4 Pittsburgh Penguins v. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning Series Thread

[joe_baran]

I'm just wondering at this point how many games Kunitz is going to get. Looking at his elbow on Gagne on the Versus post game... I'd be surprised if he's not suspended it looked pretty blatant.

 

[pixburgher66]

Morton's a number two pitcher, I'm sold. Correia and Maholm are both solid number threes. After that, unless Ohlendorf and MacDonald get healthy and figure it out, or Rudy Owens/Brad Lincoln comes up and displaces one of them and pitches well, the rotation won't be very strong, unfortunately.

I think McDonald has the stuff. His issue is he loses it so quickly. I think he'll end up being a long reliever type...same with Karstens. He'd pitch a gem for 4 innings then BLAM the 5th he melts down. Hence why he's there now.

 

[pixburgher66]

I'm just wondering at this point how many games Kunitz is going to get. Looking at his elbow on Gagne on the Versus post game... I'd be surprised if he's not suspended it looked pretty blatant.

Absolutely no way around it. He'll be suspended...just questioning how many. I still think 2 with a max of 4. He doesn't have a dirty history.

 

[Darkstone42]

I think McDonald has the stuff. His issue is he loses it so quickly. I think he'll end up being a long reliever type...same with Karstens. He'd pitch a gem for 4 innings then BLAM the 5th he melts down. Hence why he's there now.

I think he's still feeling the effects of his spring injury, and he just doesn't have the stamina or the control yet. Hopefully those come. The same, I think, is true of Ohlendorf. If those two pitch to their potential, they're both better than Maholm, who could then be used as trade bait when Owens is ready, and we honestly wouldn't lose much (in fact, we might gain) in our rotation.

 

[pixburgher66]

I think Lincoln needs another good summer in Indy before he gets another call up. The coaching staff really didn't do him well last year. If he rises to his potential, and the Buccos can hang onto a guy like Morton for the long run, with the talent in the system...I just can't wait until the young guns are ready for battle.

 

[Dacks]

I think taking into consideration how intentional it looked, the league's commitment to cutting down on head shots, and Gagne's history of concussions, that it's a very suspendable hit. The penalty is for accidentally elbowing a guy, and I don't think that play fits the description laid out by the wording of the penalty.

I thought it looked awfully similar to Cooke's elbow, personally. I also didn't think the Downie hit was anything more than charging, because it didn't look to me that he got up at the head.

The official rule book doesn't say anything about whether or not it's accidental or not...

But I got another look at the elbow, and it definitely wasn't your run-of-the-mill minor penalty elbow. The league will definitely look at it, and I would expect a suspension. Gagne's history shouldn't play a role in this, and it's playoffs, so I think minimum 1 game, but definitely not more than 4 (which would be the rest of the series if it went 7). If I was betting, I'd say 2 games. Downie will probably get something as well for charging / leaving his feet + his history.

 

[pixburgher66]

Well, just saw the Downie hit. What a numbskull. Probably one or two.

 

[Darkstone42]

The official rule book doesn't say anything about whether or not it's accidental or not...

But I got another look at the elbow, and it definitely wasn't your run-of-the-mill minor penalty elbow. The league will definitely look at it, and I would expect a suspension. Gagne's history shouldn't play a role in this, and it's playoffs, so I think minimum 1 game, but definitely not more than 4 (which would be the rest of the series if it went 7). If I was betting, I'd say 2 games. Downie will probably get something as well for charging / leaving his feet + his history.

I think Gagne's history has to be a factor, since it might imply intent to injure. Kunitz knows that Gagne's susceptible to concussions, and that he's always been a Penguin killer. One well-placed head-shot could get that nuisance out of the Penguins' hair. I think it does a lot to imply Kunitz's intent, and I honestly wouldn't put it past him to try to injure Gagne knowing that he's got a concussion history.

 

[pixburgher66]

Man, watching those highlights again. James Neal is gonna score a big goal in this series. It's gonna happen. If not this series, then at some point in the postseason. You can't go that long being that snakebit.

 

[Darkstone42]

Man, watching those highlights again. James Neal is gonna score a big goal in this series. It's gonna happen. If not this series, then at some point in the postseason. You can't go that long being that snakebit.

Especially given how incredibly well he's playing. I mean, he's a force every time he steps onto the ice.

 

[UTVolCountry]

Good win Pens

 

[pixburgher66]

Especially given how incredibly well he's playing. I mean, he's a force every time he steps onto the ice.

That's the reason I still like him. Hah. He's not potting them, but he's playing amazing hockey.

 

[Dacks]

I think Gagne's history has to be a factor, since it might imply intent to injure. Kunitz knows that Gagne's susceptible to concussions, and that he's always been a Penguin killer. One well-placed head-shot could get that nuisance out of the Penguins' hair. I think it does a lot to imply Kunitz's intent, and I honestly wouldn't put it past him to try to injure Gagne knowing that he's got a concussion history.

That's a stretch. If Kunitz had hunted him down on some random shift, maybe. But this is a guy who's cutting in front of the goalie trying to score. Kunitz has a responsibility to hit him. I think he over-extended trying to make a play. It was careless, dangerous, and quite possibly intentional, but there's not enough in that play, or Kunitz's history, to really saw beyond conjecture that Gagne was targeted because of his concussion history.

 

[pixburgher66]

That's a stretch. If Kunitz had hunted him down on some random shift, maybe. But this is a guy who's cutting in front of the goalie trying to score. Kunitz has a responsibility to hit him. I think he over-extended trying to make a play. It was careless, dangerous, and quite possibly intentional, but there's not enough in that play, or Kunitz's history, to really saw beyond conjecture that Gagne was targeted because of his concussion history.

Agreed, the play happens too quick for Kunitz to sit and think that all through. I tend to wonder if he even knew who he hit.

 

[puckhead]

Kunitz has 10am hearing, Downie's is right after it.

 

[Darkstone42]

I was reading the Disney Penguins' board, and half the folks there want Neal's head. They want him off the top powerplay unit and called his being robbed by Roloson an "inexcusable missed opportunity." There are a couple good posters yet, but comments like that that ignore the fact that Neal has been creating offense on most of his shifts since the trade make me glad I post here now. I pretty much just read for the insight a couple posters bring, and the rest is garbage.

One poster compared Neal to Poni. Seriously?

 

[johnnytata]

just saw the kunitz elbow. fuckin bitch move. for any penguin to make a play like that is just fuckin horseshit.

get the fuck off the ice and stay off.

the downie hit is spectacular but what the fuck do you jump for? jeebus.

this series is gonna get nasty now.

 

[evolver115]

just saw the kunitz elbow. fuckin bitch move. for any NHL hockey player to make a play like that is just fuckin horseshit.

FTFY

 

[evolver115]

It's too bad Downie and Kunitz had to delve into the land of goonery last nite, because Pittsburgh potentially just landed the blow to Tampa that they might not recover from.

That game was crucial in this series. Home ice advantage is now back in the Pens court, and apart from two power-play opportunities, Tampa was completely outplayed in this one.

 

[loki604]

Kunitz is a moron. Our forward group is already composed of 90% third and fourth liners. Why the fuck would he do that? He'll get two.

As for Neal, yeah he needs to score. But I'm guessing it's not the easiest thing in the world to go from playing with Brad Richards to Mark Letestu. We're not going to know his true value until next year, so all the Internet GM's (not here) need to shut the hell up in regards to evaluating the trade as if we can know the full impact.

Anyways good win and great to see TK get one. He'll feed off that, I think.