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PENS 2021 Season!!

i think sully will sit erod.

geno has done this before. he should be ok.

I tend to assume it takes getting Geno pissed-off before he switches into high gear; most typically, that's a game versus Washington (or maybe the Cryers). But I figure the Isles still have a few players......and Matt Martin, in particular......who can probably get under his skin over the course of a playoff series and ratchet him up a few degrees.
 
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It’s been four days since our last game and we still don’t know when game one is. Wtf?! Why announce the Caps/B’s game one time and it ours?
 
Nothing official yet but here’s the potential series schedule...and noon on Sunday? Yuck! Wtf?! Why not 3 at least? Oh well beer for breakfast I guess.

 
No matter what one thinks about noon Sunday faceoffs, I honestly can't imagine anyone anywhere in the free world being satisfied with a 3PM Saturday faceoff for Game 4. I also wouldn't be bananas about a 730 faceoff for Game 2; if I were King, evening playoff games in the Eastern time zone would always faceoff at 7PM

OTOH, one good thing about this schedule, though, is it shows the traditional single (1) day between all series games......there are few things I myself dislike more than multiple days between playoff games.
 
No matter what one thinks about noon Sunday faceoffs, I honestly can't imagine anyone anywhere in the free world being satisfied with a 3PM Saturday faceoff for Game 4. I also wouldn't be bananas about a 730 faceoff for Game 2; if I were King, evening playoff games in the Eastern time zone would always faceoff at 7PM

OTOH, one good thing about this schedule, though, is it shows the traditional single (1) day between all series games......there are few things I myself dislike more than multiple days between playoff games.

I personally like the 3PM weekend games. It gives me time to be productive and get some things done around the house while at the same time giving me a reason to day drink and still get to bed at a decent time for recovery so I feel good the next day. Too often the night games turn into late night parties, especially after wins.
 
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no malkin
I'd like to think he'd have made a difference yesterday, but what the hell do I know......I mean, he's not getting paid to make glove saves. Either way, it'd sure be nice to get Carter back on the 3rd unit where evidence indicates (thus far, at least) he's more effective.

Meanwhile, speaking of glove saves, how much confidence did everyone lose in Jarry yesterday ?? I don't seem to recall him having too many consecutive bad games since becoming a starter....at least aside the earliest part of this past season......but even when making some good saves, he never seemed to my eyes to get comfortable. I'm admittedly terrified his confidence, of which there's at least some evidence to believe wasn't the greatest to begin with, took a hit.

I know he missed a game or two last week (apparently) with some manner of injury; with that in mind, I can't help but wonder if he remains somewhat less than 100% physically.
 
The fact Jars barely handled the puck yesterday, his glove was bad and he shied away from the high shots tells me something isn’t right with him physically. If he struggles early tomorrow I wouldn’t hesitate to pull him even if LaGace is our only option.
 
I'd like to think he'd have made a difference yesterday, but what the hell do I know......I mean, he's not getting paid to make glove saves. Either way, it'd sure be nice to get Carter back on the 3rd unit where evidence indicates (thus far, at least) he's more effective.

Meanwhile, speaking of glove saves, how much confidence did everyone lose in Jarry yesterday ?? I don't seem to recall him having too many consecutive bad games since becoming a starter....at least aside the earliest part of this past season......but even when making some good saves, he never seemed to my eyes to get comfortable. I'm admittedly terrified his confidence, of which there's at least some evidence to believe wasn't the greatest to begin with, took a hit.

I know he missed a game or two last week (apparently) with some manner of injury; with that in mind, I can't help but wonder if he remains somewhat less than 100% physically.
jarry looked pretty comfortable when all that traffic was in front of him. thought he made some darn good stops but those softee goals need to stop.
 
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Geno and Dumo both said to be gametime decisions tonight.....though Geno evidently took the optional skate this morning, which is thought typically to be a bad sign as to the likelhood he'll play.
 
Geno and Dumo both said to be gametime decisions tonight.....though Geno evidently took the optional skate this morning, which is thought typically to be a bad sign as to the likelhood he'll play.

Geno was also working with the skills coach which isn’t a good sign. I think Dumo will play though. Now let’s tighten up that D and no bad goals given up by Jars and we’ll win.
 
Not sure what this means.......but ESPN (through Steve Valiquette, who is among the game's most notable goaltending statistical analysts) has rated the 16 goaltending tandems in the playoffs, and they've currently got Jarry/DeSmith as #14 ahead of only Edmonton and Washington.

The stats: .908 save percentage (11th), 2.77 GAA (14th)
The skinny: The post-Matt Murray goaltending world for the Penguins saw Jarry and DeSmith both put together aggressively average seasons. Jarry was the more dependable of the two, with a .632 quality start percentage; DeSmith was the more effective of the two, with a .912 save percentage to Jarry's .909, and 8.8 goals saved above average. Neither should feel all that good about their long-term status with the team now that Ron Hextall, who has no ties to either of them, is the Pittsburgh GM.
Valiquette's view: "Jarry has had his challenges this season. He got up and then he came back down again. I wonder about this with goalies all the time: Do some of them play better as an underdog? I just wonder how he performs when the pressure is on. He's among the goalies that have struggled the most the last month and a half. The low-danger goals are high on him as well."


FWIW, he's rated the Islanders' tandem 3rd and the Broons' tandem 4th. Note this story was run on espn.com last Thursday 5/13, well in advance of Sunday's Game 1.
 
that one brought me out of my chair for the first time this year.


fvck yeah carter.
Yup..... important, I think, to get out of that 1st with a 2 goal lead. Not that the Isles can't score 2 (or more) tonight.......obviously, they can.......but the Pens just flat deserved a good lead after an excellent period.

That play where Jarry was face down and out of the play......and JPG put it off Sid backing him up in the crease...... I thought THAT was a significant play; one which, in the two previous playoff series, almost assuredly wouldn't have gone the Pens' way. To my way of thinking, a good omen tonight.......
 
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Yup..... important, I think, to get out of that 1st with a 2 goal lead. Not that the Isles can't score 2 (or more) tonight.......obviously, they can.......but the Pens just flat deserved a good lead after an excellent period.

That play where Jarry was face down and out of the play......and JPG put it off Sid backing him up in the crease...... I thought THAT was a significant play; one which, in the two previous playoff series, almost assuredly wouldn't have gone the Pens' way. To my way of thinking, a good omen tonight.......
2 goal lead is more important vs the isles than any other nhl team. they won't come out of that d shell unless they are down 2.

now they gotta stay on it.

I loved the response on the shift after the power play by blueger and co
 
Anxious to see if the Isles bring that 3rd period from Game 3 back to the rink today. I myself don't think anyone is more cock sure of his strategy to beat the Pens than Trotz.....but he runs the risk that Cziikas, Clutterbuck, and (especially) Martin spend more time in the box than on the ice (if the League decides Thursday night just got out of hand).

Meanwhile, how long can we keep riding 77 the Rifle ?? Interesting that with all the extracurricular stuff going on, the Isles don't appear to be confronting him very much. Maybe because he's just bigger than the rest of the Pens' forwards, or maybe it's because those previous hacks (plus Komarov) are just more occupied with the Crosby and Malkin units.

Carter was always a sniper......and maybe we all just lost track of him in LA......but I can't think of too many Pens with better wrists. Outside Alexei Kovalev......who I myself still consider to be THE best pure shooter ever with the Pens......I'm nothing short of amazed how dangerous/effective this 36 year old cast-off has proven to be. Just hope he can keep it up.
 
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Something tells me we're REALLY going to need Kapanen today......
 
Clearly , nobody (including Carter) kept up ANYTHING yesterday.

So now that Pens Nation is back this morning ready to step off the cliff again like they did after Game 1.....even though the two games couldn't have been more different......it's obviously a good time to get this team some homecooking again (as everyone pulling for the Isles thought was THEIR key to re-establishing control of the series heading into Game 3).

I notice Pens media is finally unloading their frustration on the currently invisible Crosby unit......no question they're getting steamrolled on every shift. But whether you believe it's happening legally or not, that doesn't/won't matter unless the stripes find their whistles again (which I myself do NOT think will happen this series).
 
Clearly , nobody (including Carter) kept up ANYTHING yesterday.

So now that Pens Nation is back this morning ready to step off the cliff again like they did after Game 1.....even though the two games couldn't have been more different......it's obviously a good time to get this team some homecooking again (as everyone pulling for the Isles thought was THEIR key to re-establishing control of the series heading into Game 3).

I notice Pens media is finally unloading their frustration on the currently invisible Crosby unit......no question they're getting steamrolled on every shift. But whether you believe it's happening legally or not, that doesn't/won't matter unless the stripes find their whistles again (which I myself do NOT think will happen this series).

The clutching, grabbing and interfering in this series is beyond ridiculous. But the Pens need to find a way. More net presence is needed and more physicality as well. Time for Sully to mix up the lines as Rusty and Jake are dragging Sid down with them. A good start and a lead tomorrow night will go a long ways towards a victory.
 
Ovechkin contract has ended. I want Pens to make a push to sign him. Crosby and Ovechkin go from rivals to teammates would be a great story and piss off the Cap fans.
 
The clutching, grabbing and interfering in this series is beyond ridiculous. But the Pens need to find a way. More net presence is needed and more physicality as well. Time for Sully to mix up the lines as Rusty and Jake are dragging Sid down with them. A good start and a lead tomorrow night will go a long ways towards a victory.

I'd think playing with a lead (and preferably by more than 1 goal) is borderline mandatory now that the Isles have settled in, and Trotz is presumably convinced he's re-discovered the recipe to win two straight (which includes welding Varlamov to the bench).

But playing from behind is also from where their ace-in-the-hole, the Cizikas/Clutterbuck/Martin line, earns their salaries versus the Pens. Notice they did virtually nothing on Saturday.....they only played a little north of 14:00 each......and especially once the Isles got the lead (though Cizikas did win 12 of 17 draws). Meanwhile, it's no secret physicality/net presence remains this Pens roster's' single biggest weakness.

I'd like to think home cooking will help the Pens jump tonight; but more than that, they need to find a way to generate an offensive push (chip and chase, I suppose) against that triangle force-field the Isles set up in front of their goal pretty much everytime the Pens cross their blue line. It'd also help if Sorokin didn't come out again and play an utterly mistake-proof game, just like Lehner did when he shut down the Pens 2 years ago.

Finally, it'd be nice if Jake, Rusty, and McCann actually decided to come to the rink tonight.......meanwhile, I don't know what to expect (if anything) from Geno. What's sad is that simply coming out of the game with zero PIM's tonight would be an accomplishment in itself.
 
So, any reason for the Pens to actually make the trip to Long Island tomorrow night ??
 
this isn't all on jarry.

sid and the wimps haven't done sh*t.

Yep plenty of blame to go around. We should have been up a few goals after the first last night. But we let them hang around. If we don’t win this series it’s time to blow it up and it’s time to move on from Sullivan.
 
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Yep plenty of blame to go around. We should have been up a few goals after the first last night. But we let them hang around. If we don’t win this series it’s time to blow it up and it’s time to move on from Sullivan.
sullivan, malking and letang. time to move on from all of them. league is reverting back to 90s hockey.
 
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