Pre-Game Talk: Kings vs. Pens

[Raccoon Jesus]

Probably not much to say up until gametime.

Keep your heads up in the last ten minutes to avoid the Malkin?

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[Bandit]

Letang not playing, national TV, definite L.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Kings win 4-2, with the last one being an empty netter. Kings play strong forecheck in the first period and get two goals. Start off strong in the second, until there is a 2 on 1 break for the Pens, making the score 2-1. Score gets tied by the end of the period because moment shifts completely to the Pens for the remaining half of the 2nd. Kings get a quick goal in the first 5 minutes of the 3rd, shut things down, and get the empty netter.

 

[USE Fi]

Hope Kings play another 60min game.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hopefully the Pens don't slap around the Kings like Lemieux did to Aki Berg.

 

[kingsholygrail]

 

[lexlavender]

I feel like the Kings, when their on their game, match up pretty well against the Pens. The Pen's whole system is overwhelming and exploiting unstructured teams, whereas when the Kings are on their game they're the most structured team in the league, systems wise. The question is, which Kings will we see, Buffalo Kings or Detroit Kings?

One game was a systems meltdown, the other was one of the most structured games all season.

I think the defensive shake-up really help last game: Muzzin getting reduced minutes to help build his game back up, while Martinez being moved to the left side where he is much, much stronger. You can just seen when Martinez tries to take a puck on his off hand, he's just a second too slow in today's NHL. Moving him will help us move the puck up ice.

The other question is if Budaj is up to the task. He gave up a ton of softies against Buffalo. Can he make the big, high quality saves you need against a team like Pitt?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Pens are the anti-Corsi to a degree though. They don't need many chances to make you pay. Remember the Dallas game with Budaj? We played great--just high powered snipers are an AHL goalies worst nightmare.

Actually pretty much all our games vs. the Pens over the last few years, as I recall, have been us controlling much of the play only to lose on the Pens capitalizing on their few chances.

Edit: I actually am agreeing with you lex just didn't appear as such I guess

 

[lexlavender]

Pens are the anti-Corsi to a degree though. They don't need many chances to make you pay. Remember the Dallas game with Budaj? We played great--just high powered snipers are an AHL goalies worst nightmare.

Actually pretty much all our games vs. the Pens over the last few years, as I recall, have been us controlling much of the play only to lose on the Pens capitalizing on their few chances.

Edit: I actually am agreeing with you lex just didn't appear as such I guess

It's true, against a now streaking team like Pitt, our goaltending will be tasked. Montreal fans kept saying that Budaj was good but has an expiration date, and I think we're approaching that point. Hopefully Budaj has a spectacular game

We're also lucky Letang is injured, he's not only the key for the Pens transition on the back-end, but also their best defensive player. He eviscerated us last game; he and Crosby were the only reasons it went to OT.

 

[lexlavender]

One more thing, I'm looking forward and planning to see Doughty show up tonight. He has a strong game yesterday, and we all know he loves the spotlight. He knows that he will be on display vs the Cup champs on the East Coast, and you can tell he brings his play up a notch when it's the big time.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It's true, against a now streaking team like Pitt, our goaltending will be tasked. Montreal fans kept saying that Budaj was good but has an expiration date, and I think we're approaching that point. Hopefully Budaj has a spectacular game

We're also lucky Letang is injured, he's not only the key for the Pens transition on the back-end, but also their best defensive player. He eviscerated us last game; he and Crosby were the only reasons it went to OT.

Yeah, that much was clear in his starting years in Colorado--much like Brian Elliott turned into a pumpkin without fail at 40 games, Budaj could get hot, but would always eventually fall down to the .900s.

AGAin, love the guy, but we're going to need his best to be competitive tonight, even if we control the game.

 

[The Pale King]

Who was it who fought Malkin relatively recently? Was it Williams or Carter?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Who was it who fought Malkin relatively recently? Was it Williams or Carter?

This happened too,