of the worst goalies in the league, mechanically. Fleury is in the bottom half, easily. And in a do or die game, you want that consistency. Especially with a depleted and often struggling D Corps like the Pens can put out there right now. You need to know where the rebounds are likely to go. You need to know where to push the shots from to give the goalie a better chance. You need to know your goalie isn't going to go wander if there's any chance it could go wrong. And you don't know any of those things with Fleury back there. He's very talented physically. But he's not, IMO, "good".

Goaltending is not voodoo, and I do know how it works.

 

[forty_three]

Hey, have you guys heard that Howard Cosell once said "When you play Pittsburgh, you play the whole city"?


I am not sure it's been mentioned.

 

[thedddd]

So many observations, but I will go with

They should have got the tshirt for free.

This says a lot for me..a lot of light beer and not even a 20% tip.

Probably these two guys:

 

[dash]

This says a lot for me..a lot of light beer and not even a 20% tip.

"I have your car towed all the way over to your house and all you have for me is light beer"

 

[sbb122]

Hey, have you guys heard that Howard Cosell once said "When you play Pittsburgh, you play the whole city"?


I am not sure it's been mentioned.

Every time i hear somebody here say that i want to kick their teeth in.

 

[forty_three]

Every time i hear somebody here say that i want to kick their teeth in.

Well for the love of God do not turn on NHL Network, just to be safe.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Well for the love of God do not turn on NHL Network, just to be safe.

If it is Roenick's or Milbury's teeth he is going to kick in, then by all means turn on NHL network

 

[sbb122]

If it is Roenick's or Milbury's teeth he is going to kick in, then by all means turn on NHL network

Those two idiots stick to NBC

 

[Dacks]

Fleury's only point over Murray is his ability to make some saves that no one expects him to make. He is more athletic. Murray is calmer, bigger, steadier and more consistent. And anyone who honestly thinks that Fleury should be in for what can be described as a must win game is insane. Yeah, Murray whiffed on the breakaway, but they are coin flips anyway.

Patrick Roy said to play in the NHL you have to stop 90 of 100 shots. That's what it takes to be "good enough" to make it at that level. The difference between good and great is how many of the other 10 you get to.

A goalie who scrambles and makes the "get the fans cheering" save is actually not as good as the one the puck hits in the chest all the time. Jonathan Quick is one of the worst goalies in the league, mechanically. Fleury is in the bottom half, easily. And in a do or die game, you want that consistency. Especially with a depleted and often struggling D Corps like the Pens can put out there right now. You need to know where the rebounds are likely to go. You need to know where to push the shots from to give the goalie a better chance. You need to know your goalie isn't going to go wander if there's any chance it could go wrong. And you don't know any of those things with Fleury back there. He's very talented physically. But he's not, IMO, "good".

Goaltending is not voodoo, and I do know how it works.

Thanks for the insight. I think you can tell the type of fan by if they want Fleury or Murray. Fleury makes the flashier saves, for all the reasons you mentioned above - mostly because he has already gotten himself out of position or given up a horrible rebound. Murray affects the whole game, his positioning and rebound control is phenomenal, and he can freeze the puck when the team needs it.

Weakness wise, his glove hand is the obvious one, and he's been beaten on more wraparounds then I like. It will be interesting to see how he develops. He's young enough, that if he can improve on those with some experience and coaching, he could easily be the best goalie Pittsburgh has had.

I think Thursday should be a very interesting night. Pens look done, but have consistently surprised me when the going gets tough.

 

[thedddd]

Gorman: Evgeni Malkin speaks up for Penguins

Read this in my best Malkin voice.

 

[Darkstone42]

My softball season ended tonight, so I can watch the rest of the games. As such, look out, Preds. The Pens are 2-0 in games I've watched this final, and 0-2 in games I've missed!

 

[BGDave]

Pens look done,

Not by a long shot. This is far from over.

 

[forty_three]

Thanks for the insight. I think you can tell the type of fan by if they want Fleury or Murray. Fleury makes the flashier saves, for all the reasons you mentioned above - mostly because he has already gotten himself out of position or given up a horrible rebound. Murray affects the whole game, his positioning and rebound control is phenomenal, and he can freeze the puck when the team needs it.

Weakness wise, his glove hand is the obvious one, and he's been beaten on more wraparounds then I like. It will be interesting to see how he develops. He's young enough, that if he can improve on those with some experience and coaching, he could easily be the best goalie Pittsburgh has had.

I think Thursday should be a very interesting night. Pens look done, but have consistently surprised me when the going gets tough.

Murray does hold his hand a little low, but it's muscle memory I'm sure. I always tell goalies it's easier to bring your hand down than to pull it up in crisis. Try to get them carrying their gloves high from an early age.

And big, positional goalies do tend to be weaker on wrap arounds because you need either explosiveness to get across (which big guys usually don't have) or mechanics to close the gaps. My son is 6'1" at 14 and he has had all kinds of trouble with wrap arounds the last 2 years. This spring we've worked on him realizing that his pads, laid next end to end to each other, cover all but 4 inches of the net. So on wrap arounds we've got him holding a skate on each post and using his hips to get his shoulders into the crossbar joint to seal it off. If they get it into the five hole from behind the net, tip your hat to 'em.

The wrap around, tight angle shot in game 4 though, I don't really blame Murray. I can see how he thought the pass was going out front so he was even later than he should have been closing off the side. He was left with a lunge at the puck being his only save option. And he almost got it.

 

[Dacks]

Not by a long shot. This is far from over.

I just mean appearance wise. Last game, didn't look like much was left in the tank. But under Sullivan they've been very resilient so I have faith.

 

[Darkstone42]