Post-Game Talk: Flyers 4, Penguins 2 - Letang Giveth Away

[Angrrus]

If the Penguins don't flat out miss several opportunities from 15 feet or closer, everybody right now is talking about them having played a really solid game tonight after the first period.

But they had a rare off game in the finishing department so now everybody is saying that the defending back to back cup winners have no killer instinct.

Nobody here expected a cake walk before the series started. Now we have "major issues" because the series has not been a cake walk.

This is the 2nd "rare game" out of last 4.

50%.

Wake up. It's a mental thing. It is fully within their control. And they need to stop it.

 

[Angrrus]

Every loss is a bridge jump. Kool-aid board wide, everyone loses their brains after a loss.

Maybe that's because people... I don't know... CARE?

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

This is the 2nd "rare game" out of last 4.

50%.

Wake up. It's a mental thing. It is fully within their control. And they need to stop it.

The Penguins are outscoring the Flyers, 20-9. Wake up.

The Flyers have outplayed the Pens in roughly 4 or 5 periods through 5 games. Wake up.

Hockey is a sport that is hard to predict. This was not a "mental thing". The Flyers were on their heels for 40 minutes last night. Sometimes you just can't finish and the opposition finds a way. If you want to watch a sport where the clearly better team rolls to a series victory in 4 or 5 games every time, I would suggest that the NBA playoffs would appeal more to you.

 

[Angrrus]

Honestly, I just don't get why the Flyers are being treated like some garbage pile of a team. They are an NHL team good enough to make the playoffs. That means they are good enough to win hockey games.

The reason is the ease with which Pens dealt with them in games 1, 3 and 4. Pens are clearly head and shoulders above them. So any loss they suffer is 100% of their own making. They simply belong to different leagues. And it was completely within Pens control to close out in 4. That's what get many people, including me, so frustrated.

 

[Angrrus]

The Penguins are outscoring the Flyers, 20-9. Wake up.

The Flyers have outplayed the Pens in roughly 4 or 5 periods through 5 games. Wake up.

Hockey is a sport that is hard to predict. This was not a "mental thing". The Flyers were on their heels for 40 minutes last night. Sometimes you just can't finish and the opposition finds a way. If you want to watch a sport where the clearly better team rolls to a series victory in 4 or 5 games every time, I would suggest that the NBA playoffs would appeal more to you.

The highlighted sentence was about FINISHING. Finishing is a "luck" variance thing for lower skilled players, but it's more about mental focus for highly skilled players. They are too good to keep shooting into a goalie for 60 minutes when they are really dialed in.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Letang loses the puck under pressure at the end but what the hell was Malkin doing? He literally just stood there and watched the Flyer behind him skate to the loose puck and score. He never took a single stride. Not one.

Oh well, I expected them to lose this one. On to the next.

 

[Icarium]

That 4 on 3 was a microcosm of the whole game. How can you fail to set up even one one-timer or a half-decent scoring chance on a long 4 on 3, especially with the Flyers PK being rather passive?

We still could have won with a bit of luck but nowhere near enough desperation in our game, we played with fire and were burned. If Kessel is going to play like that, sit him. Malkin and Crosby were not much better either. Too often this season we have tried to get away with doing just enough to win, that's fine in the regular season if you make the playoffs but not in the playoffs. Credit to the flyers for not giving up but we sure helped them with out nonchalance.

 

[BHD]

Malkin looked a bit tentative after coming back. So maybe that had something to do with it, but I agree with @Icarium. The PP looked nonchalant for most of the game.

 

[William I NEGLE]

Precisely, that's why it would have been huge to close it out tonight. Give Horny, Phil and Geno a bit of time to recover.

I'd agree that extra days of rest would (likely) help Geno and Horny. Phil, though - he's been struggling for months. Maybe only the off season will bring him back to good health. I'm wondering if he has tendonitis somewhere. An entire week off would make no difference. But, yeah, it could be anything.

 

[Nakawick]

I was distracted for much of the game, but from what I saw it looked like the Pens carried most of the play. Does that seem right?

Too bad we could end it last night and get the extra rest.

 

[joeyjake5]

You can blame Phil, Letang or Murray and you wouldn't be wrong in doing so.....

Phil for the pass
Letang for letting Filp get 3 cracks at Muzz
Murray for not eating up any of those shots

This is exactly what happened. Each are directly responsible for this shorty. Just as sheary and rust for not getting the puck out on the winning goal. These two goals prove that there are no bad shots. Two harmless shots that turn into goals.

 

[Slaaapshuter]

The bad have already been mentioned to death. If I could use only one word to describe the teams game, it would be "unfocused".

The good is, this team has shown it needs to face adversity in the playoffs to hit home. It shouldn't be easy even in round 1.

 

[JTG]

We did it without him before. We'd be further along if we were without him again. Letang is just such a dumb hockey player. If he had a brain he'd be Paul Coffey.

 

[JTG]

Letang loses the puck under pressure at the end but what the hell was Malkin doing? He literally just stood there and watched the Flyer behind him skate to the loose puck and score. He never took a single stride. Not one.

Oh well, I expected them to lose this one. On to the next.

I thought the compete level defensively last night was lacking from the entire team. Too often we are getting hemmed in our zone because forwards don't want to take the body and would just rather wave their sticks at the opponent. Letang is doing that back end no favors right now though.

Brassard looks like Nick Bonino, and I expected him to look much better than this. I don't worry about Phil. He'll shake out of it. Letang and Brassard have been the two biggest let downs for me though.

 

[Terrapin]

Whoever made the demand a few years ago that Kris Letang was too much of a 'fan favorite' to trade should have been fired last year. If he's not fired this year, Mario and JR should be committed to Western Psych.

And 'Big Game' Brassard is doing less than Riley Sheanan would be doing on the 3rd line.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

My hope is the refs sunday don’t try to even out pp chances. I can easily see them giving philly a ticky tack pp early and setting the tone. Pens need to be ready.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Why isn’t anyone giving Guentzel grief? Dude botched three easy goals on the last power play.

Probably because he's 4th in playoff scoring as a 23 year old sophomore and scored 1 of our 2 goals last night, which would make him just about the very least of our problems.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Yeah Guentzel was at least getting chances and actually scored, he's not a problem.

Anyway, I'm not too concerned. There's plenty of ups and downs throughout the playoffs.

 

[Ogrezilla]

The reason is the ease with which Pens dealt with them in games 1, 3 and 4. Pens are clearly head and shoulders above them. So any loss they suffer is 100% of their own making. They simply belong to different leagues. And it was completely within Pens control to close out in 4. That's what get many people, including me, so frustrated.

You realize the other team actually does have some agency in the outcome of games too, right? It's not JUST based on how the Pens play. Seriously, the Pens played a hell of a lot better in game 2 than they just did in game 5, but game 5 was a lot closer than game 2. Something has to be impacting that other than the Pens performance. It's a wild theory, but I submit that the performance of the Flyers is actually a pretty important contributor to the outcome of these games. Maybe even equal to the performance of the Penguins.

This is the NHL playoffs. The other teams DO NOT SUCK. They just don't. Sure some teams are better than others, but the margin is not all that wide. We don't have to play like complete ass to lose to these guys. A few ill-timed mistakes can cost any team in these playoffs a game vs any other team in these playoffs.

 

[Andy99]

I’m having flashbacks to 2014 series against the Rags....Pens in control and then they forgot how to play hockey....

Sunday is a must win.....and for my sanity....they can’t have a game 7 in this series....I said I wouldn’t be disappointed if they lost in the POs this year after b2b Cups but I lied...I’ll be sick if they end up losing this series to a much worse team in the Flyers...

I hope Horny is back and G is better, we need them....we need Murray to revert back to PO Murray

My heart is thankful that I can’t watch Sunday’s game....

 

[Ogrezilla]

I’m having flashbacks to 2014 series against the Rags....Pens in control and then they forgot how to play hockey....

Sunday is a must win.....and for my sanity....they can’t have a game 7 in this series....I said I wouldn’t be disappointed if they lost in the POs this year after b2b Cups but I lied...I’ll be sick if they end up losing this series to a much worse team in the Flyers...

I hope Horny is back and G is better, we need them....we need Murray to revert back to PO Murray

My heart is thankful that I can’t watch Sunday’s game....

revert back to PO Murray? Come the f*** on

 

[Joejosh999]

Biggest thing all season, and now, is that they just cannot muster the energy/focus to take it seriously for very long. Not even for 60 mins. They had a burst in January, but besides that it seems at huge battle for them to get up for a shift, a period, a game.
It's why we miss Horny so much right now.

 

[Bingo71]

Team is like a major league slugger that either knocks an upper decker homer or strikes out embarrassingly.

 

[Andy99]

revert back to PO Murray? Come the **** on

He gave up a very soft shortie...team should have gone into the third up a goal...would have been a different game...

 

[Ogrezilla]

He gave up a very soft shortie...team should have gone into the third up a goal...would have been a different game...

and he was still probably 3rd on the list of guys I'd blame on the play. And then he robbed them of another shorty like 20 seconds later.

If you expect Murray to be perfect every single night, you're going to be disappointed. He did this both of the last two years too. The key is that he can let in a softish goal without collapsing. That's what playoff Murray is. Seriously, the kid has given up 8 goals in 5 games and you're calling for him to revert to PO Murray after a 3 goal against game against a team that averages 3 goals a game. Your expectations have to be hilariously out of whack