PENS vs Montreal Canadiens Round 1 (Best Of Five)

[Ogrezilla]

But does anyone think that the teams playing in the “round robin” series to determine the division champs are going to be “all in”? They’re already guaranteed a playoff spot and all they are determining is the seeding.

Meanwhile, everyone else is scratching and clawing just to get into the dance and will be balls to the wall in every game...

both of those variations have good and bad with them. How many teams play as well the first month of the season as they do in the 2nd round of the playoffs? The ones with serious injuries in round 2 of the playoffs. A few bumps and bruises are better than 3 months of rust.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I love the make-up of the Guentzel - Malkin - Rust line and we know it works + they would face second pairings because Sid always draw the tougher match ups. I would not mind Guentzel - Crosby - Sheary, Zucker - Malkin - Rust and that's the most likely scenario. It is not my most desired scenario though, I am not sure how a Sid/Jake/Sheary line would do defensively. We know Zucker would do well in his zone and we know Rust will too. So I prefer going with Zucker - Sid - Sheary, Jake - Geno - Rust.

No way Sheary does not play with Sid, they acquired him for that single purpose. Geno and Rust have to stay together. It is basically a matter of which LW plays where.

You are absolutely right on this one, and your top 6 makes the most sense:

Zucker-Crosby-Sheary
Guentzel-Malkin-Rust

We have seen both these lines play really good hockey this season, which is why it makes the most sense to keep them this way. If we do shuffle the lines, I think Sully’s next move would be to reunite GCS (which has worked in the past) while keeping Rust with Malkin, since they have been great together. This gives an alternate lineup of:

Guentzel-Crosby-Sheary
Zucker-Malkin-Rust

Either way, it is a stacked top 6, something Crosby and Malkin have been missing for a few years.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Pens get to play the 12 seed in real playoff games that matter as a warm up while the Flyers play meaningless exhibitions? After everyone is rusty from not playing for months? Yeah, sign me up. Have to beat the Habs but I see this as a major advantage for the 2nd round.

Pens have a bad habit of getting their doors blown off in the first game of the season, back from a break etc. Id rather get that out of the way v the habs than the Flyers.

 

[dogthateats]

I can totally see Tatar going all Mike Cammalleri on us

 

[Shrimper]

I don't understand why they can't do 20 teams. Much simpler and fairer to those who just missed out. 7-10 have a play in and the rest have a round robin to warm up.

 

[Shady Machine]

I don't understand why they can't do 20 teams. Much simpler and fairer to those who just missed out. 7-10 have a play in and the rest have a round robin to warm up.

I could be wrong, but have to think money was a big factor there. Adding the next 4 teams gives you major markets of Chicago and Montreal. I have to imagine those best of 5 with the Habs and Hawks adds serious dough.

 

[Gurglesons]

I could be wrong, but have to think money was a big factor there. Adding the next 4 teams gives you major markets of Chicago and Montreal. I have to imagine those best of 5 with the Habs and Hawks adds serious dough.

You’re not wrong and anyone complaining about the format should realize if they don’t do it, it could easily result in the cap plummeting. I’d rather lose a 1st round to Montreal then see what happens to the Pens if the cap goes down by 20 mil.

 

[wheelz87]

And allegedly that round robin will determine seeding for the top 4 teams in each conference. So playing the Flyers in the true 1st round isn't a guarantee.

so not only are we forced into the play-in round — which won’t be easy and will get us banged up — but we might not even play Philly, the weakest of the teams with a bye? Lovely! How much more can the pens get screwed in this format.

btw even Bruce Cassidy said it should be 16 teams.

 

[Shady Machine]

You’re not wrong and anyone complaining about the format should realize if they don’t do it, it could easily result in the cap plummeting. I’d rather lose a 1st round to Montreal then see what happens to the Pens if the cap goes down by 20 mil.

I've complained, but yes I agree. For the good of the game overall, having more teams play when they come back is the right call. Not particularly found of this format, but I get it.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

You’re not wrong and anyone complaining about the format should realize if they don’t do it, it could easily result in the cap plummeting. I’d rather lose a 1st round to Montreal then see what happens to the Pens if the cap goes down by 20 mil.

Cap won't go down 20M, escrow will go up... way up!

Cap going down would hurt the owners too much. Losing players and shit.

Escrow mechanism let teams keep their players and owner/player split remain 50/50... and then we will get a strike/lockout.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Please, please, please stomp us if this farce of a proposal goes through.

I don't want to see a situation where this abomination of a team flukes out a win against a deserving play-off team because they find their legs faster.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Why? He's been a reliable #5 Dman all season. He was awful last season but this year he's solid.

It's fine if JS wasn't trash for most of the season as well, because Marino has done yeoman's work babysitting his stupid ass.

Ideally, if all these guys "show up"...

Dumoulin, Letang
Pettersson, Schultz
Johnson, Marino

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I can totally see Tatar going all Mike Cammalleri on us

We got Mr Playoff Clutch, Jake Guentzel and GWG Machine, Bryan Rust.

 

[EvGeno]

I dunno, I see it as a built in excuse for another early exit—“Gimmick format! Long layoff! Montreal wouldn’t even have been there normally!” There’ll be an asterisk win or lose. At least hockey will be back.

I wonder if PA would be open and the arena available if the Pens made the finals? If so, I’d fully expect them to finally win it all at home...with fans still never seeing them win it at home.

 

[Shrimper]

We got Mr Playoff Clutch, Jake Guentzel and GWG Machine, Bryan Rust.

I can't wait to see Jake again

 

[Ryder71]

It's great to see hockey talk finally take center stage. I just want the boys to get back and hopefully play as they did prior to Jake getting hurt.

 

[Ryder71]

As far as that format I actually believe it enhances our chances. We need time to find our game again. Not saying the Habs can't beat us, but if they do then we weren't winning anything anyhow.

 

[mpp9]

I hope the long layoff helps give us a good run out of Marleau. This team is stacked if he can play the Kunitz role with Malkin and Rust.

Plus for the first time, we may get to watch Sid operate with a fully armed and operational battle station.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

It's fine if JS wasn't trash for most of the season as well, because Marino has done yeoman's work babysitting his stupid ass.

Ideally, if all these guys "show up"...

Dumoulin, Letang
Pettersson, Schultz
Johnson, Marino

Schultz sucks and may end up a healthy scratch in the playoffs.
Pettersson or JJ will be the #4 dman paired with Marino.

 

[Gurglesons]

I hope the long layoff helps give us a good run out of Marleau. This team is stacked if he can play the Kunitz role with Malkin and Rust.

Plus for the first time, we may get to watch Sid operate with a fully armed and operational battle station.

Yeah. That may be huge. Half of his production came in his first 25 games.

 

[Andy99]

This is from another poster...

“So, it looks like the 24 team thing is going to be approved. Here are the matchups that will occur for the 5-12th place teams (with top 4 in each conference getting byes).

According to Dan Kingerski, this was hardly a unanimous vote. There were safety concerns, concerns about being quarantined away from family, and some teams that were not happy with the format. Also according to Kingerski, the Penguins were one of the teams that had a very hard NO VOTE on this proposal. They aren't happy about their separation from the top and where they are seeded, as well as not happy that their opponent is someone who was nowhere near making the playoffs under the traditional landscape.

Pittsburgh versus Montreal is the largest regular season point gap in those games, 15 points difference. EDM vs CHI is an 11 point difference. Lot of talk too that, had say, Buffalo in the East and Anaheim in the West been in the positions where Montreal and Chicago currently are, there might not have been as big of push to have 24 teams...the thinking is the NHL wanted to find a way to get those bigger markets involved to increase viewership and interest.“

 

[Gurglesons]

This is from another poster...

“So, it looks like the 24 team thing is going to be approved. Here are the matchups that will occur for the 5-12th place teams (with top 4 in each conference getting byes).

According to Dan Kingerski, this was hardly a unanimous vote. There were safety concerns, concerns about being quarantined away from family, and some teams that were not happy with the format. Also according to Kingerski, the Penguins were one of the teams that had a very hard NO VOTE on this proposal. They aren't happy about their separation from the top and where they are seeded, as well as not happy that their opponent is someone who was nowhere near making the playoffs under the traditional landscape.

Pittsburgh versus Montreal is the largest regular season point gap in those games, 15 points difference. EDM vs CHI is an 11 point difference. Lot of talk too that, had say, Buffalo in the East and Anaheim in the West been in the positions where Montreal and Chicago currently are, there might not have been as big of push to have 24 teams...the thinking is the NHL wanted to find a way to get those bigger markets involved to increase viewership and interest.“

Who cares? Someone was getting screwed. Maybe the Penguins shouldn’t have f***ing sucked for a month. Let’s be realistic the Pens could have easily fallen out of the playoffs with the amount of H2Hs.

 

[Omar]

Habs fan here. How can we help you win? Thanks

 

[DesertPenguin]

Habs fan here. How can we help you win? Thanks

We're all having 2010 Mike Cammalleri / Jaroslav Halak PTSD over here. No one wants to see that turn into Tatar / Price in 2020. Can you have those two sit out?

 

[EvGeno]

Habs fan here. How can we help you win? Thanks

Have someone with the virus cough on Price? Don’t want him to get sick or anything, but if it was known he was exposed, he’d have to “social distance”...
(Only JOKING, by the way)