B21 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Another solid effort last night complete with the now common contribution from a new addition to the team. This time it was Pyatt's goal and his screen that allowed Maatta to sneak the game winner past Neuvirth. Also - the token Letang bone head play (that lead to the Caps shortie) and the Malkin retalitory penalty (that offset a Pens PP). That said, I don't think the Pens have peaked yet. Not even close. Too many injuries. To many players shuffling in and out of the line-up. Nothing else to be said other than they are in a very good spot right now. Quote
Polaris922 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 @B21I can't say enough how impressive it is to watch them win after win while personnel rotate through like a carousel. And talk about a class act! Anyone else notice they're calling up AHL players to play in the NHL for their birthday? Drazenovic has to be the third player this year, at least. I love it that the team puts the players first in so many ways. Quote
B21 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Posted January 16, 2014 @B21I can't say enough how impressive it is to watch them win after win while personnel rotate through like a carousel.And talk about a class act! Anyone else notice they're calling up AHL players to play in the NHL for their birthday? Drazenovic has to be the third player this year, at least. I love it that the team puts the players first in so many ways. Wow. I didn't know that about the birthdays. That is pretty cool. Says alot about the depth of the organization that you can make call ups based on one's birthday. I like that they do things like this....back in December they gave Zatkoff a start in Detroit because he's from there. It was a road game a day after a home game. Usually, they would give Fleury the road game and start Zatkoff at home. Quote
Polaris922 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 @B21Yeah I forgot about the Zatkoff start in Detwoit. Quote
nossagog Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Another solid effort last night complete with the now common contribution from a new addition to the team. This time it was Pyatt's goal and his screen that allowed Maatta to sneak the game winner past Neuvirth. Also - the token Letang bone head play (that lead to the Caps shortie) and the Malkin retalitory penalty (that offset a Pens PP). That said, I don't think the Pens have peaked yet. Not even close. Too many injuries. To many players shuffling in and out of the line-up. Nothing else to be said other than they are in a very good spot right now. To be honest, I think they've been FAAAAR from their best. The western swing and last nights game they were really forutnate. People have watched to much Pens tape, and are easily pinning in their break outs and anticipating their reverses behind the net. Bylsma's gotta change things up. WAY to many turnovers. Speaking of turnovers, has Letang play any worse in his career. Sure, he got a goal, but man, his decision making is simply BAD. He tries to skate the puck out under pressure from two forecheckers. He throws soft bad passes(last nights shorty) when he could easily skate for a mile. I just don't get it. And this is not just a last night thing, I'd say he's regressing, but I don't remember him this way. That said, I would really like to see them turn the corner and play some GOOD hockey. Imagine the games then. Oh, one other weird thought, did anyone else notice that Coach Dan kept using Crosby's line against Ovechkin last night whenever he could. It's like he was playing Sid as the checking line. Really? Quote
mojo1917 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Oh, one other weird thought, did anyone else notice that Coach Dan kept using Crosby's line against Ovechkin last night whenever he could. It's like he was playing Sid as the checking line. Really? checking line... or putting 87 out to keep the puck away from Backstrom and Ovechkin ? accomplish two things , put Crosby on the ice, discourage Ovechkin early so he goes away for the the next 50 minutes.If I had 87 i'd use him like that all the time Quote
hf101 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 @B21 I don't think they've peaked either. Probably in March. Oh, one other weird thought, did anyone else notice that Coach Dan kept using Crosby's line against Ovechkin last night whenever he could. It's like he was playing Sid as the checking line. Really? No different than Giroux playing against Crosby right? Quote
B21 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Posted January 17, 2014 Oh, one other weird thought, did anyone else notice that Coach Dan kept using Crosby's line against Ovechkin last night whenever he could. It's like he was playing Sid as the checking line. Really? I did. I missed the line configurations in the pre-game but it sure looked like he had Crosby and Sutter skating on the same line. Might explain why. Quote
Polaris922 Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 @B21 I don't think they've peaked either. Probably in March. No different than Giroux playing against Crosby right? Giroux had a great playoff series against Crosby two seasons ago, but let's not get carried away. I don't think Crosby is feeling any Giroux factor with his 97 points in 63 career regular season games against the Flyers. Or with his 23 points in 17 playoff games either. I'm all for crediting Giroux for his great effort that year, but.... Quote
B21 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Posted January 17, 2014 Giroux had a great playoff series against Crosby two seasons ago, but let's not get carried away. I don't think Crosby is feeling any Giroux factor with his 97 points in 63 career regular season games against the Flyers. Or with his 23 points in 17 playoff games either. I'm all for crediting Giroux for his great effort that year, but.... Giroux had "The Shift" and Couturier "held" Malkin to 8 points in 6 games in 11-12. Destined for greatness ever since. Quote
flyercanuck Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 @B21 Pretty sure it's been proven over and over Malkin got most of those points when Couturier was on the bench. I'm sure that was part of the reason Malkins wingman tried to take Sean out. Quote
Polaris922 Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 @flyercanuck Was a lot of blown up hype over one series. We Pens fans gave credit at the time as the Flyers outplayed the Pens handily that series. We also gave some credit to Couturier despite Malkin's history in first round series' being what it was at the time. But as we said then and is quite evident since, it was only one series. Malkin has 2 goals and 4 assists in 5 games since that time. Very much on par with that series and every other team he plays against in the league. Quote
flyercanuck Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 @Polaris922 I've said multiple times, when malkin feels like it, he's arguably one of the top 2 players in the game. It's why we hang our hat on Couturiers ability to take him out of the game. Especially given his age. Malkin may get points against the Flyers..but they don't come as easy when Sean is on then ice with him. Having that reach, and big stick, and knowing how to use them, can work considerably in your favour. See Ekblad, Aaron. Quote
nossagog Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 @Polaris922 I've said multiple times, when malkin feels like it, he's arguably one of the top 2 players in the game. It's why we hang our hat on Couturiers ability to take him out of the game. Especially given his age. Malkin may get points against the Flyers..but they don't come as easy when Sean is on then ice with him. Having that reach, and big stick, and knowing how to use them, can work considerably in your favour. See Ekblad, Aaron. FC, have you been in the locker room peaking again? Malkin follows in that stereotype of great Russian players at times. In a game like the Caps game, he looks totally unstoppable, but then he'll take a game or two were he just looks disinterested. Players like Stamkos, Crosby, Toews, they seem to be at their top EVERY game. To bad a talent like Malkin seems to have to have extra motivation to get their best. 1 Quote
flyercanuck Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 @nossagog LOL, Agree.....other than the lockerroom part that is Quote
B21 Posted January 20, 2014 Author Posted January 20, 2014 @B21 Pretty sure it's been proven over and over Malkin got most of those points when Couturier was on the bench. I'm sure that was part of the reason Malkins wingman tried to take Sean out. Read sarcasm much? OK - maybe a little sarcasm. Point is, way to much stock was put into his performance in that series. All he's shown since is that he is capable but very inconsistent (with the understanding that he's still learning - I'm on your side on that one). You'd have thought 10 Selkes were up next. 1 Quote
Mad Dog Posted January 27, 2014 Posted January 27, 2014 Read sarcasm much? OK - maybe a little sarcasm. Point is, way to much stock was put into his performance in that series. All he's shown since is that he is capable but very inconsistent (with the understanding that he's still learning - I'm on your side on that one). You'd have thought 10 Selkes were up next. He is learning and growing. How long the learning curve is going to take for him to become fairly relevant in this league is anybody's guess. Some games he plays like a 10-year pro, while in some of the games I am ready to choke him. Quote
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