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Pens - - JAN 2018

If you are going to whine and cry as you lose...please do so fashionably....
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4 in a row!!! Just what the doctor ordered...has this team turned a corner? Sid looks engaged, Malkin and Kessel lookin good, D is not making the mistakes we had been accustomed to in December...Jarry looking solid , get back soon Matt Murray!
 
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Quite the read /video gents...he was always one of my faves, a serious beast of a power forward....and remember that facial /head injury quite well as I'm sure the rest of you do...East Coast Pens scout now, and hopefully able to stay on track...
 
Um...wow...did not hear that she was sick nor had passed? If so, I imagine it's hit that T Bay community hard. Feel terrible for the guy.... She is the reason for that Dutch flag we all see on the back of his mask. And from what I hear the Murray's are a fixture in the community over the years. No secret I like the guy for more than one reason and will do my best to excuse the bad goal when it happens...I guess if so there's plenty of reason to explain his rough start this year. Hopeful he can come back from this with the same even keel ice in viens attitude I have seen in the past. You have a link CM? Just asked my Auntie if they had heard anything of it....and nothing.

The short answer to your question, t, is no. It's pretty clear to me the media surrounding this team.....at least that online.....is giving the details of Murray's absence a borderline-shockingly wide berth. Here's today's entry from DK (which matches what we've been reading for the last several days)

Technically, the Penguins didn’t hold a morning skate, but a few players informally took the ice, including Murray. The starting goalie has been on leave since Friday attending to a personal family matter, but he is back in Pittsburgh. Before the game Sullivan said there was no change in Murray’s status and that “we’re giving him his personal space and we’re asking everyone to be respectful of that.” After the game, Sullivan announced that Murray would be making the west coast trip with his teammates. That means with back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday against the Ducks and Kings, Murray figures to get one of those starts and possibly two of the three games in California.

From a distance, I'm not sure I know why......of course, nobody cares if I know why. But to your question about a link, I'm pretty sure I read this "story" about MM's mother on Twitter rather than from an outlet publishing for the record. Which, of course, makes its opening for question/scrutiny about a mile wide. But something about the tweet told me it was penned by a media member rather than a fan-type.

Obviously, the team itself feels compelled to keep a lid (officially, at least) on the details of the absence.....and from my standpoint, that's pretty much the end of the discussion. But the fact Murray is coming back to the team would obviously seem indicate the issue has, well, been resolved.

If the Murray clan is notable locally, it seems reasonable that one reason the team might not want to go public with the news is not just to respect the family.....but more importantly, keep CBC and TSN out of Thunder Bay and away from the funeral home. That's even more so when you consider that members of the team......perhaps including Mario himself......might want to pay their respects personally.

Still, even with the lack of public info forthcoming from the Penguins, it's hard to imagine that somebody in TB wouldn't find some means to tip off the Canadian media to this story....
 
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Eklund talking about the Pens making a waiver claim on Paul Martin. Even if they have the cap space in order to add him to the roster, my own guess is that will NOT happen.
 
Eklund clarifying that any team making a waiver claim on Martin has to pay his full current salary of $4.25 million (though his cap number is $4.8 million). Assuming he therefore clears waivers, Eklund now theorizes the Sharks will attempt to deal him by offering to withhold some of his salary......which it seems to me is the ONLY way a deal likely can happen (and certainly with a team like the Pens)
 
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If you haven't looked at the Metro standings, the Pens currently are only one (1) point behind 3rd place Jersey, in the midst of a 6 game winless streak.

However, Jersey has games in hand over the entire Division; 4 over the Pens and CBJ.....3 over WAS, NYI and CAR.....2 over NYR.....and 1 over PHL As it turns out, a majority of the Division didn't make up any of their games in hand over the Pens last week; NJD, NYR, NYI, and PHL all had their byes at the same time.

Meanwhile, the Pens currently have the #1 Eastern wildcard....though al four teams within 3 points of them are from the Metro.
 
murray's dad died.

Well, I guess that tweet I read the other day had the basic story line pseudo-correct, but with incorrect timing. That is, unless MM's Mother actually DID pass last week......and now his Dad passes less than a week later.

As fans, let's just hope the leave WAS about the kid's Dad the whole time, and that the situation is only now (rather than a day or two ago) in actual process.
 
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A big 4 points on the line the next two nights in california.

too bad I'll be asleep midway through the first.

First period intermission and I'm still awake, probably because I'm sitting at a desk in a hotel room watching on NBCSN Streaming. Friggin' hotel here in Louisville has TVG Racing on their cable from goddamn Australia, but not NBCSN.
 
Turnovers in those last two periods.....and the 2nd, in particular.....were as awful (and frequent) as any game all year; .and Jarry was lost in trying to shut the door once the bleeding started. In the 3rd, the Pens made what I consider one of their better pushbacks of the season, though they could only get within one.

Letang picked up where he left off, but Malkin is also killing his team with those half-asleep passes which seem more numerous this season than ever before. Meanwhile, did you guys see the replay of the two posts Hagelin hit on a single shot ???
 
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Turnovers in those last two periods.....and the 2nd, in particular.....were as awful (and frequent) as any game all year; .and Jarry was lost in trying to shut the door once the bleeding started. In the 3rd, the Pens made what I consider one of their better pushbacks of the season, though they could only get within one.

Letang picked up where he left off, but Malkin is also killing his team with those half-asleep passes which seem more numerous this season than ever before. Meanwhile, did you guys see the replay of the two posts Hagelin hit on a single shot ???

I almost posted this earlier as an example of hagelin stinking/having bad luck... konstantin koltsov-esque
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Critical 2 tonight boys. DeSmith gets his first start and victory in goal.
I only saw the 3rd period, but was very impressed with DeSmith and the rest of the lads. Very nice 2nd goal of the game by Horny. I hope JS is okay. A very dirty hit on him by Dustin Brown IMO. Crosschecking a guy on his knees and especially that close to the boards is uncalled for and should warrant a suspension. Pretty scary to see #4's head go into the dasher. Let's go and get 2 tomorrow in San Jose!
 
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I wonder why sprong (did he tell sullivan to s his d?) isn't playing? perhaps I should investigate before posting but meh...

edit: 5 shots in 4 games after his two goal game vs the islanders....

you need to shoot when you play with sid, especially when you have a shot like that.
 
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I only saw the 3rd period, but was very impressed with DeSmith and the rest of the lads. Very nice 2nd goal of the game by Horny. I hope JS is okay. A very dirty hit on him by Dustin Brown IMO. Crosschecking a guy on his knees and especially that close to the boards is uncalled for and should warrant a suspension. Pretty scary to see #4's head go into the dasher. Let's go and get 2 tomorrow in San Jose!

I was having trouble with NBC Streaming last night, and (happily) missed the entire 1st period.

The feed was choppy for me even before the game started; and when I dialed up ESPN early to find how much time had elapsed, I saw the Pens had the lead in the first 2 minutes. Quick must have wanted to jam his stick up his own ass after that GA.....fortunately for the Pens, they caught the Kings in the midst of a slump last night.

Speaking of goaltenders, I don't know what in the hell got into DeSmith last night.....but that was some pretty confident goal he played. Will be interesting to see if it earned him the right to temporarily create an actual no-Murray rotation.

Presumably, Jarry will continue to get the lion's share of the work; but with TJ's confidence currrently looking something less than ideal, maybe HCMS will at least be a little more inclined to pull the trigger on DeSmith now. Not sure if going back to him in San Jose necessarily is a good idea, even though I admit I'm not real excited about the prospects of Jarry in the cage right now.

The Brown hit was a joke......and the **** had the audacity in the postgame to try and justify it. Yeah, Schultz is on his knees facing the boards, and Brown can't figure out why putting ther wood to him warranted anything more than maybe a minor.

I admittedly don't follow the Kings very closely, but I know Brown has always had a thug streak in him; I suspect he's a pretty good candidate to hear from the League on that one. That play, and some of the squawking from bruisers like Alec Martinez make it fairly clear the more you watch the Kings, the easier they are to dislike.

I wonder why sprong (did he tell sullivan to s his d?) isn't playing? perhaps I should investigate before posting but meh...

edit: 5 shots in 4 games after his two goal game vs the islanders....

you need to shoot when you play with sid, especially when you have a shot like that.

Thought I read Sprong was being sat for effort reasons.

Whether you agree with the decision or not, it's still the HC's call who plays.....and (IMO) it's not a good sign that an example has to be made of a kid in his first month in the League. And we all know effort is one thing on which Sully (and every coach in the League) won't compromise.

I presume DS showed those same negative characteristics in WB/S, and that's why the team was seemingly so slow bringing him up.
 
In the aftermath of the $10K fine against Dustin Brown......not sure why a fine is even defined as "punishment" for someone like Brown making $6.5 million a year.....I notice the League also hit Geno with a $5K fine (of course, he's making $9.5 million a year) for spearing Brown earlier in the game.

I didn't see the spear, which I understand happened in the 1st period the other night. Comments from anyone here who saw the play.......if it indeed was as blatant a spear as Brown apologists seemed to think (while the rest of the hockey world was properly taking him to task), why wasn't Geno penalized on the play ?? Seems to me that it'd be fairly hard for 4 on-ice officials to miss a spear that was ultimately worthy of a $5K fine.

Or, did the League simply find it easier to go the fine route.....mostly because Schultz doesn't appear to be injured.....rather than having to manage the multiple game suspension Brown probably deserved against the spear (and resulting outrage from LA) that Geno wasn't even called for ???
 
In the aftermath of the $10K fine against Dustin Brown......not sure why a fine is even defined as "punishment" for someone like Brown making $6.5 million a year.....I notice the League also hit Geno with a $5K fine (of course, he's making $9.5 million a year) for spearing Brown earlier in the game.

I didn't see the spear, which I understand happened in the 1st period the other night. Comments from anyone here who saw the play.......if it indeed was as blatant a spear as Brown apologists seemed to think (while the rest of the hockey world was properly taking him to task), why wasn't Geno penalized on the play ?? Seems to me that it'd be fairly hard for 4 on-ice officials to miss a spear that was ultimately worthy of a $5K fine.

Or, did the League simply find it easier to go the fine route.....mostly because Schultz doesn't appear to be injured.....rather than having to manage the multiple game suspension Brown probably deserved against the spear (and resulting outrage from LA) that Geno wasn't even called for ???

this all seems stupid.
 
both goaliles playing well.

throw filip gustaffson into the mix and the pens have the best young goalie situation in the league.
 
I just read the Pens have only 2 games in the next 9 days.....which I assume will FINALLY consume most of those games all their competitors seem to have in hand.
 
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DeSmith in the cage tonight......Rust expected back (though not confirmed).....and Reaves thought to be a likely candidate as the healthy scratch.
 
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