Post-Game Talk: Jarry, GMR, and CODY CECI bring their "A" game!

[vodeni]

Um. Like 5 foundational players went after Patrick.

was that hextall?

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

That may be true but you can't deny the game Tanev-McCann-Kapanen just had. McCann should continue to center that line into the next couple of games.

I'll admit they had a strong game and I hope they continue to do so, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I think Kappy is carrying most of the load there tbh. @DocEmrickSkitters suggested Teddy center Malkin when Sid comes back. That could mean leaving Tanev-McCann-Kapenen to be a potentially formidable 3rd line.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I watch a great game and then read these:







And wonder what the F game some people watched...



3rd pairing dman making 3rd pairing money playing well on the 3rd pairing. Shocking!

It's more like this...

The team signing a 3rd pairing defender.
Playing him in 3rd pairing minutes.
In a 3rd pairing role.
Doing well.

Whereas before...

The team signed a horrible defenseman at the coach's insistence and the GM signed him to a weird term contract.
They had a 10th pairing defenseman.
That they were playing 2nd pairing minutes.
When he should be kicked out of the league for being awful.

 

[Turin]

Patrick was consensus #1 before his injury. His development really went off the rails due to health problems. Kinda sad.

 

[Extra Texture]

Holy crap, that was fun to watch. One of the few times this year I've said that, given all the tense finishes we've seen. The end of the game being capped with that feel good moment was the icing on the cake.

On that fourth goal did anyone else get vibes of the Hainsey goal against the Preds in 2017? The way the passing was so slick, all the defenders were just 4 steps slow, and all of a sudden a depth Dman had a tap in at the front of the net . I had steeled myself for a tense final 9 minutes after that Farabee goal, so I jumped out of my seat for that one.


Jarry is back to being the Jarry we know and love. He had that set back on the second goal against, didnt let it get him down. Just fantastic, and he's clearly back in the saddle.

As far as the rest, too much good stuff to mention. Love Geno and the top line, love McCann stepping up, Kapanen showing off his mitts, and the games of Ceci and Friedman.

Absolutely LOVED the fact that Friedman looks solid against the flyers, grabs a point, takes a little beating, and has a shit-eating grin on his face afterward. That's what having the last laugh looks like. Oh and the Matheson goal was something else.

It's truly astounding how this team steps up hugely when 87 isn't there. We saw it in late 2019 and early 2020, when the likes of Rust, Tanev, McCann and Kahun kept stepping up. I hope this is the start of a similar run.

 

[JRS91]

He being Jake or Malkin or both.

Honestly, both.

Zucker did fine with Crosby, it amazes me that Guentzel will find his way back with Crosby though once he's healthy.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't watch all the other teams (this should be no shock for my posts which show a shocking disregard for the intricacies of Florida or Vancouver or Detroit or whatever).

But I have watched a lot of Boston. And man, I wanted Krug.

I felt our D-men were missing a skating & skill element. Another Letang, but worse defensively (because you'd never be able to get another offensive D as skilled as Letang at his level defensively). So yeah, I knew Krug would be a FA at some point and I hoped we'd position ourselves to get him.

That crazy coot JR went and did it with Matheson. Even more skilled offensively. Slightly lower offensive IQ. Who even knows about the defense. Certainly who knows about the defense in the playoffs.

But I am SWALLOWING crow through the @Honour Over Glory hole right now on Matheson. I just love watching him play. From game...4 he has been a pleasure to watch on the ice.

I like what I see out of Matheson, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that people wanted to write him off after 2 games, the 2nd of which he got hurt. Game 1, he looked like a new player learning a new system that most of the players also didn't even understand. The 2nd game he looked 100x better and then got hurt. But that speed and fit is seamless right now and I still think his offensive side will slowly come when he gets comfortable at the defensive side of his game. He's still a new player getting used to a new defensive partner and a system that still has no clue how to really work but I like what he's done so far.

You're starting to see him take more offensive risks that look like they could pay off if the forwards knew what to do with any positive momentum at times. It's early, but it looks good right now.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I'll admit they had a strong game and I hope they continue to do so, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I think Kappy is carrying most of the load there tbh. @DocEmrickSkitters suggested Teddy center Malkin when Sid comes back. That could mean leaving Tanev-McCann-Kapenen to be a potentially formidable 3rd line.

I think you've got me mixed up with someone else.

Right now I wouldn't have Teddy center Malkin, no. I've probably suggested it be tried other times. I think if/when you move Malkin to the wing you need a true top-6 C there.

Also since his brilliant game not that long ago Teddy has kinda been butt.

 

[Gurglesons]

was that hextall?

Yes. But like, Patrick was the consensus pick there.

 

[Turin]

I like Matheson but the dude seems to be on the ice for every goal still

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

I think you've got me mixed up with someone else.

Right now I wouldn't have Teddy center Malkin, no. I've probably suggested it be tried other times. I think if/when you move Malkin to the wing you need a true top-6 C there.

Also since his brilliant game not that long ago Teddy has kinda been butt.

My bad it was @Honour Over Glory

I'm drunk af rn don't embarrass me like that

 

[SomeDude]

Sid sacrificed himself so that Geno may flourish again.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You just know Sully is smug about it. How he somehow had intuition to get GMR together. Should of been a line since day 1.

Blueger got shafted why? I don't get it...putting him with ZAR/Lafferty. Somehow he got WORSE linemates when Sid went out. It's almost comical.

I know coaching is difficult BUT I am fully confident that many of us could construct more effective lines. It's not rocket science.

The thing is, GMR is Sullivan's doing, or maybe it was someone else's that is gone and he refuses to use it because it wasn't his idea, I know a ton of people like that, that need to somehow make it their idea and then they utilize it.

But the way he shafted Blueger was just odd, McCann is a spaz and the fact that he got the pass across to Cody Ceci was a miracle and didn't decide to hang on to the puck too long and do something stupid with it like he usually does.

But GMR...last year the stats were just flat out mind boggling, yet he decided to shoot himself in the foot with not using them again when he could. It's like having a secret weapon that you need to use, but you don't want to use it because it either wasn't your idea to use it or you want to do something else instead to keep someone else happy and would rather see failure instead.

I can't make sense out of it and it's probably because I am trying to make sense out of something that made no sense not to do.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I like what I see out of Matheson, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that people wanted to write him off after 2 games, the 2nd of which he got hurt. Game 1, he looked like a new player learning a new system that most of the players also didn't even understand. The 2nd game he looked 100x better and then got hurt. But that speed and fit is seamless right now and I still think his offensive side will slowly come when he gets comfortable at the defensive side of his game. He's still a new player getting used to a new defensive partner and a system that still has no clue how to really work but I like what he's done so far.

You're starting to see him take more offensive risks that look like they could pay off if the forwards knew what to do with any positive momentum at times. It's early, but it looks good right now.

He epitomizes the saying that the Best Defense is a Good Offense. He is going to, at times, look absolutely out to lunch on the defensive side of things.

But if he gets the puck on his stick, it is getting out of our zone and with a much higher chance of a controlled entry leading to a chance or sustained possession in the other zone. Much higher than if Dumo or Petts or POJ or certainly JJ was the one with the puck on his stick.

We'll see if it holds in the playoffs if we make it there. But he has earned the right to try it.

Plus as a fan it's good to have a few players who are just beautiful to watch on the ice.

 

[KIRK]

I like Matheson but the dude seems to be on the ice for every goal still

Well as long as there are more 'for' than 'against' . . .

 

[ChaosAgent]

My bad it was @Honour Over Glory

I'm drunk af rn don't embarrass me like that

What did you drank tonight homie?

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

What did you drank tonight homie?

Started off with that craft mead, graduated to some taste of the rockies in some coor laght. You had that sangria right or am i trippin again

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I think you've got me mixed up with someone else.

Right now I wouldn't have Teddy center Malkin, no. I've probably suggested it be tried other times. I think if/when you move Malkin to the wing you need a true top-6 C there.

Also since his brilliant game not that long ago Teddy has kinda been butt.

I was mostly joking doing it right now. It was more of a future idea when Malkin can't play the strong defensive game he usually was able to and is showing signs of it right now. But if you keep GMR together, it's not a worry.

When you split GMR, it is.


I'll leave it at that.


Edit: Not a brilliant game, Teddy was brilliant for literally all of the games except the last 2-3. Essentially, when ZAR came back...that line started to look off after ZAR's 1 great game offensively. But to split Blueger & Tanev was a weird take, something that shouldn't have happened at all imo. Blueger gave Sullivan more than enough to earn the trust of being with Tanev & Kapanen while Sid is out. But he again, wants to force feed McCann as some top 6 option during injuries.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Started off with that craft mead, graduated to some taste of the rockies in some coor laght. You had that sangria right or am i trippin again

No you're right!

Mead is a delicious and nasty temptress. 12-15% that sneaks up on you so easily. In the South Hills we have Apis and I think King... King something is moving in here.

I wouldn't have it all the time but it's definitely good for a change of pace night.

Coors Light is lowkey good, too.

I'll think of Kilgore when I drink my hangover Gatorade tomorrow.

 

[Ryder71]

I was mostly joking doing it right now. It was more of a future idea when Malkin can't play the strong defensive game he usually was able to and is showing signs of it right now. But if you keep GMR together, it's not a worry.

When you split GMR, it is.


I'll leave it at that.


Edit: Not a brilliant game, Teddy was brilliant for literally all of the games except the last 2-3. Essentially, when ZAR came back...that line started to look off after ZAR's 1 great game offensively. But to split Blueger & Tanev was a weird take, something that shouldn't have happened at all imo. Blueger gave Sullivan more than enough to earn the trust of being with Tanev & Kapanen while Sid is out. But he again, wants to force feed McCann as some top 6 option during injuries.

Yeah, Teddy the last couple struggled a bit. I would have left Tanev with him as well. Although McCann has been pretty decent since coming back.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

He epitomizes the saying that the Best Defense is a Good Offense. He is going to, at times, look absolutely out to lunch on the defensive side of things.

But if he gets the puck on his stick, it is getting out of our zone and with a much higher chance of a controlled entry leading to a chance or sustained possession in the other zone. Much higher than if Dumo or Petts or POJ or certainly JJ was the one with the puck on his stick.

We'll see if it holds in the playoffs if we make it there. But he has earned the right to try it.

Plus as a fan it's good to have a few players who are just beautiful to watch on the ice.

Yeah the one thing I like about Matheson-Marino and I mentioned this before while Marino was struggling, was to keep Marino on the defensive side of things where he is a stud and comfortable and allow the offensive side to come back out when he's comfortable on his strong skills first. He was very inconsistent and has started to get back to being the stud young defender we were all raving about the last couple of games.

Matheson-Marino should continue to grow stronger because of it, I think the one thing people have off about Matheson is that he's some disaster defensively. He's the opposite of when we got Schultz. Schultz was a dumpster fire defensively but a bloke that could produce. Pens needed him to get better defensively first. Matheson is fairly decent defensively, but his offense always felt like he is on the cusp of figuring it out but then he gives you 70% of what you wanted to see from him when he has the puck.

Defensively, the entire team still needs to figure out positioning.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Yeah, Teddy the last couple struggled a bit. I would have left Tanev with him as well. Although McCann was pretty decent since coming back.

The issue with McCann is that they keep going back and forth with him. There's no potential future for McCann anymore, they've turned him into what he's been for the team and he won't be any more than that at this point. He's a part time C and W and lives in the middle of that.

I knew they were going to do this. It's why I wanted them to trade him and then people got me intrigued about the McCann-Blueger-Tanev trio.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Every question is about Sid.

Are we shocked?

 

[66-30-33]

Just seen Jarry finally reached .900 save% after this win, almost at 3.00 GAA too.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I was mostly joking doing it right now. It was more of a future idea when Malkin can't play the strong defensive game he usually was able to and is showing signs of it right now. But if you keep GMR together, it's not a worry.

When you split GMR, it is.


I'll leave it at that.


Edit: Not a brilliant game, Teddy was brilliant for literally all of the games except the last 2-3. Essentially, when ZAR came back...that line started to look off after ZAR's 1 great game offensively. But to split Blueger & Tanev was a weird take, something that shouldn't have happened at all imo. Blueger gave Sullivan more than enough to earn the trust of being with Tanev & Kapanen while Sid is out. But he again, wants to force feed McCann as some top 6 option during injuries.

I think it was moreso about line shuffling Tanev up to mix things up when we were struggling.

It wasn't a repudiation of Teddy as much as Sullivan pressing the "blend" button unsuccessfully.