Game Thread: Pittsburgh Penguins(1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets(WC 1)| ECQF

[forty_three]

I only see one fan (in this thread at least) turning on him. And he was the same one who puked all over the Stempniak trade, so take that for what it's worth.

This place is my safe haven. But I read elsewhere and it is...

Well, it's funny to say the least.

 

[dare2be]

Sorry but that's Pens hockey...offense and no D. Has been for years under Abysmal. Thing is, Skid is beloved by Pen homers and no one will yell: Where was Skid against the Bees last year? Zero points! Where the hell is he this series?

He is Adam Oates, not the supposed best player in the league. You body him up and he disappears..he goes whole games without hitting anybody and doesn't play 2 way hockey...

It has been Pens hockey for years, but Pens Stanley Cup hockey has been puck control, offensive zone pressure/cycling, and 2-way forechecking/backchecking. At least we still had it 2 months after Abysmal arrived. He is who I yell at, not the players, whether scrubs or superstars.

 

[forty_three]

 

[dash]

Sidney Crosby - 0 goals last 8 playoff games
Evgeni Malkin - 0 goals last 8 playoff games
Chris Kunitz - 1 goal last 8 playoff games
James Kneel - 1 goal last 8 playoff games

Time for the horses up front to show up.

 

[pixburgher66]

Sid deserves some criticism, but his line is dominating in every way except scoring, which makes it really hard not to criticize. The other night the first line had one more shot than EVERY OTHER LINE COMBINED. I'm just hoping the law of averages kicks in soon and some of those chances start going into the net. The concept that he's not a playoff performer is funny...because he's in the top 5 for playoff points per game...ever. Gretz-Mario-(I forget who is in third)-Sid. It's really hard for Pens fans to sit back and truly realize what Sid does night in and night out. Example: Dubinsky. He's a great player (even though I think his impact is being romanticized to the MAX right now), but he's not exceptional. When Dubi goes out and makes a crazy play, even if it doesn't result in a goal, people will go bananas and won't shut up about it for weeks. When Sid makes a crazy play that doesn't result in a goal, it's a failure. If a guy like Dubi has a 2 point night in a loss, he's given credit. Sid? Not enough. Why didn't you score? What a chump.

Look, I still expect the top 2 lines to have more impact on the game, because they have the ability to take games over. But the demise of Sidney Crosby is drastically over done.

 

[thedddd]

Sidney Crosby - 0 goals last 8 playoff games
Evgeni Malkin - 0 goals last 8 playoff games
Chris Kunitz - 1 goal last 8 playoff games
James Kneel - 1 goal last 8 playoff games

Time for the horses up front to show up.

Crosby hasn't scored since game 4 against the Sens last year and that was their 6th goal in a blowout win. His last real productive goal scoring game was game 2 in that series. So in reality almost 12 games without much goal production.

Not trying to bash him because he still is their best player. Anyway he needs to find a way to score if they want to win a playoff series again.

 

[pixburgher66]

An argument that I agree with, though I don't really consider an excuse for Sid/Geno: the NHL postseason (in general, not necessarily this series) isn't built for stars to have success. I heard someone talking about this, and it made me think: when's the last time a star took over a postseason? For the Pens it was Geno in the ECF in '09, but that was really just that one round. The postseason is built for grinders to have success. It seems like every year the story is a grinder that suddenly breaks out (and subsequently gets a big deal from a different team to underachieve).

 

[forty_three]

Penguins fighting their own heritage in unexpected Stanley Cup Playoffs dogfight with Blue Jackets | PennLive.com

Their Penguins are being seriously challenged by – c’mon, really? – the Columbus Blue Jackets. After last night’s 4-3 overtime win by the Jackets, this first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series is tied 2-2.

That’s the Pens, team of the world’s greatest player Sidney Crosby and loaded with goal-scoring stars such as Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz and James Neal.

Being played dead-even by a franchise so inert in its 14 years of existence that the head football coach at the local college said just recently on an Atlanta talk show that Southern boys should come to Columbus to play for him because, among other reasons, the town has no pro sports to compete for attention.

:rollseyes:

Sorry for hurting your feelings, friend. There are a bunch of Leaf writers over there to drown your sorrows with.

The worst thing Penguins fans, the good ones, have to contend with is the perception among the rest of the fans in the league is that they are all like this guy.

- Convinced of their righteousness
- Incapable of applauding opposing effort, and belittling everything that isn't theirs
- Needing to feel persecuted by everyone to be truly happy with success

He got one thing right. The Penguins are battling their Heritage. Because 14 years into their existence, they weren't much further along than Columbus is right now.

 

[evolver115]

Penguins fighting their own heritage in unexpected Stanley Cup Playoffs dogfight with Blue Jackets | PennLive.com



:rollseyes:

Sorry for hurting your feelings, friend. There are a bunch of Leaf writers over there to drown your sorrows with.

43, don't got too riled up by anything you read sports related wise from Pennlive. It is a rag, and that "journalist" David Jones is a tool.

 

[dare2be]

He got one thing right. The Penguins are battling their Heritage. Because 14 years into their existence, they weren't much further along than Columbus is right now.

Even that is wrong.

 

[Darkstone42]

The Blue Jackets are playing a system which most precisely mitigates the Penguins' game. They're playing it well, too. Ever since Byslma got here, the approach has surrounded having the D make long stretch passes to the forwards to turn them loose. Even when we were a puck possession team, that's how we started up the ice.

The problem is that the guys we trusted to make those passes, like Letang and Orpik, are floundering in that role. They have been all year. The Jackets are doing a great job of exacerbating the problem by hitting them repeatedly. Now they're rushing even more, and most of our outlet passes are being picked off, whether in the neutral zone or in the defensive zone, or going down for icing.

Since the defense is inept at moving the puck forward, I've noticed the Pens' wingers coming much lower in the defensive zone than usual to help get the puck out. But to whom? The system hasn't changed, so they're looking up to see no one to pass to.

Bylsma needs to make an adjustment. Really, he needs to abandon the stretch pass strategy. Start skating the puck up more. It's more defensively responsible, and if you make it a system thing, the forwards will get a chance to crash and control the puck.

I lost count in game four of how many times, even up 3-0 and 3-1, the Pens' defense tried to fire a pass all the way to the offensive blue line, and it got picked off or missed everyone and went for icing. If you want to win the puck possession battle, you have to control the puck into the offensive zone.

 

[dare2be]

The Blue Jackets are playing a system which most precisely mitigates the Penguins' game.

That pretty much sums up every year since 2010. Isn't that right, Mr. Abysmal?

 

[Darkstone42]

That pretty much sums up every year since 2010. Isn't that right, Mr. Abysmal?

In 2009, it was new, no one knew what to do with it. They've figured it out, though. We need to mix it up.

 

[dare2be]

In 2009, it was new, no one knew what to do with it. They've figured it out, though. We need to mix it up.

We aren't playing anywhere near like we did in 2009. No extended puck possession, no 2-way play, no offensive zone cycling...it's like we're playing basketball looking for the fast break all the time.

 

[Darkstone42]

We aren't playing anywhere near like we did in 2009. No extended puck possession, no 2-way play, no offensive zone cycling...it's like we're playing basketball looking for the fast break all the time.

Our top two lines are the only ones built to cycle, but they prefer to work off the rush. To me, that's a system thing, and a failure of the coach. The players need to realize it, yes, but the coach has to ingrain that message in them.

Crosby and Kunitz especially should be dominant in a cycle system. They're both great along the boards and in front of the net.

 

[dash]

We aren't playing anywhere near like we did in 2009. No extended puck possession, no 2-way play, no offensive zone cycling...it's like we're playing basketball looking for the fast break all the time.

Help is on the way...

 

[forty_three]

The Blue Jackets are playing a system which most precisely mitigates the Penguins' game. They're playing it well, too. Ever since Byslma got here, the approach has surrounded having the D make long stretch passes to the forwards to turn them loose. Even when we were a puck possession team, that's how we started up the ice.

The problem is that the guys we trusted to make those passes, like Letang and Orpik, are floundering in that role. They have been all year. The Jackets are doing a great job of exacerbating the problem by hitting them repeatedly. Now they're rushing even more, and most of our outlet passes are being picked off, whether in the neutral zone or in the defensive zone, or going down for icing.

Since the defense is inept at moving the puck forward, I've noticed the Pens' wingers coming much lower in the defensive zone than usual to help get the puck out. But to whom? The system hasn't changed, so they're looking up to see no one to pass to.

Bylsma needs to make an adjustment. Really, he needs to abandon the stretch pass strategy. Start skating the puck up more. It's more defensively responsible, and if you make it a system thing, the forwards will get a chance to crash and control the puck.

I lost count in game four of how many times, even up 3-0 and 3-1, the Pens' defense tried to fire a pass all the way to the offensive blue line, and it got picked off or missed everyone and went for icing. If you want to win the puck possession battle, you have to control the puck into the offensive zone.

It's not a big adjustment needed, either. I am glad he hasn't figured it out yet.

If you notice, the Jackets -particularly on the power play - make drop passes to a late comer who has speed through the neutral zone. The mid zone forechecker on the opposing team turns to follow the puck and the pass goes to the winger towards the boards and boom - suddenly you have a 4 on 3 or 3 on 2 at the opposing blue line. Dump in and the same late guy has speed and gets to the puck either first or right as the D does. Jackets took some time to get used to it, and had some brutal turnovers early on.

With the speed and stick handling skill the Pens have, that one adjustment would make them impossible to play against.

 

[Darkstone42]

It's not a big adjustment needed, either. I am glad he hasn't figured it out yet.

If you notice, the Jackets -particularly on the power play - make drop passes to a late comer who has speed through the neutral zone. The mid zone forechecker on the opposing team turns to follow the puck and the pass goes to the winger towards the boards and boom - suddenly you have a 4 on 3 or 3 on 2 at the opposing blue line. Dump in and the same late guy has speed and gets to the puck either first or right as the D does. Jackets took some time to get used to it, and had some brutal turnovers early on.

With the speed and stick handling skill the Pens have, that one adjustment would make them impossible to play against.

This is our pain.

 

[dare2be]

This is our pain.

Which was my point in this whole discussion going back to 2010.

I remember we had a good cycle on even our 3rd and 4th lines, of course that was when we had the likes of Staal and Talbot, Guerin and (ahem!) Gill.

 

[evolver115]

Good news!


Sounds like Goc will be back for game 5