Post-Game Talk: Pens/Flyers - Sid gives himself a Christmas present by dropping 4 on the Flyers

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

9-3-1 in their last 13 games. Keep it rolling.

 

[Kasperi kapanen]

Them getting scored on while Dubas was in the the booth was one of the funniest things.

 

[canadianguy77]

Also, thank goodness the Flyers braintrust of Briere and Keith Jones have hitched their wagon to Torts for their rebuilding process and development of a dude like Michkov.

They’re going to ruin that kid. Try to turn him into something he isn’t or they’ll trade him for pennies on the dollar.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Hell yeah
f*** the Flyers

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Sid 12 points in his last 6. That will do. That will do nicely.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Crosby is tied for 19th in scoring right now, but the other three players he's tied with have played fewer games than he has.
We play the Islanders twice next. They just got blown out by Buffalo, so they'll probably be a difficult win. On the other hand, it's not out of the question that they'll roll over easily either, especially if their confidence is shattered.

I do want to see the Penguins play a good team, but with a healthy Pettersson and Pickering. Just to see how 'real' this is.

 

[Ulf5]

Um No!

Slightly possible. Zero chance they catch anyone in the division or Tampa for the first wildcard.
Ottawa is only 1 point ahead. But they're not really that close. They have 2 games in hand and 3 more ROW. But it is certainly possible.
I could see Dubas selling and buying at the deadline if they're close.

 

[McGroarty2]

Crosby is tied for 19th in scoring right now, but the other three players he's tied with have played fewer games than he has.
We play the Islanders twice next. They just got blown out by Buffalo, so they'll probably be a difficult win. On the other hand, it's not out of the question that they'll roll over easily either, especially if their confidence is shattered.

I do want to see the Penguins play a good team, but with a healthy Pettersson and Pickering. Just to see how 'real' this is.

They beat VAN, BOS, CAL, FLA, TOR and LAK during this 9-3-1 stretch.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

They beat VAN, BOS, CAL, FLA, TOR and LAK during this 9-3-1 stretch.

I suppose that's true, as well. It's not entirely or even mostly a bunch of slouches we've been beating.

 

[eXile3]

Crosby is tied for 19th in scoring right now, but the other three players he's tied with have played fewer games than he has.
We play the Islanders twice next. They just got blown out by Buffalo, so they'll probably be a difficult win. On the other hand, it's not out of the question that they'll roll over easily either, especially if their confidence is shattered.

I do want to see the Penguins play a good team, but with a healthy Pettersson and Pickering. Just to see how 'real' this is.

I mean, we’re basically in the same spot as the last two seasons. We’ve been WC bubble team and it looks like that will continue.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I mean, we’re basically in the same spot as the last two seasons. We’ve been WC bubble team and it looks like that will continue.

I would say that the difference is that the previous two seasons, getting to that point required a lot of buy-in from the team on defense, which is a tough ask because our guys don't like playing defense all that much. This year, we're porous defensively, but sometimes getting results anyway. If something were going to happen in any of the past three seasons, the 'good' play of this season seems to be more sustainable than the good play of the previous two seasons.

 

[spcastlemagic]

it’s just funny. Been watching this guy for 20 seasons now, and nothing has ever changed. It’s just as fun to watch him as it was 20 years ago. Jagr’s physicality and dynamism to protect the puck, Gretzky’s vision and finesse when distributing the puck, Howe’s love of the game, Lemieux’s hatred of the Flyers. Keep it up Sid.

 

[Ryder71]

They beat VAN, BOS, CAL, FLA, TOR and LAK during this 9-3-1 stretch.

I gotta say something here. In the case of the Canucks they played their 3rd string goalie and the Pens almost blew it at the end despite earning a sizable lead. FLA played their back up as BOB was home with his wife having a baby. And all but the BOS game was at home. Now, that said, every chance they had to win they found a way. But their shooting % is off the charts, I doubt very seriously that's sustainable.

And here's the thing that concerns me the most beyond the fact their ruining themselves or hurting themselves in the draft, No CORE member is getting hurt. That's simply gotta change. Sid Geno and Letang get injured a lot. Now as they're on the back end of their career they don't? Not even a little bit? What? If you look at how many games these guys have missed over the years, it's a miracle that Sid and Geno have not missed ONE game in nearly three years. That's never happened before.

 

[Ryder71]

Them getting scored on while Dubas was in the the booth was one of the funniest things.

Did you notice how he touted the Flyers ability to come back in games? Almost as if the Pens are going against what he'd like to see happen so he can make the appropriate and lasting changes?

 

[Icarium]

Dubas sure likes the sound of his own voice, maybe he actually is fond of Mike "I say a lot of words in interviews while actually saying nothing meaningful" Sullivan.

I don't think the Pens are going anywhere considering how often they get absolutely caved in and hanging on for dear life with a goalie who loves falling apart come spring but this opportunistic streak in attack in nice to see. Especially against the Cryers and Tortorella. We had less than 1 xGF at 5 on 5 against a pretty bad team but scored three beautiful goals nevertheless. L1 is rolling, Geno with some real magic and some nice defensive effort in the third. And the team didn't fall apart after that bad goal Jarry gave up for 4-3. A Christmas miracle!

 

[Ryder71]

Slightly possible. Zero chance they catch anyone in the division or Tampa for the first wildcard.
Ottawa is only 1 point ahead. But they're not really that close. They have 2 games in hand and 3 more ROW. But it is certainly possible.
I could see Dubas selling and buying at the deadline if they're close.

If this keeps up it's certainly going to make life more difficult for Kyle no doubt! But here's the good news. This Christmas break is long enough to break their momentum. They had their little run, hopefully reality sets back in to the mindset of selling guys off. We'll see. I don't think their current play is sustainable. But again, every chance they had to win of late they found a way. Even if it wasn't pretty.

 

[edog37]

Back to being buyers babyyyyy

No they aren’t. And they shouldn’t be. Not when your core is in their mid to upper 30s.

 

[BusinessGoose]

No they aren’t. And they shouldn’t be. Not when your core is in their mid to upper 30s.

If they remain within five points of playoffs at TDL, they may not be buyers, but they also won't be sellers.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

This team's true level is somewhere in between beating the bajeezus out of awful teams like the Flyers (consistently!) and not even getting 15 shots on goal and being shutout by teams like the Devils. They aren't really a playoff team but they also aren't so bad that they are getting run over occasionally or barely just hanging with the truly down and out teams in this league.

So basically nothing has changed. But I'm not going to complain about old man Sid taking the Flyers to the woodshed. Some things never get old and that's a tried and true classic.

It's funny to see some people conflicted about them winning. One would hope that if they are a playoff team by the TDL that Dubas at least has the balls to reinforce the roster a little bit. Scoring/ability is still a huge issue. A first round pick should be off the table, I agree. Would anyone REALLY be upset if nearly nothing else was? The only prospect I see that looks too interesting to dish is Pickering.

EDIT: Michkov a -3 against the Penguins while being coached by Torts. I bet he's gonna have a terrific rest of his week.

 

[Andy99]

If the Pens were serious about winning, Blomqvist would be up here as he’s our best goalie lol…our wins have come against teams, as others have said, where Jarry, despite his continuing inconsistency, has been the better of the goalies on the ice…I mean Errsson was awful last night….thats the only way we win games…bring Blom up if they really want to win, but listening to Dubas, I don’t think they care

 

[Empoleon8771]

If the Pens were serious about winning, Blomqvist would be up here as he’s our best goalie lol…our wins have come against teams, as others have said, where Jarry, despite his continuing inconsistency, has the better of the goalies on the ice…I mean Errsson was awful last night….thats the only way we win games…bring Blom up if they really want to win, but listening to Dubas, I don’t think they care

Since Thanksgiving, the Penguins goalies are 9-3-1 with both putting up league average-ish or better numbers (Jarry at a .895 save%, Nedjelkovic at a .916 save%). Not sure why you'd conclude that goaltending is a problem for them right now.

Over that window, Jarry is at a -0.4 GSAA while Nedjelkovic is at a +1.76 GSAA. They're getting pretty much average goaltending from those two.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Love me some Sid, but let's be real, it only took him 393 more games to match, Mario.

Not that I expect Sid to be anywhere near the level of Mario, in his own merit he's the best #2 in the team's history.

So, I don't really hold these accomplishments to the same standards.

The fact he brought 4 finals, and 3 cups is what makes him a notch above, Mario.

Glad to see Crosby understands this.

 

[Zbynek]

Since Thanksgiving, the Penguins goalies are 9-3-1 with both putting up league average-ish or better numbers (Jarry at a .895 save%, Nedjelkovic at a .916 save%). Not sure why you'd conclude that goaltending is a problem for them right now.

Over that window, Jarry is at a -0.4 GSAA while Nedjelkovic is at a +1.76 GSAA. They're getting pretty much average goaltending from those two.

Let me spell it out for you. Goaltending is an issue for the Penguins because our starting goaltender, Tristan Jarry, sucks balls and is also a huge baby.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Let me spell it out for you. Goaltending is an issue for the Penguins because our starting goaltender, Tristan Jarry, sucks balls and is also a huge baby.

"Here are the stats showing Jarry has been fine recently"
"Have you considered that Jarry is a big doodoo head that sucks balls?"

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I would say that goaltending is always an issue because they are goaltenders and they are chronic issues.

But I mean... not really the thing that springs to the front of my brain when I think "the big issue with the Pittsburgh Penguins is..."

That said if Dubas gets even the inkling of a chance to move on from Jarry without retaining then he'd better do it.