Penguins v. Islanders Round 1 Series Thread

[pixburgher66]

And an ironic twist for the SportsHoopla family. Linda Cohn is out there trollin' Sid because of the call. "Sid gets more calls than Lebron"; please don't compare the NBA to the NHL. "Can't make soft call in OT in the playoffs." Understand, but, he was hauled down cutting to the net. Gotta happen.

 

[dare2be]

And an ironic twist for the SportsHoopla family. Linda Cohn is out there trollin' Sid because of the call. "Sid gets more calls than Lebron"; please don't compare the NBA to the NHL. "Can't make soft call in OT in the playoffs." Understand, but, he was hauled down cutting to the net. Gotta happen.

She has no problem doing it, however.

 

[pixburgher66]

She has no problem doing it, however.

Hahah, what cracks me up is that Lebron is the be all and end all at ESPN (the guy is a beast and a joy to watch, no joke), would NEVER question him in a winning effort that he was a big part of, haha. I know, I know, don't let idiots in Bristol bother me, only two of them know what hockey is.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

And an ironic twist for the SportsHoopla family. Linda Cohn is out there trollin' Sid because of the call. "Sid gets more calls than Lebron"; please don't compare the NBA to the NHL. "Can't make soft call in OT in the playoffs." Understand, but, he was hauled down cutting to the net. Gotta happen.

The correct call was made. The Isles really hurt themselves with penallties in this game. They blew a 2-0 lead because of a lack of discipline. Brian Strait has played bad in two of the three games. The Pens did what they should always do when they're on the powerplay, attack teams down low.

I'm proud of my team though. They refuse to give up. This is the best hockey I've ever seen Okposo play. He's been great.

Can't wait for Tuesday. It's been a fun series to watch so far.

 

[Dacks]

The correct call was made. The Isles really hurt themselves with penallties in this game. They blew a 2-0 lead because of a lack of discipline. Brian Strait has played bad in two of the three games. The Pens did what they should always do when they're on the powerplay, attack teams down low.

I'm proud of my team though. They refuse to give up. This is the best hockey I've ever seen Okposo play. He's been great.

Can't wait for Tuesday. It's been a fun series to watch so far.

Okposo has been a beast. Islanders have been great. And yes, they've definitely made it a fun series. Of course I want the Pens to win, but for entertainment, the last two have been much better value than the first.

 

[DChero]

Playoff hockey gets harder and harder for me to watch. It's been an exciting series, but my my heart can't take 7 of these.

 

[JustAsking]

This series is all on coach DB. All 4 lines of Isles come with speed and a constant in your face approach. Their game plan is simple and effective, dumpe the puck in the corners and put immediate pressure on the Pens defense (Letang and Nisky both had rough games yesterday in terms of defenseive zone break outs) there by not allowing them to make the quick transition the Pens are used to, evident by the forwads leaving the zone thinking a break play was about to occur, failing to realize the Isle have too much pressure for the defenseman to put any type mustard on the puck to move up the boards let alone a stretch pass. I highly doubt the Isles will change their game plan, so it must be the Pens and coach DB that adjusts their own zone puck retrieval and break outs. Or, hopefully live by the power play.

Remember how well the the Pens +/- was in the regular season.. only 4 forwards have a plus now... Glass, Adams, Bennett, Jokinen.... Pens 5 on 5 play is sorely lacking (see above on reasons for lack of puck control)

 

[sbb122]

This series is all on coach DB. All 4 lines of Isles come with speed and a constant in your face approach. Their game plan is simple and effective, dumpe the puck in the corners and put immediate pressure on the Pens defense (Letang and Nisky both had rough games yesterday in terms of defenseive zone break outs) there by not allowing them to make the quick transition the Pens are used to, evident by the forwads leaving the zone thinking a break play was about to occur, failing to realize the Isle have too much pressure for the defenseman to put any type mustard on the puck to move up the boards let alone a stretch pass. I highly doubt the Isles will change their game plan, so it must be the Pens and coach DB that adjusts their own zone puck retrieval and break outs. Or, hopefully live by the power play.

Remember how well the the Pens +/- was in the regular season.. only 4 forwards have a plus now... Glass, Adams, Bennett, Jokinen.... Pens 5 on 5 play is sorely lacking (see above on reasons for lack of puck control)

Bylsma and adjustments should not be included in the same sentence unless adjustments is preceded by "lack of" or "never makes any".

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

On the Isles fansite I'd say a large majority of fans, many of whom were their believe the penalty in OT shouldn't have been made & that the ref who made the call hesitated before doing so.

I honestly thought it was a legit penalty.

 

[Darkstone42]

On the Isles fansite I'd say a large majority of fans, many of whom were their believe the penalty in OT shouldn't have been made & that the ref who made the call hesitated before doing so.

I honestly thought it was a legit penalty.

Yeah, it seems that often in overtime they put the whistles away, but they will pull them out if the penalty directly impacts a scoring chance, which this one did. I assume the fans on that site are either just mad they lost on the ensuing powerplay (I would be too, but probably more mad that my defenseman just got beat and took a costly penalty, even though it was the right play to take the penalty) or are "purists" who think there should be no penalties in overtime.

But to them I say (not to you, because you get it, it seems) that if you allow everything to be fair game in overtime, overtime won't end because guys will just hold onto each other, and that is simply not exciting.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Yeah, it seems that often in overtime they put the whistles away, but they will pull them out if the penalty directly impacts a scoring chance, which this one did. I assume the fans on that site are either just mad they lost on the ensuing powerplay (I would be too, but probably more mad that my defenseman just got beat and took a costly penalty, even though it was the right play to take the penalty) or are "purists" who think there should be no penalties in overtime.

But to them I say (not to you, because you get it, it seems) that if you allow everything to be fair game in overtime, overtime won't end because guys will just hold onto each other, and that is simply not exciting.

It would be one thing if all Strait did was put his stick in Crosby's chest or gave him a tug. He literally took him down. The officiating crew should make that call no matter who the player is.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I'm still not happy about the no call on Kuntiz for slashing Grabner in the knee. That was sneaky.

 

[pixburgher66]

The correct call was made. The Isles really hurt themselves with penallties in this game. They blew a 2-0 lead because of a lack of discipline. Brian Strait has played bad in two of the three games. The Pens did what they should always do when they're on the powerplay, attack teams down low.

I'm proud of my team though. They refuse to give up. This is the best hockey I've ever seen Okposo play. He's been great.

Can't wait for Tuesday. It's been a fun series to watch so far.

Hey, that's basically the Pens in game 2. Stupid penalties negate a lead. Discipline is key for both these clubs.


What kills me about people who complain about the penalty is that they don't necessary think it wasn't a hold (I mean...it was. He used both hands and a skate to prevent Sid from getting to the net), it's that because it's in OT it shouldn't count. I've fallen into that train of thought too in the past, but it's silly. The same rules apply regardless of the situation. Would it have been called if it were not Sid? Depends. I do think that refs unconsciously take into account the ability of the player being taken down, because that affects how good of a scoring chance was taken away. Strait did what was needed to stop Sid, and in that match up a penalty probably occurs quite often.

EDIT: And to people thinking he dove/went down easy; I don't think a guy with that much ability intentionally goes down 3 feet from the net in OT in the playoffs. And Strait's skate in Sid's is probably what took him out. Anyway, moving on. Game 4 is huge (like every game).

 

[Dacks]

On the Isles fansite I'd say a large majority of fans, many of whom were their believe the penalty in OT shouldn't have been made & that the ref who made the call hesitated before doing so.

I honestly thought it was a legit penalty.

Fans will always get pissed about a penalty in OT - if it's Crosby drawing it, that just adds fuel to the fire.

The Pens breakout usually consists of a hard two-line pass towards the boards that is chipped deep. The Isles forwards are taking away the boards, while the D hovers back in the zone to quickly recover the dump-ins. This has led to two things - turnovers at the blueline, allowing the Isles to counter-attack, and inefficient dump-ins.

Because the Isles are taking away the deep pucks and the boards, Pens need to counter by using the middle of the ice. Two ways to do this:

1) Stop the long breakout pass and have the centre bring the puck out of his own zone. If the Isle D stay deep, there should be room to take the puck in with control. If the D steps up, then you can chip it deep.

2) Keep the long break-out pass, but instead of chipping it deep, the wingers block it back towards the middle of the ice where the centre is coming with speed. The D is caught flat-footed while someone like Crosby or Malkin enters at full speed. Riskier option but with a bigger payoff.

The problem is Byslma likes to "get to our game". Which is, admittedly, a great game. The problem is that over seven games, teams can adjust, as the Isles have. But forcing them to adjust means something else has opened up, and we have the talent to take advantage.

This is really the make or break it season for Bylsma. I think if we lose in the first or second round to a seed lower than fourth, his time is up.

 

[pixburgher66]

Fans will always get pissed about a penalty in OT - if it's Crosby drawing it, that just adds fuel to the fire.

The Pens breakout usually consists of a hard two-line pass towards the boards that is chipped deep. The Isles forwards are taking away the boards, while the D hovers back in the zone to quickly recover the dump-ins. This has led to two things - turnovers at the blueline, allowing the Isles to counter-attack, and inefficient dump-ins.

Because the Isles are taking away the deep pucks and the boards, Pens need to counter by using the middle of the ice. Two ways to do this:

1) Stop the long breakout pass and have the centre bring the puck out of his own zone. If the Isle D stay deep, there should be room to take the puck in with control. If the D steps up, then you can chip it deep.

2) Keep the long break-out pass, but instead of chipping it deep, the wingers block it back towards the middle of the ice where the centre is coming with speed. The D is caught flat-footed while someone like Crosby or Malkin enters at full speed. Riskier option but with a bigger payoff.

The problem is Byslma likes to "get to our game". Which is, admittedly, a great game. The problem is that over seven games, teams can adjust, as the Isles have. But forcing them to adjust means something else has opened up, and we have the talent to take advantage.

This is really the make or break it season for Bylsma. I think if we lose in the first or second round to a seed lower than fourth, his time is up.

The pressure is really on Bylsma here. Too much talent, too much experience, too much desire for this team to fall. Can't expect them to run the gammat or anything, but no way they can play as poorly as they have the past 2 games and have him come out clean.

 

[esls79]

If Pittsburgh doesn't win it all, then Disco is out and AV is in.

Too soon?

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

If Pittsburgh doesn't win it all, then Disco is out and AV is in.

Too soon?

I don't think it would be AV, but if the Penguins don't win the cup I believe Bylsma should be FIRED. This team has had too much talent since 2008 to only have 1 cup. I mean they have arguably the two best players in the league. One of the top goalies. 1 of the top defenseman. Not to mention role players galore, especially right now. For the Pens it's cup or bust this year. Bylsma should be under a lot of pressure. His team is stacked.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

I don't think it would be AV, but if the Penguins don't win the cup I believe Bylsma should be FIRED. This team has had too much talent since 2008 to only have 1 cup. I mean they have arguably the two best players in the league. One of the top goalies. 1 of the top defenseman. Not to mention role players galore, especially right now. For the Pens it's cup or bust this year. Bylsma should be under a lot of pressure. His team is stacked.

Did you say...


...stacked...?

 

[Dacks]

I don't think it would be AV, but if the Penguins don't win the cup I believe Bylsma should be FIRED. This team has had too much talent since 2008 to only have 1 cup. I mean they have arguably the two best players in the league. One of the top goalies. 1 of the top defenseman. Not to mention role players galore, especially right now. For the Pens it's cup or bust this year. Bylsma should be under a lot of pressure. His team is stacked.

I wouldn't sya it's cup or bust for Bylsma. If Byslma coaches well, but they lose to Chicago in 7, keep him around for sure. But if they lose in the first two rounds, or lose later on with zero adjustments by Dan, then he should be gone. Can't waste these years.

 

[DChero]

I agree with you guys. I feel like Disco Dan has really been riding the 2008-2009 season for a while now. I can forgive the year that the Penguins lost to Tampa, but Montreal and Philly were unacceptable. The first two rounds sounds about right.