Post-Game Talk: Mon Lars leads Pens past the Habs 6-3

[Andy]

I don't think it's necessarily concerning but more a representation of a very young team. It's going to go in and out a lot, but we want to see progression through the year, mainly on zone exits.. I'd say most of the issues stem from failing to get the puck out and losing their details off that, and of course bad timing and coverage off offensive zone turnovers.

Dach's line turns over the puck a lot right at the opposing team's blue line. They can't gain the zone. Armia's inability to make a 5 foot pass isn't helping. He's constantly turning the puck over on routine plays.

I found the habs really dictated the pace when they had a two man forecheck late in the first and for the rest of the game. Until that point, it was a very passive, one man deep.

I find they get caught a lot back-passing in the neutral zone at 5-on-5. The team seems to really want to be able to skate in the in puck or stretch pass a zone entry. I would like to see a more structured 2-3 short pass break out.

The team has the horses to be more aggressive on the cycle, I am not sure why they don't employ that strategy more often. Matheson, Hutson, Guhle, Barron are all very gmobile at the blue line to ensure a good cycle.

 

[Egresch]

I have a feeling that MSL and coaching team overreacted little bit with defense reshuffling. Especially goal 3 looked horrible when both Matheson and Barron rushed to offense and left Slaf alone in defense. It was a good idea to pair Hutson and Guhle, but you still need to balance other two pairs and the only reasonable option is Matheson-Savard, Xhekaj-Barron.
Also, why the hell is Matheson still playing PK? He should not play 25:48 per game, 3:18 on PK. We need to give that opportunity to Xhekaj/Struble.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

It's fun how much we open the valve when we're behind.
Don't have all our weapons yet but you can see the blueprint.
Is Jaroslav Halak good against Lars Eller?
I'm trying to find a solution here.

 

[morhilane]

Dach's line turns over the puck a lot right at the opposing team's blue line. They can't gain the zone. Armia's inability to make a 5 foot pass isn't helping. He's constantly turning the puck over on routine plays.

I found the habs really dictated the pace when they had a two man forecheck late in the first and for the rest of the game. Until that point, it was a very passive, one man deep.

I find they get caught a lot back-passing in the neutral zone at 5-on-5. The team seems to really want to be able to skate in the in puck or stretch pass a zone entry. I would like to see a more structured 2-3 short pass break out.

The team has the horses to be more aggressive on the cycle, I am not sure why they don't employ that strategy more often. Matheson, Hutson, Guhle, Barron are all very gmobile at the blue line to ensure a good cycle.

MSL said after the game that the team was trying to make too many "cute" plays at the blue line. But they have been doing that since the first game. Pens coaching staff just did their homework properly and exploited it.

 

[Saundies]

I have a feeling that MSL and coaching team overreacted little bit with defense reshuffling. Especially goal 3 looked horrible when both Matheson and Barron rushed to offense and left Slaf alone in defense. It was a good idea to pair Hutson and Guhle, but you still need to balance other two pairs and the only reasonable option is Matheson-Savard, Xhekaj-Barron.
Also, why the hell is Matheson still playing PK? He should not play 25:48 per game, 3:18 on PK. We need to give that opportunity to Xhekaj/Struble.

I didn't understand it either. Savard was having a rough night, but I didn't see why it would it would constitute reshuffling all of our D lines.

Matheson made a great play to Guhle in the first and looks at least fine next to him. Savard - Hutson should be the logical D pairing there (ultra defensive w/ ultra offensive). X and Barron, as leaky as they can be, are nowhere near as leaky as Matheson-Barron who decided to go on a 2-on-1 on the third goal and leave Slaf stranded.

We give MSL some flak for personnel stuff but the D deployments would be all on Robidas.

 

[Saundies]

MSL said after the game that the team was trying to make too many "cute" plays at the blue line. But they have been doing that since the first game. Pens coaching staff just did their homework properly and exploited it.

Yeah it's been way worse than I can remember. Not getting pucks out, trying to either cheat/just plain missing breakout passes.. In minor hockey, as soon as you learn what offside is you learn that losing the puck at either your/other team's blueline is a cardinal sin of the game. This is going to have to improve if we're going to compete.

 

[morhilane]

Reading quotes from the post game scrums, looks like Guhle is tired of starting the games like they do (i.e. flat/no energy).

Also, Slaf is taking credits for mistakes. Don't beat yourself too hard buddy, we don't want you to lose confidence.

 

[larek]

We're more than 1 piece away from being in the mix, and Matheson isn't the worst defenseman by far.

Matheson in the bottom 3 dman on the team

 

[Rapala]

Lane had a really rough night. Don’t freak out guys, it’s ok to say the golden boy struggled.

He's going to have more games like it.
I have no idea what we are going to but I remain convinced Savard is not the answer for him.

 

[Tuggy]

Despite the sky falling, 2 -2, 4 games in 6 nights

Probably should take it

Definitely.

I think that's a decent start for this group.

Everything gets micro-analyzed to death here, but .500 right now is not bad.

 

[nhlfan9191]

As long as we are scoring 3-4 goals a game, I'm not sure this is what we should be focusing on.

We are leaking goals and scoring chances, despite prioritizing this area in the offseason. This is what's most concerning at this point.

It seems every October/November/December the last two years we’ve been starting the season scoring 3-4 goals while hovering around the .500 mark before teams tighten up and we end up drying up and finishing in the bottom 5. We need to learn to play a balanced game. Early season pond hockey doesn’t bring long term success. We’ve seen that in the previous two seasons.

 

[Tuggy]

As long as we are scoring 3-4 goals a game, I'm not sure this is what we should be focusing on.

We are leaking goals and scoring chances, despite prioritizing this area in the offseason. This is what's most concerning at this point.

It doesn't seem like that big of a shock to me. When I look at the defense:

Guhle
Savard
Hutson
Matheson
Barron
Xhekaj

I'm not going to lie, that group is pretty bad.

Guhle is great, but the rest struggle in their own ways defensively.

Savard looks so slow.

Hutson is very green and hasn't even played 10 NHL games yet.

Matheson can be awful defensively and makes just very questionable decisions.

Barron looked better last night, but he hasn't looked great. I find he's slow to process the play and has issues with the puck at his feet.

Xhekaj has had a rough start. Looks lost more often than not.

Struble is better defensively than most of them and should help.

We'll see as the season goes on, but they the players need to be better.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Horrible defensive coverage across the board. Bring back Julien, colisse.

Lol Kevin Sorbo.. he's like the Marc Bergevin of actors.

 

[Andy]

It doesn't seem like that big of a shock to me. When I look at the defense:

Guhle
Savard
Hutson
Matheson
Barron
Xhekaj

I'm not going to lie, that group is pretty bad.

Guhle is great, but the rest struggle in their own ways defensively.

Savard looks so slow.

Hutson is very green and hasn't even played 10 NHL games yet.

Matheson can be awful defensively and makes just very questionable decisions.

Barron looked better last night, but he hasn't looked great. I find he's slow to process the play and has issues with the puck at his feet.

Xhekaj has had a rough start. Looks lost more often than not.

Struble is better defensively than most of them and should help.

We'll see as the season goes on, but they the players need to be better.

If I am being honest, I don't find our d-core playing any worse than opposing team's d-cores so far.

Most of the breakdowns have been team defense not in sync than any one defender.

Given how young the D is, they've been quite good in my opinion. As team D improves. the individual games of the d core will look better.

 

[LaP]

Most of the mistakes were made not by the young players.

I know but we know our vets are not very good or otherwise the team would not have been bottom 5 to begin with. Lot of those vets will be phased out at the TDL and new blood will be added in the next two years (Demidov, Mailloux, Maybe Hage, Mesar, Reinbacher). Will not be surprised if KH ia active at the next draft again and make a trade to help the team now.

 

[Tuggy]

If I am being honest, I don't find our d-core playing any worse than opposing team's d-cores so far.

Most of the breakdowns have been team defense not in sync than anyone defender.

Given how young the D is, they've been quite good in my opinion. As team D improves. the individual games of the d core will look better.

There is room to grow for sure. I'm really hoping Savard is just having a slow start, because the group really needs a stabilizing presence back there.

I think Struble should help.

Reinbacher is hopefully also going to be a solid D presence in the future, maybe even could have been this season if not for the injury.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

It seems every October/November/December the last two years we’ve been starting the season scoring 3-4 goals while hovering around the .500 mark before teams tighten up and we end up drying up and finishing in the bottom 5. We need to learn to play a balanced game. Early season pond hockey doesn’t bring long term success. We’ve seen that in the previous two seasons.

I don't think it's necessarily because teams tighten up. It has as much or evenmore so to do with accruing injuries and not having the depth to replace those players.

 

[MangoX]

Agreed, one of the better presentations I've seen in a long time.

I remember one gambling ad where the 2nd guy was using a cat to choose the bets

 

[LaP]

Defense was Barren outside of Guhle and Hutson.

Guhle, Slaf, and Heineman with the goals.

Everyone else was bad.


#BergevinSucks

Absolutely agree, I don'T get why some people focus on one player only. The whole defense sucked outside of Guhle defensive and Hutson offensively. And it should not be a surprised. Savard is 33 and he's not a guy having the skills to remain good in his mid 30ies. Matheson has always been weak defensively. The defense is simply too young and it will take another two year imo before it is ready.

 

[schwang26]

Not really mad as much as I am maybe disappointed. Felt this was a winnable game but our consistency and structure (lack of) is still in its growing pains.

It was winnable. Really poor first and didn’t have momentum until the second.

 

[GrandBison]

Struble should be in for Xhekaj next game. Xhekaj is too weak in defensive zone to complement Barron and not good enough moving the puck to play with Savard.

 

[The Real Timo]

I know but we know our vets are not very good or otherwise the team would not have been bottom 5 to begin with. Lot of those vets will be phased out at the TDL and new blood will be added in the next two years (Demidov, Mailloux, Maybe Hage, Mesar, Reinbacher). Will not be surprised if KH ia active at the next draft again and make a trade to help the team now.

Why wait for draft?

Sigh... Kenny had a good opportunity to get rid of Matheson while he was piling up points last season (to go with his -60). I am sure there were one or two sucker GMs who would have taken him. He is unlikely to repeat this season, if first handful of games are any indication.

I am pissed. Yesterday was totally winnable.

And the whole St Louis/Matheson affairs begins to really look like Therrien/Davey D days. It truly is some kind of an unhealthy obsession.

 

[WeThreeKings]

4 games in 6 nights.. now 3 in 11.. so let's see if they can coach some adjustments in.

 

[Andy]

4 games in 6 nights.. now 3 in 11.. so let's see if they can coach some adjustments in.

3 in 11. Who made this schedule. gross

 

[MarkovsKnee]

As long as we are scoring 3-4 goals a game, I'm not sure this is what we should be focusing on.

We are leaking goals and scoring chances, despite prioritizing this area in the offseason. This is what's most concerning at this point.

Too many offensive D. Watching Matheson & Barron lead the rush together was something else. 2 defensemen pinching!

However, forwards didn't backcheck all night. Pens forwards were beating us up the ice all night. Multiple odd man rushes and open looks 15 feet in front of Montembeault.

It was a terrible defensive effort by the entire team except for Guhle.

Savard is really slowing down, and made some really poor decisions. Xhekaj & Savard couldn't contend with Pens quick puck play.

However, we were in it until the 3rd, which is similar to last year when the 3rd period is where other teams raised their intensity to win and we couldn't cope with it.