Game Thread: Pittsburgh Penguins(1) vs. New York Rangers(2) | Round 2

[jstewismybastardson]

5 straight game 7 wins. No goalie in NHL history has even done that.
Also 10-2 in games his team is facing elimination.
Not his fault we never scored in the playoffs, he has always carried us.
Ranger fans wanted him to steal a series, and this round, he did.
Now all he needs is the Cup.

this seems strangely familiar

 

[dash]

this seems strangely familiar

8 goals in 7 games familiar?

 

[dare2be]

I'll never forget 2 goals in a 4-game sweep.

 

[Darkstone42]

I can't put this one on Fleury because the Pens only managed 3 goals in 180 minutes of hockey (games 5-6-7). That just isn't going to get it done. You have to score to win hockey games. The Pens powerplay and even strength play was pathetic in the last three games of this series, and that is what ultimately did them in. Not Fleury.

I thought they were good even strength, but the powerplay was terrible. They basically doubled-up the Rangers in shots in game 7, and they had the puck most of the game. The second goal was chaos after what probably should have been a shorty for the Pens if Gibbons could have corralled that puck.

We needed to take advantage of the powerplay last night because Lundqvist was just too on not to. We didn't, and it cost us.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

8 goals in 7 games familiar?

i try to forget it but i cant

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

this seems strangely familiar

Yupp.

Sadly, up until this season, it was always the case for us.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Impressive.

On the flipside, 5 straight years of the Pens being eliminated by a lower-seeded opponent.

Finally, people may stop calling my goalie ''overrated'' ''not a playoff performer'' This should silent them for a bit

As Hank tweeted last night ''8 down, 8 to go''

 

[sbb122]

so is Shero on the outs ?
what are the chances Pens are still interested in Kesler ?
Does the nature of this playoff exit increase the urgency to get him ?
Does the recovery of Letang mean Pens are more willing to part with Derrick Pouliot now ?

Shero is done, him and Bylsma can ride off into the sunset together.

I'm thinking Kesler and Hansen for Neal and a 2nd.

They have more pressing needs then Kesler so not sure about the urgency.

Pouliot is untouchable.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Shero is done, him and Bylsma can ride off into the sunset together.

I'm thinking Kesler and Hansen for Neal and a 2nd.

They have more pressing needs then Kesler so not sure about the urgency.

Pouliot is untouchable.

That'd be a great deal for the Penguins - it would give them some more forward depth and a legitimate center - everyone talks about needing a winger for Crosby's line but they need more help at center going down the lines

 

[pixburgher66]

The more I sit and think about it, the more I see Neal being shipped away. If the ownership is pissed about what I think they're pissed about (accountability), he should be the first to go. The issue then is that you just removed a huge scoring asset from the team. You can't easily replace those goals. I really don't think they'd can Shero with the draft a month away and so many holes to fill, btw. Unless they're simply going to promote Boterill.

 

[Cobiemonster]

The more I sit and think about it, the more I see Neal being shipped away. If the ownership is pissed about what I think they're pissed about (accountability), he should be the first to go. The issue then is that you just removed a huge scoring asset from the team. You can't easily replace those goals. I really don't think they'd can Shero with the draft a month away and so many holes to fill, btw. Unless they're simply going to promote Boterill.

James Neal is dumb, he takes stupid retaliation penalties and comes up very small when it matters the most - I'm not saying he's a locker room cancer but if you can move him and get someone who's smarter, I'm sure there are plenty of players in this league who they can get who are smart and can still score some goals - more depth will probably help them anyway

And I said that about Ray Shero too, they can't boot him with all the guys they have to re-sign going into the offseason - but I do think, if the Penguins want to do something with the GM, move Ray Shero to some type of role like Paul Holmgren has(although Mario being already there, it might be repetitive) and promote Jason Boterill - he might have fresh ideas and might try to move a higher salary guy like Letang or Neal - it's hard to have strong depth when you have big salary players, only way to have good depth consistently like that is to draft and develop really well(guys like Gibbons are good, developed players but they need more of those types)

 

[Cobiemonster]

Owners favor firing Bylsma; Shero status undetermined | TribLIVE

 

[element1286]

Owners favor firing Bylsma; Shero status undetermined | TribLIVE

Yeah, figured this would start getting ugly.

 

[IPostedWhat]

Regardless of the outcome, this pic is pretty damn funny:

 

[pixburgher66]

Regardless of the outcome, this pic is pretty damn funny:

Oh man that's fantastic. Doesn't even bug me that it's a salty Pens fan...that's just...wow.

 

[dash]

Is that Lord Malkin-tent's Cup?

 

[sbb122]

Every draft pick to score a goal for Pittsburgh since '07: Jeffrey (15), Maatta (9), Bennett (6), Despres (3). Bortuzzo (2), Caputi (2).

lol, way to draft ray.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Every draft pick to score a goal for Pittsburgh since '07: Jeffrey (15), Maatta (9), Bennett (6), Despres (3). Bortuzzo (2), Caputi (2).

lol, way to draft ray.

Just for fun, I was looking back at some of the other teams as well to compare - here are the Flyers since '07:

JVR (47), Sean Couturier (30), Zac Rinaldo (7), Tye McGinn (7), Eric Wellwood (5), Marc-Andre Bourdon (4), Oliver Lauridsen (2), Jon Kalinski (1)

Kings:

Drew Doughty (59), Wayne Simmonds (39), Dwight King (24), Alec Martinez (23), Kyle Clifford (22), Slava Voynov (18), Tyler Toffoli (14), Oscar Moller (12), Jordan Nolan (10), Andrei Loktionov (7), Tanner Pearson (3)

Penguins have combined for 37 goals, Flyers with 103 and the Kings with 231

The disparity is incredible

 

[sbb122]

Just for fun, I was looking back at some of the other teams as well to compare - here are the Flyers since '07:

JVR (47), Sean Couturier (30), Zac Rinaldo (7), Tye McGinn (7), Eric Wellwood (5), Marc-Andre Bourdon (4), Oliver Lauridsen (2), Jon Kalinski (1)

Kings:

Drew Doughty (59), Wayne Simmonds (39), Dwight King (24), Alec Martinez (23), Kyle Clifford (22), Slava Voynov (18), Tyler Toffoli (14), Oscar Moller (12), Jordan Nolan (10), Andrei Loktionov (7), Tanner Pearson (3)

Penguins have combined for 37 goals, Flyers with 103 and the Kings with 231

The disparity is incredible

I'm afraid to look at the Blackhawks!

 

[Cobiemonster]

Red Wings:

Gustav Nyquist (32), Tomas Tatar (24), Joakim Andersson (11), Riley Sheahan (9), Tomas Jurco (8), Brendan Smith (6), Adam Almquist (1)

Total: 91

Blackhawks:

Patrick Kane (178), Andrew Shaw (41), Brandon Saad (29), Marcus Kruger (21), Ben Smith (18), Brandon Pirri (6), Joakim Nordstrom (1)

Total: 294

I'll get to more later