Might be a smart move, might be the product of playing home games in two buildings.
Round #1 -- Pens at Isles
- Thread starter COOL MAN
- Start date
Might be a smart move, might be the product of playing home games in two buildings.
Hoping Bailey's clang-er with time running out is the bad omen for the NYI.. 
ray:
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They are playing all of these epic highlights from LOOOONG OT games on CBC now...I don't have the energy...lets get it done early boys! LET'S FN GO!
So many posts tonight both sides...yikes....Hoping Bailey's clang-er with time running out is the bad omen for the NYI..
Hoping Bailey's clang-er with time running out is the bad omen for the NYI..
Guess not..... :weary:
Yep still up........this next one is now the must vs the one we woulda stole....
In saying that the Flower fan crew needs to look at goals one and especially two by SJ.... can you say WEAK!?!?
MM gave em enough opportunity tonight imo...too much screwing about, pretty much everywhere
...and as I and CM alluded to? Geez a lot of posts in that one both sides ...make the ****in mark Pens or go home....off to bed to shake it off.
In saying that the Flower fan crew needs to look at goals one and especially two by SJ.... can you say WEAK!?!?
MM gave em enough opportunity tonight imo...too much screwing about, pretty much everywhere
...and as I and CM alluded to? Geez a lot of posts in that one both sides ...make the ****in mark Pens or go home....off to bed to shake it off.
In regards to the JJ scratch which threw me for a loop...assuming (hoping) he's back Friday, who sits in the press box? Olli? Petterson? Likely not the latter but imo the guy takes an inordinate number of dumb penalties lately and his shot is simply dreadful... @Irwineer2 it won't be Tanger lol but with that OT giveaway maybe it should be...
We see the same mistakes and lack of jam tomorrow night then MM is gonna have to outright steal one...not sure I'd rather that not happen so they can collectively navel gaze the entire flight home...heck, I'd send em all back on the bus...
We see the same mistakes and lack of jam tomorrow night then MM is gonna have to outright steal one...not sure I'd rather that not happen so they can collectively navel gaze the entire flight home...heck, I'd send em all back on the bus...
I'll repeat Maatta sucks. He has been sub-par most of the season and nowhere near as good as Johnson since November when Johnson righted himself. Yet Sully benches Johnson. Maatta kindly repays the coaching staff with the sort of play that had Ron Stackhouse feeling vindicated. This had to be one of the worst games I have seen a Pens defenseman play since October.
He sure as $hit needs to be better than last night...and if he's logging big minutes he better damnwell score too...
No question he was awful at times... he seems to have lost a step over the last year or two...
Ok the Pens gambled and lost on the GWG. That whole shift was bizarre with the pens gambling all over the ice like they were down a goal. But MM gets enough of the Barzal's shot to direct it off the post and Letang decides the best play is to steamroll Barzal into MM taking him out of the play and allowing an easy goal. WTF?
But my biggest issue of the night other than Maatta's ECHL-like play was the complete lack of intensity from the Crosby line except for the first shift of OT. Rust and Jake never seemed engaged. Rust is back to a perimeter game that renders him useless. Nobody on that line seemed to want to get hit and therefore they were bested all night long minus the one shift.
I can live with the lost step. But the third goal was caused by his icing and relentless giveaways after the resulting faceoff
So, the least important game of any 7-game series is now in the books.
From my biased Pens POV, I honestly think they have every reason to feel decent since they played perhaps their worst defensive game of the season and still had chances to win. And that was with the Crosby line's total no-show. Of course, today's analysis (from outside Pittsburgh) will be the loss was all about the Isles' hitting which took the Pens totally out of their game (and which will continue so long as the series goes).
I wonder how the Isles feel this morning, aside they're happier being 1-0 than 0-1. If they think last night was all about the Cizikas line (and Lehner), they're probably pretty happy......especially since it's not like they got all the breaks on home ice. OTOH, they have to realize every remaining game in the series probably has to go the same way......and I seriously doubt (keeping my fingers crossed here) the Pens defense will leave the front of their net so wide open again.
Oh, and not that anyone asked.....and there's obviously plenty of time to turn things around (and I sure hope he does)......but I didn't see anything last night to change my mind that Sid is (and has been) a skating dead man.
From my biased Pens POV, I honestly think they have every reason to feel decent since they played perhaps their worst defensive game of the season and still had chances to win. And that was with the Crosby line's total no-show. Of course, today's analysis (from outside Pittsburgh) will be the loss was all about the Isles' hitting which took the Pens totally out of their game (and which will continue so long as the series goes).
I wonder how the Isles feel this morning, aside they're happier being 1-0 than 0-1. If they think last night was all about the Cizikas line (and Lehner), they're probably pretty happy......especially since it's not like they got all the breaks on home ice. OTOH, they have to realize every remaining game in the series probably has to go the same way......and I seriously doubt (keeping my fingers crossed here) the Pens defense will leave the front of their net so wide open again.
Oh, and not that anyone asked.....and there's obviously plenty of time to turn things around (and I sure hope he does)......but I didn't see anything last night to change my mind that Sid is (and has been) a skating dead man.
While we're venting, I'll weigh in with a few complaints...
Anyone else notice this propensity to slow to a crawl once they gain the O zone, right around the circle? Like they are trying to set up for a bloody PP? It drives me bonkers and they have done it all year. Now that the flip pass has been neutralized by most opposition , they MUST control and continue to carry the puck with speed down low. Sid needs to live down low. I don't care to watch them set up for the pretty goal at the expense of costly turnovers. Get the bodies in front, Horney, Bjugs start crashing Lehner, get the puck on him and get on their D. This guy has had awful rebound control his entire career. His pads are NOT soft. He's no different now, he just has D men that will clear the puck effectively in front before it becomes a problem....rant over for now.
Anyone else notice this propensity to slow to a crawl once they gain the O zone, right around the circle? Like they are trying to set up for a bloody PP? It drives me bonkers and they have done it all year. Now that the flip pass has been neutralized by most opposition , they MUST control and continue to carry the puck with speed down low. Sid needs to live down low. I don't care to watch them set up for the pretty goal at the expense of costly turnovers. Get the bodies in front, Horney, Bjugs start crashing Lehner, get the puck on him and get on their D. This guy has had awful rebound control his entire career. His pads are NOT soft. He's no different now, he just has D men that will clear the puck effectively in front before it becomes a problem....rant over for now.
Was awfully easy to criticize Maatta last night; not just because he doesn't seem like he's got the wheels anymore.....and also made bad decisions......but I was shocked how really weak he was on the puck when it was on his stick. Unfortunately, we all know he wasn't the only guy who stunk it up last night.
That said, assuming Dumo and (especially) Gud come off the game today in one piece, I myself don't think there's much doubt it'll be Maatta who gets benched for Game 2 (even though I'm not sure Pettersson did much in his own right to earn a Game 2 sweater).
Still, imagine so much post-game pointing to a Johnson benching as a key reason for last night's problems.....who'da thunk it.
