Post-Game Talk: Pens/Isles Game 1: Home Ice + Good Matchup all for nothing

[vodeni]

1-10 in our last 11 post season tilts. I'm not gonna say much today, but 1-10 in our last 11 post season games is beyond absurd. That is historically brutal!

Or 13-2 in 15 that may sound better

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

We wouldn't take that as a job well done from a contractor or a mechanic, would we?

"You wouldn't hire a clown to fix a leak in the john... so why do you let these hooligans tear down the biz?!?"

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

@Jesse's article was pretty good about the coaching changes, but I'll be honest, I didn't really see any of those changes show up today. But I've also been pretty zonked from my Pfizer shot, so...

If Penguins fans realize anything from the past 15 or so years it's that the regular season means f*** all when it comes to the playoffs. We've seen teams rip through the RS only to faceplant in the post season, regardless of coaching, FO, goalies, or whatever.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Or we can just let Jarry get his experience and not give up after his first year as starter. I believe he was .918 from the end of his bad start til the end of the year. All those goalies you mentioned got their chance in the playoffs. Now Jarry is gonna get his.

We don't know what we have yet. It's too soon to make those decisions.

If Crosby and Malkin were 27, I'd agree with this. But they're not 27, Crosby's going to be 34 this summer and Malkin's going to be 35.

They don't exactly have the luxury of being patient with growing pains for young players.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

But not when it counts. That's what I've been on all season. They have moments against bad teams where it looks like it's coming back, and then... it vanishes.

So because Crosby's deflection wasn't 2 inches more to the right, the PP was bad?

They were in the zone for 2 mins on that first one. The Pens had 3 opportunities today. Even the best PP in the league finished 27.6%.

What kind of rate are we expecting in the playoffs? 33%? 40%?

You have to give credit to the Islanders. They have a strong PK.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

 

[Pens x]

You can’t play Matheson on Tuesday, right?

Right???

It seems so obvious...

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I sincerely hope people don't think I'm like... upset. These guys have beaten that out of me. Plus they already cemented their legacy. So this is just like... bonus round.

*sigh*

That they are largely bonering up, given. But hey.

 

[Night Shift]

If Crosby and Malkin were 27, I'd agree with this. But they're not 27, Crosby's going to be 34 this summer and Malkin's going to be 35.

They don't exactly have the luxury of being patient with growing pains for young players.

It's a valid point.

 

[Super Luigi]

An evil part of me wonders what would have been if we had traded Murray. This board would probably riot.

But it just goes to show that a lot more effects a goalie's performance than just the player themselves.

Well, I believe it was meant to go this way and couldn't have happened in any other way.

I also believe change of scenery and organization helped Fleury elevate his game even further.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I sincerely hope people don't think I'm like... upset. These guys have beaten that out of me. Plus they already cemented their legacy. So this is just like... bonus round.

*sigh*

That they are largely bonering up, given. But hey.

Calm down, dude. You're going to give yourself an aneuyrism over this.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Calm down, dude. You're going to give yourself an aneuyrism over this.

Now MALKIN on the other hand... that dude frustrates the shit outta me. But only because it's like... sad.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Now MALKIN on the other hand... that dude frustrates the shit outta me. But only because it's like... sad.

Agreed. He was awful today.

 

[Andy99]

Agreed. He was awful today.

he was so slow you could barely see him on the ice...

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Yeah, Jarry's game wasn't top notch, but we have more issues than that. Hell, the only awful goal he let in was Pageau's clear shot from the top of the circle, and placement was perfect. Nelson's goal went between Letang's legs so that was a bit of a fluke. And he was hung out to dry more than once by sloppy Penguin turnovers and prevailed. I'm more worried at how badly it seemed to me we got worked on the boards. They were better and stronger at puck battles. Their forechecks were actually what we feared. I don't know whether this is desire, size/strength, coaching, or some combination of the three, but they kicked our asses. And Pixie's point about Marino isn't wrong. I can no longer ignore his falloff. Palmieri freaking destroyed him on the OT goal.

 

[Empoleon8771]

If Crosby and Malkin were 27, I'd agree with this. But they're not 27, Crosby's going to be 34 this summer and Malkin's going to be 35.

They don't exactly have the luxury of being patient with growing pains for young players.

And to expand on this point, I think Crosby's and Malkin's age is another reason why giving out so many medium to long term contracts to young players was a bad idea. It doesn't matter if Marino's contract is a bargain in 2025 if you need cap space more in 2021 than in 2025. Same thing applies to Pettersson, Matheson (he didn't give him that contract but he traded for that contract) and Jarry as well.

Marino's not really impacting them yet, but Pettersson and Jarry are already and Marino's going to start impacting that next year.

 

[Jacob]

I think it’s hard to judge how the team plays when the goalie’s giving up iffy goals. Nothing can be more deflating than when you’re legitimately outplaying the other team but you need 5 or 6 scoring chances to score but the other team needs 1 or even zero.

In hindsight Jarry wasn’t as bad as some of the hyperbole even I used. He needs to be better though. And he needs to show it real fast in the next game or the team might turn flat again. No point in going through a wall in the POs if your goalie’s leaking low percentage chances.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Marino's on the fast track to becoming the new Petts next year. And Petts is the new Maatta.

And Maatta's the new... Welch?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Agreed. He was awful today.

Yeah whole game I was all like "GET OFF THE ICE, SCRUB!"

 

[vodeni]

I understand why people are frustrated but I don't know why people make sweeping explanations about this team as if it was the same team as the one last year, or the year before. We didn't just change a player or two. These are completely different teams. So what's your argument? Sullivan? Point to one single thing that he could have adjusted today that would make up for Jarry shitting the bed. The core chokes in the playoffs suddenly? I mean, Sid and Letang were our two best players not to mention all their past achievement etc etc etc...

A lot of projection happening. You can't win in the playoffs when you have a goalie that lets in basic shots. It changes the way the whole team plays. We need to fix that, and to a lesser extent get Malkin back, before we can assess anything else.

Agree 95% but one thing bothers me with Sully, when it’s apparent that your L2 is not working and Jake and Rust do shit, got to act fast, it’s play offs can’t work through issues like in regular season, he has not done that in a while, and that’s scary part,

 

[Return of the Paek]

Tough to win without your leader. Hopefully geno is back in game 2...

 

[wgknestrick]

If Crosby and Malkin were 27, I'd agree with this. But they're not 27, Crosby's going to be 34 this summer and Malkin's going to be 35.

They don't exactly have the luxury of being patient with growing pains for young players.

They also don't have the legs to skate hard for 25min/game nor Letang for 32min. Why is Sully sending Letang out for 50% of the game? No one can handle those minutes, especially 34yo.

 

[Rudy Russo]

The penguins always have to make it so difficult for themselves sometimes in the playoffs.

 

[ColePens]

I hate that I still end up spending hours after a playoff game brooding on the loss. I should be over this after the two recent cup wins but it's hard to let losses go without dwelling on them. I know @ColePens is the same way and he'll be thinking about this loss all night lol.

It's just tough because I think we all thought this team would be different. Maybe they will still prove to be but they gotta show me. I wasn't expecting a championship coming into this playoffs but another first round playoff loss would hurt.

Yeah I'm more angry at myself for being emotionally invested. It's a game at the end of the day. I do love the sport and I love this city. It's fun to see the city proud. It's just a game and they've done their part w/ 3 Cups. But hey... sometimes those emotions are just human nature.

And if that's nerdy, so be it. Hockey has been my life and my family is so absurdly close due to our bond over the sport.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

If Crosby and Malkin were 27, I'd agree with this. But they're not 27, Crosby's going to be 34 this summer and Malkin's going to be 35.

They don't exactly have the luxury of being patient with growing pains for young players.

This team doesn't rely on Malkin as much as it used to. Finished 2nd in scoring in the NHL with him missing 23 games. He scored 3 5v5 goals this season, and we finished in 1st place in the East. The PP was better with him out than in.

Our record without him this year was 16-5-2. We don't need to worry about his age so much. The depth scoring is there. If we get Blueger and Carter back next season our Center depth is great again.

We win and lose based on our structure and goaltending. We didn't have it today and paid the price. If they have it on Tuesday they have a good chance to win, Malkin or no Malkin.

We shouldn't be pulling out hot takes about Jarry after one playoff game either. Even in series where we historically consider our goalies to have been difference makers, when you check the stats they had one or two worse games. There's every chance he will be a lot better next game.