OT: Pens down 3-2 in series
- Thread starter West Coast Panther
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-People on this board were calling for him. There's the choke. Murray please, and trade Fleury and get some better defensemen.
lol Murray doesn't give up the first goal or 3rd goals? Ask TJ Oshie if he agrees. Game 1, 1st goal right over his shoulder and then wins it on a wrap around. Or Jay Beagle in the first 3 minutes of game 4. Shit happens, Fleury didn't lose the game.
Letang continues to be garbage. He gotta get it together. Have to play the HBK line more also. Double shift Malkin and Crosby more cause they need their minutes, but HBK should be out there much more than they are.
Letang continues to be garbage. He gotta get it together. Have to play the HBK line more also. Double shift Malkin and Crosby more cause they need their minutes, but HBK should be out there much more than they are.
Vasilevsky is the big reason Tampa has won. Something tells me Bishop doesn't make these saves and right now we'd be in the finals.
we were up 2-1 in the series. when the series was tied 2-2 we were up 2-0 in that game(last night) and lost. MAF didn't exactly steal the show last night, I was one of the few on here that suggested not to play him. Down the stretch in that game last night, he was shaky.
tampa is playing without Stamkos and Bishop and still winning. Ouch.
tampa is playing without Stamkos and Bishop and still winning. Ouch.
Oh yeah, it never fails. I wrote another post a few days ago pimping Letang - talking about how good he's been and how underrated he has been throughout the hockey world ( which is undeniably true) - and naturally he has played two shitty games since that post.
LOL!
The Penguins are a better team than the Lightning. However, to this point, Tampa Bay has proven to be the more resilient of the two teams. Pittsburgh has been backed into a corner and is now forced to show what it's made of. It will be interesting to see how the players respond.
A lot of focus had been on the goaltending and I definitely think the goaltending has been the big story in this series. However, the goaltender who is most responsible for Tampa Bay being up 3–2 is not Fleury or Murray, it's Vasilevskiy. He has really played well and kept them in a lot of games in which they were pretty severely outplayed. It is time to give some credit where it is due.
Pittsburgh needs to simplify it's game. Get pucks deep, cycle the puck, get shots to the net from the point – all the little things. More than anything though, Pittsburgh needs to do a better job of managing the puck in the neutral zone and getting on Tampa on the forecheck.
Tampa Bay is stretching the neutral zone with impunity. They look like the 2009 Penguins where almost every single breakout is a stretch pass. We have to slow that down or we will be golfing by Wednesday morning.
The strange part of this whole series is the more I watch it the more convinced I am the Pittsburgh is the better team. Tampa Bay does not look dangerous for long stretches of the series. Even when they are out-playing Pittsburgh – as they did for the first 25 minutes of last night's game – most of their shots were coming from outside the dots.
Those cannot go in.
I was extremely confident Pittsburgh was going to win last night. Honestly, I thought they had it all the way until the goal when in off Johnson's backside. It just always felt like a game that we were going to win. I was very surprised and disappointed that we lost and that goal sure felt like a dagger.
Pittsburgh now needs to pick itself up off the ice and go out there and prove that it is the better team. One game at a time but they can definitely do it because they are the better hockey club.
I do not think that Marc Andre Fleury played poorly last night. He wasn't great but neither was he terrible. I think at least two of Tampa's four goals were kind of lucky bounces that they took advantage of.
Still, I would probably go with Murray in Game 6 and I would've started him last night too. I just love his composure and his ability to bounce back from bad plays. I just think he's a winner.
That said, it is a very difficult decision for Sullivan to make and I don't envy him at all.
I don't think the decision is that dufficult. You go back to Murray. Fleury struggled, but has proved that he can do it in the playoffs this year. Having 4 days off might be just what the doctor ordered for him......and this coming from one of the biggest MAF fans in the city.
Pretty objective as I'm one of the bizarro Pittsburghers that doesn't invest much in hockey but still follows because all of my pals do. Uh, would've stuck with Murray. But, now, I say stay with Fleury. He'll shake off the rust. I like the Pens to dismantle Tampa in Game 6 and play as they did in Game 3. I think Game 7 is gonna be a match in fans of both teams are chewing off fingers. Expecting a tense, OT possible Game 7. I like the Pens there too. In the Finals, if it's the Sharks, I'll take the East. If it's the Blues, I'll take the West.
its tough to win in the playoffs when your stars don't play like stars. Far far far to much of that since 2009.
It just seems like every time the Pens reach a dire point we always have: "well, it is not Fleury's fault, he wasn't terrible". And in most cases (not all) this is true. But when can he be a reason why we won a game?
Regarding who to start in net........ I'd start Murray.. Kid seems to be more mentally strong than Fleury and handles the puck much better. I think you could make an argument either way but that's my thinking.
The rest is up to the top stars. Letang has to play much better than he did in game five where he was awful on both ends. Geno has to wake up from the coma hes been in... Other than brief flashes hes been awful.
Sid has played well for the most part but he has not been playing at a super start level. TB cannot focus on Sid and Geno due to HBK so its time to put up or shut up
I like the pens returning for game 7. TB has gotten a few breaks that went their way...(carom off flower right to whats his name for the wrap around to tie and the bounce of Johnsons back to win it......) I think the Pens get the bounces in 6 and win it in 7
The rest is up to the top stars. Letang has to play much better than he did in game five where he was awful on both ends. Geno has to wake up from the coma hes been in... Other than brief flashes hes been awful.
Sid has played well for the most part but he has not been playing at a super start level. TB cannot focus on Sid and Geno due to HBK so its time to put up or shut up
I like the pens returning for game 7. TB has gotten a few breaks that went their way...(carom off flower right to whats his name for the wrap around to tie and the bounce of Johnsons back to win it......) I think the Pens get the bounces in 6 and win it in 7
They should have started Murray last night and then gone to Fleury if they lost again. Now they gain no emotional boost from MAF being back in net when facing elimination and they have opened themselves up to questioning of the decision and split in the locker room. Definitely a head scratcher from Sullivan.
The problem with this team is not a new one. It's been masked by excellent four line depth and speed at even strength down the stretch this year and through two playoff rounds, but in critical situations the power play is absolutely awful. The goaltending situation can be debated from now until the end of time and it simply won't matter if the power play can't produce consistently. If you want to find a big difference between the 08 and 09 teams that made the finals and this team look no further than the production of the stars on the power play. And even throw 2010 in as well. From 2008 - 2010 Crosby averaged 0.6 points per playoff game on the power play. Malkin averaged the same 0.6 points per game. Since 2010 Crosby has averaged 0.39 power play points per playoff game and Malkin 0.33. If you project the 08-10 average on this playoff season you'd be adding 3 points to each of their totals right now. Now, you might say those points could be meaningless and come in a loss or a blowout win, but they also might come in a tie game or one goal game where timely power play goal is the difference between winning and losing. If 87 and 71 had three more points right now would they be down 3-2 in this series? Maybe, maybe not, but the lack of production by those guys on the power play is again threatening to end a season. The bigger issue is figuring out what the difference is between then and now. Did both of those guys suddenly forget how to produce on the power play? Is it scheme? If scheme is the answer it would have to apply to three different coaching staffs. Or have they never found and adequate replacement for Sergei Gonchar as the power play QB? To me it's an easy answer and one that has been very obvious for quite a while. Kris Letang is a very bad fit for running this power play. He tries to do too much. Where Gonchar could do the simple things consistently and very well, Letang complicates things and throws the timing of the entire unit off. Whether it's the awful breakout and entry or his inability to hit the net or deliver easy one timeable passes, he just sucks the life out of the power play. I'm not going to bother piling on about his patented meltdown Friday night or his abysmal game Sunday. He's stuck on 3 power play points through 15 games played and he's logging more PP minutes than anyone else. 87 and 71 piled up power play points on their previous two runs to the finals and it was a group effort then. They aren't anymore and it's a group effort now. In fact, they're scoring at roughly half the rate they once did with the man advantage. It would be one thing if only one of them had dropped off this significantly or if it was clearly a scheme issue, but it's a personnel issue at the blueline. This is no excuse for their lack of production at even strength, but the argument can be made that having consistent success on the power play can help jump start their 5 on 5 play. Bottom line, when the guy running the power play is doing a very poor job it hurts production throughout. All of that said, hopefully he simplifies his game tonight and helps get it back to Pittsburgh.
I find it funny that Malkin was talking about there being a game 7. he needs to take a long hard look in the mirror, he's been garbage in this series.
if the stars don't play like it, it won't matter who is the goalie tonight. but its good to see sullivan agree with me this time on his goalie choice for tonight. so many on this board was saying that going with MAF was a good call.
if the stars don't play like it, it won't matter who is the goalie tonight. but its good to see sullivan agree with me this time on his goalie choice for tonight. so many on this board was saying that going with MAF was a good call.
As this regular season was winding down and it became apparent that this team was truly a Cup Contender my two biggest concerns were Malkin (who at the time was hurt and not part of the late season run) and Letang (who's meltdowns have been legendary) in the playoffs. You know the other teams are going to come after them, and their impetuous and selfish reactions causes them to take stupid penalties and make stupid, selfish plays. Malkin has been mostly fine. Letang was great. Until Callahan hit him. He seems frustrated that this is the 3rd series of being the focal point of the other team's shots, but he needs to skate away.
And as far as a PP guy. He isn't a Sergei Gonchar. He isn't Paul Coffey. He isn't Erik Karlsson. He is a really great (when he is under control) puck moving, possession controlling defensemen who is one of the best skaters in the league. What he isn't, is despite his gifts, a really good offensive defensemen. He is really good at joining the rush. Joining the rush is NOT quarterbacking a power play. He needs to make simple plays, he needs to take shots when they present themselves and not over pass. But that is not all on him, the entire team mostly passes up shots save for Phil Kessel. Shooting a puck, hitting the net is not a bad thing.
Whenever the past few playoffs Sid or Geno struggle, it always comes back to "well it is obviously that they are not fully healthy". Didn't Bryan Rust miss a game, or was in a walking boot for a couple of days during the Rangers series? I am sure he is not feeling the greatest. That didn't stop him from blowing by Victor Hedman and causing the Pens 1st goal the last game. If he can do that, or at least try, why can't Sid or Geno? Just once.
They need to be more selfish. They need to have a quest for goals, a stats hound if you will. They suffer from some of the same maladies that Lebron James has in his early years where he would not take over games or spend too much getting his teammates involved instead of taking over. They need these two to take over a game, a shift, a period.
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