Post-Game Talk: Caps 3, Pens 1 - NOW Geno is Playoff Ready

[Jaded-Fan]

Was Wilson upset that he wasn’t invited?

Wilson was invited but declined because the Russians always stick him with paying the check.

 

[Nakawick]

Wilson was invited but declined because the Russians always stick him with paying the check.

Wilson was probably upset that Reaves wasn’t able to attend.

 

[Ryder71]

That's hockey.

Teams are going to give up odd man rushes, teams are going to have turnovers.

Sid had a 2 on 1 last night, Grub stopped him.

Caps had a brutal turnover behind their net and Grub made an incredible save on Sid.

Pens had a bunch of great looks on the PP, Grub stopped them.

So you're suggesting that our defense isn't to blame for unforced error, piss poor puck management and terrible positioning, and that our goalie has to clean up their mess because ''that's hockey''?

I guess my issue is the number of mistakes as opposed to the mistakes in general. The caps made some mistakes defensively and with positioning, but NOT to the customary level or degree that we've made of late. And we're making terrible decisions with the puck when we're not even pressured to do so. I don't see other teams shooting themselves in the foot to the degree that we are, no. Not most good teams anyhow.

 

[Andy99]

He’s played three games and honestly look great in two of them.

I disagree...”great”is not the word I’d use...he looked improved against MTL but that’s it...he’s still been average for the most part

And he’s played 6 games now, not 3

 

[KIRK]

Yup. All of that is true. Malkin, in particular, annoyed me last night with his defense. First goal is on him for not busting his ass and I watched him continually do drive by loops in the defensive zone all night, instead of stopping/starting. I know that his style and it sometimes leads to great chances to lead rush the other way, but when he's on, he doesn't stop until he gets the puck. Last night, it was like "hey if I get the puck great, if not, I'll just loop back around and try again later". This created several Dzone breakdowns with 2 Caps in front forcing the weak side wing to play the center spot while Geno swooped all over the place.

Not to just call him out, but he was the worst offender last night IMO.

Go watch the replay and watch Hunwick glide all the way from his position to the right side of the ice inexplicably. If Hunwick is where he is supposed to be, he's in front of Oshie and Malkin is (a) above Oshie and (b) positioned to take a trailer.

Malkin's mistake last night was in assuming Hunwick isn't a ******* moron and then in trying to cover for Hunwick when he recognizes that Hunwick IS a moron.

Wanna give me loops or neutral zone turnovers? Fine. But blaming Malkin there is like blaming a forward for assuming Letang isn't about to do something moronic.

 

[KIRK]

So if a couple of those close ones had gone in, like Geno's that Grubs had zero chance on that went off the pipe and a couple of others, would we be planning the three-peat parade right now?

For Want of a Nail: If Burgoyne had won at Saratoga

 

[Jaded-Fan]

For Want of a Nail: If Burgoyne had won at Saratoga

Which race at Saratoga did Burgoyne lose? And why does that matter? I can not even find a horse named Burgoyne.

Did he throw a horseshoe? Want of a nail right?

How much did you lose on that race? It obviously still haunts you.

 

[DesertPenguin]

After years of Sully preaching to the Pens to just play, I think what this team really needs now is to swing the other direction a little bit. We are past the point of other teams getting in our heads. We need to do a little more to get fired up and get into theirs.

- Sid went God mode when Zajac speared him
- Geno is ready to eat someone now
- We need to invite the entire Toronto media corp to talk to Phil before the next game now, to really get him going
- Letang, lets just leave him alone. Angry Letang is still stupid Letang.

All that said, we can beat CBJ, PHI or WAS. Not saying we definitely will, but we can. Once we get out of the Metro though, I think the Atlantic and the WC are clicking at a level above what we are seeing in our division.

 

[Shady Machine]

I don’t really know the goals he is saving in the last two games outside that Orlov goal. Even then he was screened by Maatta.

He’s been fine and before his injury was pushing his usual .921 SV%

Agreed that last night is probably a bad example to point to, but the reality is he's giving up 3 goals a game pretty consistently. That's a team stat as well and Pens are giving up way too many breakaways, odd man rushes, etc. Still, Murray needs to be better if they are going deep in the playoffs. Less of a criticism and more of a fact of life.

 

[Shady Machine]

Go watch the replay and watch Hunwick glide all the way from his position to the right side of the ice inexplicably. If Hunwick is where he is supposed to be, he's in front of Oshie and Malkin is (a) above Oshie and (b) positioned to take a trailer.

Malkin's mistake last night was in assuming Hunwick isn't a ******* moron and then in trying to cover for Hunwick when he recognizes that Hunwick IS a moron.

Wanna give me loops or neutral zone turnovers? Fine. But blaming Malkin there is like blaming a forward for assuming Letang isn't about to do something moronic.

Ha I knew your spidy sense would kick in as soon as I posted!

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I was just thinking be turned the corner on control last game, then this.

I am might unimpressed with the team again. Even if game was pointless.

Consistency issues. I get he's had a trying year but he should be motivated to Honor his father's memory and also show that he's not a flash in the pan the last two years. Even with the concussion etc, he has a couple of games left to fine tune his game. He should be playing all but one of those games.

We need Murray to be his usual calm and collected self.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't know if I move Sheahan to wing. Our backup options aren't good enough for that to be a thing.

 

[cheesedanish87]

So you're suggesting that our defense isn't to blame for unforced error, piss poor puck management and terrible positioning, and that our goalie has to clean up their mess because ''that's hockey''?

I guess my issue is the number of mistakes as opposed to the mistakes in general. The caps made some mistakes defensively and with positioning, but NOT to the customary level or degree that we've made of late. And we're making terrible decisions with the puck when we're not even pressured to do so. I don't see other teams shooting themselves in the foot to the degree that we are, no. Not most good teams anyhow.

Hockey is a game of mistakes.

Every time a team has a scoring chance you can go back and look through the sequence and find somebody that made a mistake on the play.

You have to have your goalie make saves when breakdowns happen, nobody is expecting Murray to make every save, but he has to make a much higher percentage of saves then he has this year.

The 907 save percentage he has isn't going to work, if he can't stop a higher percentage of shots then that its going to be a very short playoff run.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Hockey is a game of mistakes.

Every time a team has a scoring chance you can go back and look through the sequence and find somebody that made a mistake on the play.

You have to have your goalie make saves when breakdowns happen, nobody is expecting Murray to make every save, but he has to make a much higher percentage of saves then he has this year.

The 907 save percentage he has isn't going to work, if he can't stop a higher percentage of shots then that its going to be a very short playoff run.

Yup. We had alot of the same mistakes last year too. Yet we had Fleury and Murray shutting teams out. Fleury in game 7 against caps. Murray in games 5 and 6 in the finals.

Wont even blame Murray if he doesnt repeat last years performance, but the point is he almost has to because we arent going to win it all with this team defense in front of him , if hes not making those big saves.

Theres no changing it for this postseason. Something that will be addressed in the offseason.

So its up to Murray, and our top players putting the puck in the net.

 

[Ryder71]

Hockey is a game of mistakes.

Every time a team has a scoring chance you can go back and look through the sequence and find somebody that made a mistake on the play.

You have to have your goalie make saves when breakdowns happen, nobody is expecting Murray to make every save, but he has to make a much higher percentage of saves then he has this year.

The 907 save percentage he has isn't going to work, if he can't stop a higher percentage of shots then that its going to be a very short playoff run.

We just fundamentally disagree here. However I agree on one point, that MM needs to be better. But the primary reason that we're giving up so many goals is our poor play on the blue line. If you think our goalie, or any goalie could bail us out to that degree, I think you're expecting Ken Dryden in his prime. There's a decided difference between making mistakes and making far too many mistakes. My issue is the volume and high quality chances that result from our mistakes. And again a lot of this is due to mental lapses and not making the simple, high percentage plays to safely move the puck out of our D zone. If this defense is this brutal in the playoffs, it will be a short post season for us, period.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Wrong thread

 

[Joejosh999]

I'm the first to acknowledge that MM's had a tough year what w losing his Dad, the concussion and so on.

But I also sense that last 2 years, him being seen as (and feeling to be ) the young underdog challenger to MAF's hometown favorite...gave him perhaps a huge level of motivation that isn't there now. I dunno. I hope he turns it up a notch, because he has to.

 

[Treent1]

Go watch the replay and watch Hunwick glide all the way from his position to the right side of the ice inexplicably. If Hunwick is where he is supposed to be, he's in front of Oshie and Malkin is (a) above Oshie and (b) positioned to take a trailer.

Malkin's mistake last night was in assuming Hunwick isn't a ******* moron and then in trying to cover for Hunwick when he recognizes that Hunwick IS a moron.

Wanna give me loops or neutral zone turnovers? Fine. But blaming Malkin there is like blaming a forward for assuming Letang isn't about to do something moronic.

I would give Malkin some blame for not matching Oshie's speed he should have been more aware, but Hunwick's positioning is absolutely laughable

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I'm the first to acknowledge that MM's had a tough year what w losing his Dad, the concussion and so on.

But I also sense that last 2 years, him being seen as (and feeling to be ) the young underdog challenger to MAF's hometown favorite...gave him perhaps a huge level of motivation that isn't there now. I dunno. I hope he turns it up a notch, because he has to.

True, but motivation shouldnt be an issue when the playoffs start when hes never lost a playoff series and would want that to continue.

He had the extra motivation with Fleury behind him...but it also took some pressure off of him. Now he knows if he struggles theres nobody behind him to carry the team.

 

[BlacknGold4life]

3. For as well as Sid is playing INDIVIDUALLY, Jake-Sid-Rust isn't a good line. Rust is oil and water with Sid. And, is it okay to say Jake's play leaves A LOT to be desired.

I would agree. Hopefully he can step it up in the playoffs. Hear me out with this one...


ZAR-Crosby-Rust
H-G-H
Sheary- Sheahan- Kessel
Guentzel- Brassard- Rowney/Kuhnackel (PK guys, give Kessel some shifts with this group. Brassard can run his own line. Sheahan needs a little more support to produce offense.)

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

I don't know if I move Sheahan to wing. Our backup options aren't good enough for that to be a thing.

Please no. They tried that and he looked absolute GARBAGE

They'll never do it, but I'm curious what Brass would look like at wing (Sid's). I mean, why muck up what's been a fairly good 3rd line?

 

[Gurglesons]

Please no. They tried that and he looked absolute GARBAGE

They'll never do it, but I'm curious what Brass would look like at wing (Sid's). I mean, why muck up what's been a fairly good 3rd line?

Because it hasn’t been that great and Brassard rules at center.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Please no. They tried that and he looked absolute GARBAGE

They'll never do it, but I'm curious what Brass would look like at wing (Sid's). I mean, why muck up what's been a fairly good 3rd line?

I've said a few times that I'd like to just see what a line with Sid and Brassard would look like, allowing Sheahan to get more time at center on the 3rd line as he deserves. If our 4th line isn't going to play that much regardless of who's centering it, that may end up making us more dangerous, and may give us a more defensively responsible 3rd line. That's not to say Brassard isn't responsible defensively, but Sheahan seems to be more so, and has had a longer period of time in this system to get adjusted to what is expected of him.

 

[BlacknGold4life]

When did Grubauer get so good? That was an animal effort from him.

I've thought he has been a solid goalie for a while and could make a good career in the league.

 

[vikingGoalie]

I watch quite a lot of hockey actually and the Pens defense has been abysmal in comparison to most. Beyond that though if other teams play such inept defense they'll likely be toast themselves.

The Habs had what four breakaways Saturday? Last night didn't both Dumoulin and Maatta turn the puck over when both players had the time and space to clear it? We're not playing good, solid, fundamentally sound hockey. That's not on the goalies. Keep in mind MM had a streak there where he was playing lights out not long before the defense went to mush.

According to my eyeballs and to this site: Games - Natural Stat Trick

We had 12 high danger scoring chances for, 11 against.
We had 18 medium danger scoring chances compared to 11 against.

You can do the math all day, and in however manner you wish. Or you can simply observe. The conclusion is the same. Our goalie was significantly worse then the other goalie. Yes you can point at defensive breakdowns (which contribute to the high danger chances) and I agree we need to shore that up. But at the end of the day grubhub made some key saves. The shot between Maatta's legs is very stoppable. Yes it's harder, and personally I *hate* those shots against. However, an NHL goalie should be able to pick that puck up.

The tip from wilson, yes you can argue about it just being a great tip. What *I* did not like about it is the same thing with the goal mentioned above. Murray's tracking was off in this game. He should have tracked that thatpuck was going wide and going at wilson. He should then be square to wilson, but was not. He was still in position as if the shot was coming on net from the point.

Watch a game a while back when Murray just stoned the sharks, it was one of his best games he's played. That game had a ton of tips on net, he would read the shot and track it to the guy tipping it and he stopped a bunch of those. So we know he can do it. I thought his tracking against montreal was much better. Hopefully this is just a wobble as he continues to improve. If not we are out in the first round, all while out chancing and out shooting our opponent most likely.