Post-Game Talk: Pens 4, Avs 3 - Hanging On Against the Bottom Feeders

[malkshake]

I think Kessel just needs a bit more time adjusting to his role here. He definitely compliments Geno more though as Geno with space is much harder to stop than Crosby with space. As well just look at his pass to Malkin on the through the legs goal.

Kessel isn't used to being the second best player on his line. Once he realizes he can just play his game and he has back up of equal talent the points will pour in. New system, new linemates, new role.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I hop on to boards from team I usually don't follow from to time, and I couldn't help but notice that Chicago fans are similarly peeved about Toews' performance so far this season. Maybe the TSN Top 50 list this year is cursed them both?

 

[#66]

How is Kessel playing with Malkin helping Sid with Dupuis?

I think you could plug Bennett in Kessel's spot and Malkin will still do his thing. Just an opinion. Chill folks.

That's the way I see it too. Take advantage of teams without depth.

I do want him back with Sid at some point but at LW. He played LW in the past and IMO looked better. Plus with Sid always attacking down the right side and Hornqvist the middle.... the ice should be covered with great plays.

The Pens are still a little to much about attacking from the right side of the ice. Open up the ice, pass through the middle and make skilled plays. Force the goalie to move around in net. Look at how the Rangers play... They're not that skilled but always attack as a triangle. There's always a play east/ west or north/ south. Give Sid, Malkin and Kessel those options and they would all be golden diamonds.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I hop on to boards from team I usually don't follow from to time, and I couldn't help but notice that Chicago fans are similarly peeved about Toews' performance so far this season. Maybe the TSN Top 50 list this year is cursed them both?

Read a thread the other day about Hossa regressing on thier board.
He is the same age as Kunitz and Duper.

Toews is getting the Sid treatment right now with a regressing Hossa.
The other wingers tried there are the Shaw's, Garbutt's and Dano.
Nothing has stuck.

And the Panarin-Anisomov-Kane line has been dynamite for them.

 

[#66]

Read a thread the other day about Hossa regressing on thier board.
He is the same age as Kunitz and Duper.

Toews is getting the Sid treatment right now with a regressing Hossa.
The other wingers tried there are the Shaw's, Garbutt's and Dano.
Nothing has stuck.

And the Panarin-Anisomov-Kane line has been dynamite for them.

I like JT but people have turned a 70 point player into a god. He's always had a ton of help. Help that Sid has never gotten. IMO the only time Sid has shown true chemistry with a a winger was Armstrong, Kunitz, Billy G and Ziggy for about 10 games. Also Berg and Boyes.

If Sid wants to play a more complete game he needs someone to take pucks up ice for him like Kane does for Toews or Bossy used to do for Trottier.

I think a killer in that is that the Pens are so worried about Cori crap that its shuts down their flow for the game. How many times do we have to see a floater on net just to get an offensive zone face off? That's when a winger should be taking pucks deep into the offensive zone, holding it there and waiting for Sid and Malkin. I swear the numbers crap is killing hockey.

 

[mpp9]

My opinion is that the sky is red. My opinion is that pooping is best done while standing on your head. My opinion is that George RR Martin writes his books in a relatively fast manner.

See, just because you have an opinion, doesn't mean it can be correct or smart.

You honestly think Kessel has much to do with what Malkin does on any given shift? I dont see it. Maybe the line goes to **** without him. I think you could put Beau there and keep Malkin in beast shooting mode while utilizing Kessel elsewhere.

But hey, dont let me stop you from confusing positive with normative statements.

 

[plaidchuck]

Haven't watched the last few games. Is horns still on the third line?

 

[Vujtek]

Haven't watched the last few games. Is horns still on the third line?

Played with Sid in this weeks games.

 

[MrBurghundy]

You honestly think Kessel has much to do with what Malkin does on any given shift? I dont see it. Maybe the line goes to **** without him. I think you could put Beau there and keep Malkin in beast shooting mode while utilizing Kessel elsewhere.

But hey, dont let me stop you from confusing positive with normative statements.

If you are putting Kessel on the 3rd line, your opinion is wrong. Period.

 

[Shady Machine]

Guys I wasn't being serious about moving Kessel to the third line. Good lord I was just referencing Steve Dangle's video about the Kessel trade, lol.

Well a few people were serious haha

 

[Shady Machine]

Sure if we had a bottom 6 of Wilson-Bonino-Glass and Farnham-Adams-Sestito then I can see the benefit of moving Kessel down for depth purposes. But we currently have the deepest offensive talent on the bottom 6 we have had in a really long time. I just don't see the benefit of it and the downside is much greater.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Haven't watched the last few games. Is horns still on the third line?

Unfortunately, you missed a couple of good games. But, its Dupuis and Hornqvist with Crosby. Kunitz and Bennett with Bonino. Cullen and Fehr with either Plotnikov or Sprong.

It gets frustrating that Beau hasn't gotten a shot to play with Sid without Dupuis. It just seems obvious that you go Bennett-Crosby-Hornqvist.

Bottom 6 in whatever combination has looked good and Fehr/Cullen as the basis of your fourth line is unfair.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Combination of the team being boring even in wins/looking like ******* in wins and this board being a collection of miserable humans.

So true (most of the time).

Anyone else think Scuderi was the Avs best defensive player tonight?

None of the people who matter when it comes to these sorts of things.

Tons of **** was happening and not getting called. Blatant hook on Perron, blatant trip on Kessel...but you gotta keep those games close boys!

NHL refeffing continues to be **** and not just with our games. Going on 3 years now the quality has taken a notable dive into turruble territory. League apparently thinks they're doing a great job / have changed nothing.

Our defense is still soft as baby ****, and terrible to boot.

It's great to see the forwards working well though. If we could swing a trade or two to really shore up the defense, I'd venture to say we could compete for a Cup this season.

But to be clear, they'd have to be big trades. We'd have to get at least one guy for 1st/2nd pairing duty, and a long-term solution for that. One more depth d-man wouldn't hurt either.

Nah. It was predictable our D would be crap. However the only way those "big" trades happen is if we sacrifice some of the good offensive depth with just acquired (creating the same old problem again) or sacrificing the depth of our talent pool the next few years, which I think we can safely say we've done too much of that already.

Nope you have to let 'em play and make trades for 4/5 quality D while cutting Scuderi loose and hope it's enough to at least make us competitive. We're not making a Cup run this year unless we manage to fleece someone badly without giving up important offensive assets. That's fine; I just want us to show improvement with some of our young guys (which means the dumbasses have to play them more — particularly Sprong — now that they've committed to keeping on the roster. With improvement comes more competitive results, but it's going to take a year or two.

Some observations from the game.
3. Game 19 and Kunitz finally shows up.

Takes a while to get the iron and B12 levels up.

Nice.

Come on guys. Kessel to third line is absurd.

Only on this board, after flailing around for any theory and solution they can come up with, do people suggest this as a solution. After all the years of waiting to sign someone of his skill level. Truly mind-boggling. I mean a shift here or there to throw off the other coach or give someone a rest, sure. Happens to every player except maybe Sid or Geno. To do it with any regularity / more than say 1-2 shifts a game, would be... pretty ****ing dumb.

 

[roquay]

My point was we are short a top 6 winger and people are suggesting putting our best one on the third line. Just seems strange to me. Malkin has been great since Kessel had been there. No need to change it.

We have 4 top 6 wingers but 3 of them are RW. Someone needs to be moved and as much as I hate to say it that guy is probably Hornqvist.

I'd move Kessel to Sid's line. Bennett with Malkin are two guys I've wanted to see play together for a while.

 

[billybudd]

Putting Kessel on a third line with Bonino isn't that crazy if he's still getting first unit powerplay time and you're rolling those three lines with semi-equal even strength ice time. Each of your first three lines now have a player that (at least theoretically) needs to be accounted for at all times and has shown the ability to carry a line in the past. Variation of the Staal strategy.

This isn't to say I'd do it (I wouldn't), but the notion is not laughable. And if you've been complaining (endlessly/nauseatingly) about Bennett being on a third line, you should definitely not be mocking MPP9's idea. Putting a better player than 19 on the third line is the only way he would ever be in the top six on this club, whether it's Hornqvist or Kessel you bump down.

 

[plaidchuck]

People are frustrated because they thought getting kessel would be an instant panacea for the team.

They should've realized nothing is ever that simple for this organization.

 

[vodeni]

Putting Kessel on a third line with Bonino isn't that crazy if he's still getting first unit powerplay time and you're rolling those three lines with semi-equal even strength ice time. Each of your first three lines now have a player that (at least theoretically) needs to be accounted for at all times and has shown the ability to carry a line in the past. Variation of the Staal strategy.

This isn't to say I'd do it (I wouldn't), but the notion is not laughable. And if you've been complaining (endlessly/nauseatingly) about Bennett being on a third line, you should definitely not be mocking MPP9's idea. Putting a better player than 19 on the third line is the only way he would ever be in the top six on this club, whether it's Hornqvist or Kessel you bump down.

This is not laughable at all. I was reading today a great article about Chicago second line that is killing, Kane on a record shattering pace and Panarin closing on rookie of the year. What interested me is that they are centered by Anisimov, who's having pretty good season for himself. I know its hard to make any parallel but maybe Kessel's soclled struggles come from having to play with Geno and Sid. Bear with me here...maybe he needs a center exactly like Bonino who would be serving him and providing him with the space taht he could use to rush off the blue line and snipe the puck, things that he always was best at. With Malkin especially and somewhat with Sid, I look and Kessel and he seems not to know what to do, where to go, when Geno goes into one of winding around modes. Now this is just a theory that I think it would not be horible exploring. Move Beau with Geno and drop Kessel with Bones or Fehr...They can always go back and slide him up.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

It's not that Kessel would be wholly unsuccessful on the third line, it's that Kessel's importance goes deeper than just scoring goals. He also provides Sid or Geno with a legitimate, powerful weapon to utilize, as well as to provide another player for the opposition to worry about when their line is on the ice.

We traded for Kessel not only for him to score a bunch of goals, but to provide Sid or Geno with space by literally just being on their line. It forces the opposition to abandon the tactic of blanketing Sid or Geno with one guy, and watching them with another so they're essentially double teamed the entire shift.

Kessel to the third line is ****ing stupid.

 

[Shaftception]

Bear with me here...maybe he needs a center exactly like Bonino who would be serving him and providing him with the space taht he could use to rush off the blue line and snipe the puck, things that he always was best at.

Kessel having had barely any opportunities to score off the rush has nothing to do with crosby or malkin's playstyles, the system doesn't allow for risks that create the space for odd-man breaks and the like in the first place.

 

[mpp9]

Putting Kessel on a third line with Bonino isn't that crazy if he's still getting first unit powerplay time and you're rolling those three lines with semi-equal even strength ice time. Each of your first three lines now have a player that (at least theoretically) needs to be accounted for at all times and has shown the ability to carry a line in the past. Variation of the Staal strategy.

This isn't to say I'd do it (I wouldn't), but the notion is not laughable. And if you've been complaining (endlessly/nauseatingly) about Bennett being on a third line, you should definitely not be mocking MPP9's idea. Putting a better player than 19 on the third line is the only way he would ever be in the top six on this club, whether it's Hornqvist or Kessel you bump down.

No one seems to want to answer the question. Do you think Malkin is feeding off of Kessel at all? I want him to gel with 87 or 71, but it just hasn't happened. I don't see any more space out there b/c of Kessel's presence. You have to exploit that for it to work.

I think if they can bring in an upgrade on LW, they have the forwards to run any number of combinations. Including 87+71 together and 87, 71 and 81 on separate lines.

 

[billybudd]

No one seems to want to answer the question. Do you think Malkin is feeding off of Kessel at all? I want him to gel with 87 or 71, but it just hasn't happened. I don't see any more space out there b/c of Kessel's presence. You have to exploit that for it to work.

I think if they can bring in an upgrade on LW, they have the forwards to run any number of combinations. Including 87+71 together and 87, 71 and 81 on separate lines.

They haven't been working at cross purposes, exactly, but if you're asking if Malkin's strong performance after roughly game 5 has much to do with Kessel, my answer would be no. In some of these situations, he could be out there with 4 of Craig Adams, and the goal might still happen.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

They haven't been working at cross purposes, exactly, but if you're asking if Malkin's strong performance after roughly game 5 has much to do with Kessel, my answer would be no. In some of these situations, he could be out there with 4 of Craig Adams, and the goal might still happen.

What a load.

That's like saying "Well, Sid and Kessel would be so good together, you could put Kunitz's corpse out there and it wouldn't **** things up!"

Whether or not Kessel directly contributed to Geno's resurgence over the past few games doesn't tell the entire story. Kessel simply being out there forces teams to stop shadowing Geno, and blanketing him with two guys at all times.