It has only been two games, but eleven goals against is bad. No, I am serious, it is really bad! Those eleven goals, they were all soft goals against. Not all were soft goals against with respect to the Goalie but they were all soft goals against with respect to team defense and most especially; soft goals against the Defensemen.
Last night, Brendan Gallagher opened up the scoring against our home town favorites. Evgeni Malkin lofted the puck out of his own zone to a breaking Jack Johnson and then lazily drifted to the bench for a line change. Right Wing (RW) Phil Kessel followed his pivot man with a leisurely stroll to the bench. The big problem was twofold, although the puck was now out of the zone, it was by no means safe. Johnson was too far forward for a Defenseman. When Malkin lifted the puck to get it out of the zone, Johnson was well ahead of all Penguins’ skaters and he was well covered. Dominik Simon did race to get ahead of Johnson (taking himself out of the play) as the off-season acquisition tried to settle the airborne pass down, but the Defenseman was the lead attacker at the beginning of the play.
Compounding this error in judgement was the lack of urgency in the line change. Not only did Malkin and Kessel exit the ice as if it were a Sunday afternoon in August rather than a Saturday night, game night in October, their replacements, Derick Bressard and Bryan Rust came on to the ice in the same ambling manner. Defenseman Olli Maatta was left alone to face a two on one. (And the hit parade of odd man breaks from last year keeps on coming)
Maatta tried staying between Tomas Tatar and Gallagher for most of the play but shifted over to play shot as the Montreal Winger started to shoot. Despite the number of players that now try to bounce passes off of goalies pads to back side attackers and the liveliness of the new PPG Paints Arena boards, Maatta opted to leave Gallagher free.
The unfortunate Penguins’ Goalie was now helpless when puck luck intervened and deposited the biscuit onto Gallagher’s stick after Maatta successfully blocked Tatar’s shot with the shaft of his stick. Gallagher now had the whole net to work with since Matt Murray also had to play shot and the Canadians’ Forward easily found the back of the Penguins’ net to open up the scoring.
I know that it is the current paradigm in hockey to try and block shots rather than trust your Goalie to do what he gets paid to do and given the home opener performance of the Penguins’ back-stopper, I could almost excuse overzealous attempts to block shots. However, as a former Goalie myself (although never Goaltending in anything close to real hockey) I never wanted anyone blocking shots for me, particularly when the Defenseman was exposing me to a higher percentage shot while only taking away a low percentage shot.
On the second goal against, Johnson cleared the puck out of his own zone with a pass to John Cullen. Cullen (again) lazily redirected the pass farther up ice, rather than skating with it. Jeff Petry jumped on the puck ceded by Cullen and quickly returned the Canadians to the attack with a sharp pass to Arturri Lehkonen. Lehkonen one-touched the puck to Paul Byron. Byron easily got behind the slow turning and even more plodding skating Maatta and was in on Murray with a break away (what was it I said before about the hit parade of odd man breaks?)
Goal against number three; enter Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin to abet the young, hungry Canadians. The play started with a soft dump in behind the Penguins’ goal. Max Domi out raced the aforementioned Penguins’ Defensemen, even though the Penguins’ pylons had a good 10 feet of ice lead on the speedy Montreal forward. Yes, Domi is fast but like on the first goal of the game, laziness infected the Black and Gold skaters and they nonchalantly turned and glided back toward the puck, both players heading behind the net – a common theme for these two Penguins’ defenders. Getting to the puck first, Domi, and with both Penguins’ Defenseman drawn like a moth to the flame behind the net (to be fair Dumoulin was trying to stop himself from joining Letang behind the net but was not effectively in the play), Domi found Lehkonen all alone in front of the net on Murray’s glove side. With nothing really to shoot at, since Murray was in good position and Dumoulin taking up space trying to turn around, Lehkonen whipped a quick pass to the other side of the net and up to the bottom of the face-off circle to the wide open Byron. Murray, like Murray of old, Murray of Stanley Cup lore, flat out robbed Byron on the initial shot, sliding across the crease, kicking out his leg pad for the save.
Unfortunately the rebound went straight to Domi again and he returned it to Byron, who was still wide opened, despite the lapse of time. Byron would not be denied on his second crack at the Penguins’ net going back across Murray and up, not quite high enough to call it the opposite corner of the net. Montreal was now up 3 – 0.
Joe Armia staked the visitors to a 4 goal lead, late in the second period. With the Penguins on the Power Play and the lone Penguins’ defenseman Letang deep in the Left Wing (LW) corner of the attacking zone fore-checking, Petry of the Canadians dumped the puck up to Armia. Armia skated the puck out of his own zone with Byron. After getting the puck out of his own zone Armia found Byron with a pass who was now cruising into toward the Penguins’ zone with forward Phil Kessel trying to play defense on what was a little more like a 2 on 1 with a hustling Malkin pressuring to try and make it a 2 on 2. Byron flipped a pass back into the slot toward Armia, who made a good play to swat the floating puck out of the air and into the net.
Last season, the Penguins were very efficient on the Power Play, not only did they score early and often, they rarely gave up a Short Handed Goal (SHG). Opponents only managed 3 SHG all season last year. This year the Habs got a SHG against our locals in only game 2 of the season.
Riley Sheahan did stem the tide of unanswered goals before the 2nd period of the tilt was over. The Canadians tried breaking out of their own zone. The much maligned Daniel Sprong back pressured the breakout attempt forcing a turnover in the neutral zone. Sheahan jumped on the loose puck and broke into the attacking zone. The now almost forgotten Center/Wing, with all of the attention on off season free agent signings, fed Sprong who was breaking ahead of Sheahan after he created the turnover.
The right handed, RW, Sprong wheeled back to the LW boards of the attacking zone as Sheahan now continued the leap frog game and drifted ahead of Sprong toward the net. Sprong found an open Letang at the left point, who fired the puck at the net. Sheahan gathered the rebound in and potted what would be the Penguins’ lone goal.
It is still early in the season but look who has the best points per 60 minutes (P60), Mike Sullivan’s favorite whipping boy – Daniel Sprong with a P60 of 6.71. Sullivan isn’t giving the kid much ice time but he is trying.
Speaking of Sprong really trying. Unfortunately the young Winger was on the ice for the Habs final goal of the game. Charles Hudson closed out the scoring on a wraparound goal and the only goal I fault Murray; he was to slow going post to post. Sprong, once again providing back pressure, followed the play back into his own zone. The Canadians tried to feed the puck in front of Murray but Jamie Oleksiak would have none of it. The Big Rig tied up 2-Habs forwards while partner Justin Schultz jumped on the loose puck and tried to skate it out. Unfortunately, both Schultz and Sprong were headed in the same direction and almost ran into each other. Schultz managed to get the puck to the boards where both he and Sprong sparred with the invaders from Montreal. In the melee the puck bounced to Hudson who swung behind the net faster than Murray and slipped the puck in the back door.
Opponents know the Penguins’ Defense wilts when pressured and are jumping all over them. Too bad the Penguins do not realize this. Yes, it is only game 2 and there are 80 more to go. There is a lot of time to make changes. Having said that, changes have to be made. Players who consistently make defensive guffaws need to sit, regardless of how much money they are paid. Sullivan needs to get back to the Sullivan who sat Malkin in the playoffs. The Penguins are defenseless. There is no balance on the blue line. They are all the same player.
Odds and Sods
Even though the parent Penguins appear to be very soft this year, the Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) version of the Penguins are a bird of a different feather. They won in a shoot-out in their first game of the year against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Late cut Zach Aston-Reese and Anthony Angello were to big reasons why the Baby Penguins fared better than their parents last night.
Springfield jumped on the Baby Penguins with a goal at the 36 second mark of the 1st period but Ethan Prow got the Baby Penguins their 1st goal, 1 minute and 14 seconds later. After Sam Lafferty was waved out of the face-off circle, Anthony Angello stepped in and cleanly won a speed draw stick to stick to Prow who hammered the puck home.
Aston-Reese then gave the Baby Penguins the lead on an odd man break at the 8:37 mark of the 1st period. Lafferty took a head man pass from Zach Trotman in the Neutral Zone and tapped it to Zach Aston-Reese. Aston-Reese broke in with Angello. Using Angello as a decoy, Aston-Reese toe dragged the puck around the defense and flipped the puck past the Thunderbirds goalie.
The play started a minor scrum. The Thunderbirds tried to intimidate the but neither Aston-Reese nor Angello would have any part of it. No Penalties were called on the play.
However, a few minutes later, a full blown fight did erupt; Penguins’ Zach Trotman and Springfields’ Paul Thompson had a go round. Both players got fighting majors with Trotman got an additional 2 minute and 10 minute instigator penalty.
A few more minutes later, Baby Penguins Captain Garrett Wilson had a go with Thunderbirds Joe Lowrey (fighting majors). Then former Penguin Harry Zolnierczyk danced with Aston-Reese, Zolnierchyk got a double roughing minor and Aston-Reese just a roughing call.
Thompson tied the game up in the second and that stood for the rest of the game, setting up a shoot-out heroic for Aston-Reese who scored the only goal in the shoot-out to win it for our AHL affiliate.
Also Jordan Schmaltz is cheap RHD from St. Louis that Penguins could get during TDL.
Derek Grant is on waivers..
Hello,
This is funny. Letang does this and he gets a longer leash. Other defenseman do it too. I’m disgusted and baffled. Määttä should have never been paired with Johnson. I still don’t get Johnson being penciled into second pairing with Justin Shultz.
58-8
3-4
73-6
Much Better. I still hate Letang on the top pairing..
New Quote : DKSporsts 10/09/18
When Olli Maatta’s going well, no one mentions his skating. When he’s going poorly, it’s cited by everyone.
Isn’t skating just skating?
I’ve brought this up countless times with Maatta ever since his major hip injury three years ago — the one where he gruesomely fell into the open Minnesota bench door — and he hates discussing it. He sees no difference in his skating before or since or, for that matter, anytime he’ll currently lapse into a slump. And again yesterday, his sole response when pressed about his performance through two games was, “I’ve got to be better. It’s definitely not good enough.”
Here’s what I think, based on talking this over with others in the Penguins’ world: Maatta needs to keep his feet moving at all times to maintain NHL speed, maybe more than anyone else on the corps. Think about his peak showings in Pittsburgh, including the most recent playoffs, and he was outstanding primarily because he was active and visible at both ends.
On the contrary, when he stops, he really stops. And he can’t just jump right back into the action the way, say, Kris Letang can. He doesn’t have that extra 0-to-60 step to make up for mistakes. As a result, when this happens …
… meaning the Canadiens’ Paul Byron bolting across the Pittsburgh blue line for a breakaway goal Saturday night, Byron’s extra step from a semi-standstill blows away Maatta’s.
The solution?
Skate all over. Create at both ends, make sharp decisions in all facets, but primarily just keep moving. When Maatta does that, he’s already in motion for a Byron or whoever and seldom looks like he’s behind.
• Trouble is, Jack Johnson, who’s a better overall skater, also brings a lot of the long circles to his stride, probably more than anyone on the Penguins at any position. And, if you’ll look again at the Byron goal up there, you’ll see Johnson making a turn that’s roughly the circumference of our planet in reversing course.
That’s one of a billion reasons I didn’t understand the Maatta/Johnson pairing and am delighted it’s already been broken up.
I hate to be “that” conspiracy guy, but I and many friends were already starting to question the timing of Murray’s other “injuries”. Like the one right before he was about to face the top two scoring teams/best overall record teams in the playoffs an injury that magically healed right after the 2nd round. Now the timing on this one right before he is about to face an angry crowd (believe me, people were angry last game) while Fleury is on the other end of the ice? Sorry, but something is smelling a little fishy.
Hey Phil,
I can understand why you would think that Murray is “injured”, I am not sure I saw anything that looked like a dangerous play.
However, MAF is not suppose to be playing either. He has been struggling too. He has roughly the same sv% as Murray.
Perhaps both players may be sitting to keep the distractions down.
Just a thought. I recieved 10+ texts when they announced Murray was out about the theory. The first one was from a long time hockey buddy who first introduced this conspiracy theory to me well over a year ago.
Hey Phil.
It could be truth. I thought about that too. It seem like when Murray has brutal games without being pulled he’s mysteriously injured. He Sully’s boy for sure.
I don’t think Murray should be in the same breath with Marc Andre Fleury. It’s tiresome. IMO.
Despite Fluery issues, team leaving out to dry at times and sustaining 3 concussions from 2015-2016 season. Fluery has played over 400 something games, has won 375 games and cemented his career in this league. Murray hasn’t.
Murray’s health issues , durability and consistency is bit concerning for this team. I hope a speedy healthy recovery. I’m thankful Murray being a great cemented goalie part of the B2b cups . Obviously, Pens needs to address their goaltending issues. 2018 summer was best option to do so. Jarry and DeSmith have a chance to get the job done. Pens coaching staff and players have a chance to turn around their defense system to win games. Rutherford do need to get a goalie during TDL with moving Letang off the roster.
Hey Dee,
I’m still waiting for Murray to put together a solid year. His first year, as I have clearly stated and proved before, he was cherry picked games by Sullivan. Even last year he was given the easy games of the back to back games. Niemi only played on the second of back to back games when the other team was rested.
Once Murray has a quality season as a true #1 goalie maybe I will believe more. I guess we will have a big chance to see how the other two do coming up because if this is Murray’s third concussion in such a short time he should be rested for a long time.
I was going to pass over this but changed my mind.
I don’t believe in putting one player down to promote the other. Fleury can easily be said to be in the top 3 Pens goalies of all time and possibly the best to date but Murray has proven himself. He played against the best teams in the league during the play-offs. In his first play-off run he beat the Caps, the Bolts, and the Sharks.
Looking at Fleury’s career, before he turned 24, his sv% (the stat used to balance for team D) was .905. Murray’s was .917.
In play-off competition, MAF had a sv% of .908, often times bowing out against much weaker teams in early rounds. Murray has a .923 sv%.
Maybe, after several head ringing incidents from opponents crashing the net and the league cracking down on rushing players back from concussions, Murray has missed games but who knows how many games MAF would have been held out of if he had to go thru a concussion protocol after every collision. Also, let’s not forget, in the past, during MAF’s time in the burg, there were players that would stand up for their team and goalie.
Acknowledging MAF’s contributions to the team can be done without trying to put Murray down!
Most importantly, MAF’s sv% this season is pretty much the same as Murray’s even though MAF is being insulated much better by his team D than Murray.
Is Murray playing at top form right now – No! not by any stretch of the imagination. Has Murray shown he can win on the big stage, under pressure, sure as shootin’ he has. Ask the Caps (2x), the Bolts, the Sharks, and the Predators.
Hi Good Morning ToR,
Understandable .
Unfortunate. I’m just don’t see comparison between the two for regular season games. Murray happens to prove himself more on that aspect. He hasn’t.
I’m very concerned it won’t happen and that he May retire sooner than expected. 8-9 injuries. 3-5 concussions . 2 concussions this year. It could be DiPietro situation without big massive deal. I hope not. Murray is good goalie and has done good for the Penguins.
Penguins gotta prepare for the future. Jarry and DeSmith have a chance here to help the team win games. Rutherford gotta get a goalie during TDL..I would have a third string good solid goalie on the roster.
Fleury both lead and help the Penguins to B2b stanley cups . Both That’s how I see it. They both did a great job. I appreciate them both!!
Hi Good Morning Phil,
Absolutely. Murray was rough in games as well . (Before his injuries occurred)
I hope Murray get well soon . I hope this doesn’t turn in DiPietro’s situation without long term deal .
I’m looking forward to Jarry and DeSmith getting a chance..
Hey Dee,
Stats say that a team really needs 3 goalies in this era due to the number of injuries all goalies incur. Murray does seem a little more prone at this point than others. That is why I am in total agreement with you and voiced the concern of trading Gustavsson.
Even before the injury issue, my first thought was would the Pens be able to resign him (Murray) after this $3 mil Contract, so I started really following both Jarry and Gustavsson. As much as I like what I have seen from Murray, I am a Penguins fan first. What little I have seen from Gustavsson, I wanted a plan B.
Hi Everyone,
Määttä simple deserves a longer leash . If you gonna punish your players for defensive breakdowns and other problems. Then it needs to be your whole D corps being punished and sending them a message. ( Starting with Letang)
Määttä, Johnson should never been partner together. Preseason games told you that . Like I said it reminds of Ian Cole situation. You put him in the wrong situations to fail and hold wrong players accountable. Accommodating someone new and send your young consistent player to the wolves.
I guess . People have short memory. Letang can be brutal all game without or with points. He doesn’t get no punishment nor bump out the lineup.
I don’t care how long Letang has played for the Penguins organization. I’m looking at objective points that if any player play bad like him then he should be scratched and demanding message to him.
I repeat, repeat, I’m no longer Mike Sullivan fan. I’m done.
I get it. if you want Riikola to get some game But I would have sit Letang and sending him a message.
I’m truly disappointed. I’m not surprised with this. I could smell it a mile away. ( observed)
Agreed Dee,
Sit Letang!!!!!!
The excuse I can accept for playing him is to showcase him for a trade!
I’m fine giving Riikola a chance at the sitting of any of the defensemen from the last two games.
I like what I have seen from Riikola and want to see him play more. And as you write, pretty much all D men have been less than effective, but I still say sit Letang, that sends the strongest message and he is pretty close to the worst Defensive Defenseman on the Roster. Dumoulin’s numbers may be a hair worse but he is Letang’s partner so that coule explain his numbers.
I can’t help but wonder that no RD were picked up in the off season just to justify not sitting Letang. However, Oleksiak and Johnson have both played their off-side.
Hey Tor,
Absolutely.
Writing is on the wall . Rutherford and Penguins coaching staff didn’t get another RHD because they are too invested Letang and simply keep betting on him. Missed opportunities. Calvin De Haan. Tyler Myers. Justin Faulk. Pedan. Jacob Trouba.
Still betting on him. That’s the problem here, eh?
Hey Phil,
I don’t mind Rikkola play at all. I don’t like how they went about it with Määttä’s partner and setting up him to fail. Määttä-Johnson weren’t good doing preseason games. I don’t get the experiment and bumping young consistent defenseman from last season with better upside to accommodate 31 year old on second pairing that he doesn’t belong. Why?
It’s simple. Coaching staff needs to hold all defenseman accountable.
This isn’t new. Bad Brutal D carried over from last season.
Määttä, Dumoulin, Shultz were their only consistent defenseman.
Reminiscing of last year situation with Cole.
Sit Letang and play Määttä!!
Faulk was one I wanted. I like his shot.
Also, I wonder if Pedan and Bengtsson went back to Europe after watching how bad Letang played in the Caps series but just kept getting more undeserved TOI after each mistake. I wonder if they lost respect for our coaching.
Määttä is getting Ian Cole /Matt Hunwick treatment, imo. You bump him because Johnson has new contract and you put Määttä with him to fail .. I don’t like it.
Yes. Määttä has some struggles but Johnson wasn’t the right partner for him and Määttä doesn’t deserve that. Johnson should have been on the bottom pairing with Bog Rig. Rig has been playing brutal too. Määttä is coming off a great season. Solid Second Pairing Defensemen for the Pens.
Coaching Staff put the wrong defenseman together and nothing gel together.
Dumoulin needs a new partner. Justin Shultz or New RHD. Määttä – New Partner And Johnson-Rig. I blame the coaching Staff. They set up Määttä. Penguins needs to remove Letang and get a Cole type player. I want Tyler Myers.
Hey Dee,
When I first saw Maatta and Dumoulin, I thought they had very bright futures. I think Maatta is only 24 and Dumoulin is only 26, so they should still be climbing (unlike Letang and Johnson). Systems and pairings are very important. My current disillusionment with Maatta and Dumoulin may be resolvable by getting rid of those 2 players. I don’t know.
At the moment, the only D-man that would be on the trading block for me is Letang. Not that I don’t think he has an offensive upside, but because he is absolutely absent in the D zone. If I am paying a man to be a defenseman, I want him to be able to play defense.
If I could I would be pairing Maatta with a fleet footed RD to see if a pairing like that would work out. As for Dumoulin, I would be looking for a more defensively responsible D-man to see what Dumoulin could do offensively. Before over-reacting with either player, I would try to see if I could put them in a position to succeed.
However, as it stands right now, I would be bumping someone out to play Riikola.
With the success Oleksiak had with Schultz last year, that would be where I would start to fix the problem, to see if that could be my anchor and work from there for the other 2 pairings.
As I noted above, pairings and systems are important to D-men but I failed to mention earlier, coaches. When D-men see a Kris Letang primadonna getting away with absolutely pathetic defensive play, it can’t be helping young D like Maatta and Dumoulin either.
In truth, though, I must admit, in my mind, the Pens D would have been best if they had been able to talk Pedan into staying, Trading Letang for draft picks and
Schultz, Oleksiak, Pedan, and Riikola would be 4 of the 6 D men on the team and let the rest fight for the last 2 spots.
Hey Good Morning TOR,
I agree 1000% percent. I do believe Määttä-Shultz were good to get together as well. As long as Shultz can regain his confidence.. I don’t know with Johnson. I don’t like a young kid with upside get bumped for 31 year old to play on the second pairing.. Like I said.. it was set up to play them together after no long practice and bad preseason games together..
I rather see Dumoulin, Shultz, Määttä,Pedan , Rig and Rikkola for D Corp.
At end of day, Pens D can only get better if Letang is erased out the picture and let other defenseman play their strengths and show their high upside.
This Quote:
Matt Murray diagnosed with concussion and will not practice today, per team. #penguins #dkps
That’s why I wanted a veteran back up goalie in the net behind Murray.
I like Murray a little bit but I don’t he’s a elite starter goalie for the Pens.. I think he ok good goalie. He hasn’t showed that he can be a consistent regular season goalie. I guess it might take time for him to get there. I highly doubt it. 4-5 concussion in 2 years. Other injuries too.
I know he can’t control injuries. His Durability and Consistency is a big question mark. Other issues too.
I wouldn’t sign him to extension.
Rutherford should have keep Gusto to develop in WBS…
Murray needs a defensive unit to play him in front of the net and be defensive oriented to keep goals out the net.
Hey Dee,
And that is why I am starting to question Mike Sullivan, yes he has won 2 Cups, but he is not showing the command decisions that won him that 1st Cup (sitting Maatta). The Penguins Defense is horrible, absolutely horrible, but Maatta has not been the worst defenseman on this Penguins’ roster. A far more powerful statement can be made by sitting the $7 million dollar, invisible defenseman. Sitting him would serve a the best wake-up call for all the “D”; zero tolerance for poor decisions and weak play in your own end.
Forgive me for expecting Defensemen to actually be able to play Defense, how parochial of me.
Furthermore, I would not be all that upset to see both Letang and Johnson get some Press Box time, but truth be told, I think Johnson is better in his own zone than Letang and makes less money, so Letang has to sit more than anyone else.
As for Murray, I did see that he has another concussion. If I recall correctly, he got his first concussion when the Flyers ran him in final game of the season of their first Cup run. That is why I am more of a proponent of bigger, stronger, chippier Defensemen than Wingers. I can’t help but believe Murray is a victim of a bunch of munchkin “D”; maybe not munchkin in overall size but in combination of size and demeanor. Most, to all opponents know that that you can run Penguin goalies with impunity.
As I wrote I would have kept Pedan. Furthermore, I would have gone full bore to get a guy like Mozik from the KHL.
I do agree with you, I would never have traded Gustavsson. I do think he could have supplanted Murray. However, in the great MAF – Murray debate, that some would still like to go back to; I was a serious supporter of Fleury, he is a class act and top notch goalie, but the team made the right choice. Murray (Like Maatta) is also very young (24), and has a much better upside, MAF is on the downside of his career. And Fleury is also struggling this year, despite playing on a team that knows how to play defense better than the Pens do. He was yanked in his 1st start, has played more minutes than Murray but faced less shots, not just in shots per 60 minutes but less shots.
Hey Tor,
Agree.
Dksports said that Sullivan got his team and he know when to fix situations among his players. I disagree.
Sullivan has been doing questionable things for over two years.
Actions speak louder than words. Rutherford wants you to reduce his minutes. He wants Shultz, Dumoulin, Johnson to take on some minutes. He still playing him at 25 minutes. Why?
Letang saga is getting tiresome.
Sullivan needs to send a demanding message to him. He plays high risk style hockey that effects this team. No maturity. Absent Defensively and do to much. Pens needs D from him and him not on the top powerplay.
I don’t care about his skating, confidence, wanting to be that guy on the ice. He doesn’t have what it takes to be on that top pairing with Dumoulin. Dumoulin, Shultz And Määttä needs to blossom out on this D Corp.
He wears a ‘A’on his sweater. He doesn’t show leadership to lead other defenseman the right way on the ice.
He only care about getting points and only himself.
I do know Jacques Martin does tell Sullivan that he needs to sit Letang or reduced minutes in games. Sullivan doesn’t listen to that. (Sources told me that)
Mike Sullivan can’t handle Letang and his temper tantrums to always wanting to be on the ice. I don’t blame Martin. I blame Sergie and Sullivan. Sullivan hurting defense with Letang as top defenseman on his D Corp.
I remembered when Thierien and Blysma scratched Letang for games. Defense Corp look so much better without and they were playing simple style committed D together.
I do know Sullivan told him to change and simplify his game . He don’t want to do that. Red flags. He needs to be traded.
Penguins organization needs guys who can be coached and take advice from their coach to change their game for the betterment of team.
Honestly, Defensemen should be defending first and harder on the puck in all three zones on the ice. Winning battles. Play simple hockey to get the puck to fowards.
. Everything done by committee and simplifying against opposition.
Pens are too predictable offensively and defensively. Too cute.
Murray is younger and have good upside. He has 4-5 concussions for two years. I think people should question his durability and consistency. Those concussions can hurt him and his career.
Hey Dee,
Interesting about Sullivan not listening to Martin.
On the outside looking in, it is hard to know what is true or not, but I can believe that.
Interesting stats (Team Goals against per 60 minutes Ice Time)
Justin Schultz the best at 5.2
Jack Johnson 5.3
Olli Maatta 5.4
Jamie Oleksiak 6.3
Kris Letang 7.2
Brian Dumoulin 7.6
Schultz, Johnson, and Maatta are below Murray’s GAA – Oleksiak, Letang, and Dumoulin are above it, yet Maatta sits?
So when do we move on from Letang?This is getting ridiculous. No, strike, this is beyond ridiculous! Just as I wrote elsewhere about Sprong and holding him accountable when you won’t hold others – How can Sullivan expect to maintain the respect of the rest of the team if Letang can be this bad and still plays while Maatta is statistically ~25% a better defensive player.
You sat Malkin Sullivan, it is long past time to sit Letang.
I read this from on Yahoo;
“As exciting as it would be for fans and for the sport of hockey in general, it’s probably not really possible to win every game in the NHL by a 7-6 margin.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, bless their hearts, still seem intent on trying to do just that. That at least seems to be the case through the first two games of the 2018-19 season…”
It would seem that NBC writer, author of the above, Dave Gretz, is taking shots at our Penguins system. “Bless their hearts” is a very negative statement to the mental capacity of our brain trust.
All five players gotta commit on the ice . Defensemen and fowards gotta be more in sync with one another. Stop puck watching and support the plays right.
Puck management , Matt Murray and full team urgency/ compete level needs to be better. Not one line tryna be the different on a game. It was the same last year.
I’m so looking forward to Pens TDL and changes around this team. Sometimes teams can look great on paper and not really mesh well to have a strong team.
Crosby’s line is the only one that doesn’t have a negative plus/minus. Working hard and battling to win games.
Pens cannot keep leaning on Sid’s line and Geno’s line to get them to the cup land.
Brassard needs to be a difference maker with his 12-15 minutes, not just on the the powerplay and wingers getting him goals. He deserves a chance But he’s a big luxury on this team .
Pens bottom lines , goalie and D gotta come through games.
Coaching Staff gotta adjust their system..
Pens D structure and D pairings are very flawed. (Two years)
7.25 million needs to be erased from cap space.
Rutherford has a chance to make a different team and to strength Pens D..(during TDL)
Hey Other Rick,
Excellent and detailed analysis of last night’s fiasco. I confess, I only watched the first period, which was enough to make my stomach do somersaults.
I was particularly disappointed with Johnson. After turning the puck over in the neutral zone on the play that led to the first goal, he hesitated before trying to get back to help out. Thus, he arrived a split-second late to prevent Gallagher from scoring.
The second goal was even worse. After we turned the puck over, Johnson expended precious few calories trying to get back and possibly help Maatta with Byron.
It’s becoming a little more clear why this cat’s a minus-111 for his career despite his skill set…i.e.; a tendency to wander and not a whole lot of urgency to help out when he bungles.
If that’s the best he can do, sit his 227-pound keister and let Riikola play. At least you’re reasonably assured to get a 100-percent effort from the kid.
Rick
Thanks Rick,
Johnson was horrible last night, particularly in the 1st period. However, I think the Letang – Dumoulin pairing is far worse than Maatta – Johnson. They never seem to be in sync. I wouldn’t mind seeing Riikola over Johnson, not at all, but Letang is the best player any Penguin Opponent can have on the ice. He is the one that really needs press box time. Unfortunately, the team just will not go out and get viable RD. It may be a subconscious act to justify keeping the invisible D man around.
Or maybe they are hoping the league will re-institute the rover position so Letang can be a star.
I wondered out loud in my post and now again in a reply to Phil, that maybe the Penguins D is losing faith in Murray, but thinking about the chicken or egg argument, I am now thinking that if Murray really is struggling it may be due to his lack of confidence in his D men. when he was winning Cups, he was calm cool and collected, redirected shots to D men to start a counter attack and/or assuming that his D would have his back covering the back side of his net. Now, watching the Keystone Kops (Letang – Dumoulin) slow footed Maatta, Hunwick last year and now Johnson this year make bone head play after bone head play, maybe the 24 year old Murray has lost confidence that his D will be there for him, since they never do seem to be, anymore.
Maybe I am biased toward goalies, but then again, maybe those that never stood between the pipes are the biased ones.
Justin-Määttä needs to be together until Letang is traded. They were good the together.
Johnson-Rig needs to be the bottom pairing. Johnson needs to get better within the system on his natural side and Rig needs to continue to improve plus do better..
Hey Rick And Other Rick,
I will defend Määttä !!! Määttä can’t play with his strengths with Johnson and he’s isnt getting the support he needs when defends and when he make passes. I was at the game. IMHO. Johnson was the problem with that pairing. Johnson was brutal last night . I blame the coaching staff for that pairing and for not breaking it up. Justin Shultz should be be with Johnson. They practiced all training camp together so I don’t get why Sullivan didn’t let that be. Or have Rig and Johnson together with Johnson on his natural side. It puts Määttä in a bad spot. Rig has been brutal as well. Johnson-Rig should be Pens bottom shut down pairing and you can still give Johnson minutes . I hate when Sullivan make guys play off their natural side then they get traded or in the doghouse. Remember Ian Cole?
I blame the Sullivan and coaching, it the same ole bull crap from last year, no tactics and strategies to beat teams. Teams have made pens look slow, dictating the game, take advantage of their mistakes, come better prepared to win.
Mike Sullivan’s system is flawed with Goochar who wants Defenseman not defending first and act like a fourth fowards on the ice. That’s the problem.
Players are not responding to Mark Recchi. I don’t like him behind the bench.
Mike Sullivan’s philosophy of defenseman jumping into play, aggressive pinching, no transition games, odd man rushes, unawareness, no defense/heavy forecheck,communication,break downs, goals are cost the pens games.
Resemblance of last season. Uninspired hockey.
Sidney Crosby quote from Caps games were spot on. They need to play defensively right and let offensively things come.
Sullivan having Letang on the top powerplay is brutal. I don’t get it. Justin Shultz is natural better overall quarterback, he better there, make top powerplay more cohesive/ structure there.
Pens had 3-6 powerplay where they could have scored goals to help them.
I don’t think Sullivan have the grip of his team anymore. They don’t respond very well him.
Pens should be 2-0 right now.
Sullivan should have pulled Murray and make some game in adjustments. He didn’t.
Sullivan and this team having been the same since Rick Tocchet left..
Sid and Jake were the only players can to play the game. They were great every shift generated offensively and battle defensively.
I don’t buy into Murray at all. He doesn’t make timely saves, out of control/out of position in his net, pens gotta score 4-5 goals to win games when he’s in the net.
Murray needs to take some advice from John Gibson to be better. John Gibson stop more than 36 shots to help his team win 1-0 against the Coyotes last night.
Sometimes I don’t think Murray is regular season good goalie in this league. Pens need a veteran back up goalie. I would have gotta Calvin Pickard.
Sorry . I wouldn’t sign Murray to a long extension deal,imo.
He needs to prove something, showed durable and consistency to win games on his head. He doesn’t make good saves. He struggles to make saves all the time. I don’t wanna hear no excuses on him. Murray has a pattern .
Whether it’s his fault or his team fault during games Murray needs to be a difference maker and sometimes Sullivan needs to pull him.
I don’t know what happen to Malkin being a culprit of not skating and backcheck. I think he isn’t responding to Sully and the coaching staff. He seems to be doing to much and coasting to score
I don’t like Letang wearing ‘A’ on his sweater. No leadership on Defense and seem to only care for points. He does to much on the ice. Where’s his leadership?
Hey Dee,
Excellent and insightful observations and comments, as always. I agree…I thought Johnson was brutal last night…at least on the opening two Montreal goals. A little too lackadaisical for my taste.
If he can’t be bothered to put forth some effort…play Riikola.
Also agree on Calvin Pickard. I thought he played really well for a terrible Avalanche team a couple of years ago. Alas, Philly picked him up … 🙁
Rick
Hey Rick,
Agree.
I like Calvin Pickard. Great goalie.
Miss opportunity for Mr. Rutherford. 😒
It’s better to be safe than sorry..
It’s blinders there with Matt Murray. I don’t see Murray being the goalie Pens needs night in and night out. Murray is Sully’s boy. hopefully I will be wrong on this.
I still think about Pens keeping Fluery and Fluery mentoring Tristan Jarry.
I will give the pens two more games to get it right. They don’t. I suggest that Rutherford to have a talk with Mike Sullivan. Like I said, Coaching Staff deserves is the blame here , bad defense combos and players are not respond to the coaching staff. Bad tactics, strategies game plans and in game adjustments. Kris Letang shouldn’t be play over 25 minutes.
They need to implement some type of strong defensive method to win games. Shorten the bench at right times/changing goalies/changing top powerplay quarterback (last night)
Defense win games and championships .
Goaltender being a difference maker with timely saves . Controling emotions and staying focus.
Yes. I think Mike Sullivan does have a short shelf life and he could look/act like Tort 2.0 .He can talk to much with results.. Big ego and stuck in one place with his system.
Big possibility he will be gone once his contract end.
Hey tOR,
In my defense of being a fan of Maatta I thought I would mention that I tried to leave a comment on Rick’s post yesterday and was running late heading to the game because the Pitt game took forever I didn’t hit send.
One part of the comment said something like – It looks like Maatta sat on his sofa all summer and didn’t work out at all.
Now I’m going to defend Maatta’s play. Everyone who doesn’t know to much about hockey always blames the defender who is trying to make the plays on the two on ones and never blames the other guy who is not there.
The first goal is a little bit Maatta’s fault in that he blocked what was either a pass or a shot and got a really bad bounce. Still where was Jack Johnson?
The second goal, Maatta played perfectly. No he was not slow on his feet as you state.
Jack Johnson threw a bad pass up the boards that a Pens player tipped to a Hab. He saw that the Habs had the puck and he kept skating up. Maatta went to the blue line to challenge his guy knowing Jack Johnson had to see that the Habs had the puck and would be covering the other guy coming in. When Maatta looked over and saw Jack Johnson was Inexplicably going to the boards where there wasn’t a Canadien to be found he tried to turn around and make a play on Jack Johnson’s guy who was coming full speed already into the zone. Everyone blamed Maatta again.
https://www.nhl.com/video/byrons-diving-tally/t-299943908/c-61647803
The defense did not play good by any means but at what point will you agree that a goaltender has to make more stops than just the ones that are shot into him? Near the end of the game the arena gave Murray a bronx cheer when he made a glove save on a shot that was about a foot over the net. I would say his cinderella period is over.
Hey Phil,
I agree. I already commented in other spots so I’ll keep this one to a minimum. But I thought Johnson was awful…especially on the second goal as you so duly noted.
Also agree about Murray. Not sure what’s happened to this kid, but you’ve got to be able to make a big save once in a while. For a while against Washington, it looked as though the Caps would score every time they touched the puck. Porous ‘d’ or no, that can’t happen.
Hope he’s not morphing into the second coming of Steve Penney or “The Mask,” Jim Carey.
If Murray continues to struggle, call up Jarry. He looked phenomenal in a preseason game against Detroit.
Rick
Hey Phil,
I am not singling Maatta out, not completely. At this point, the only defenseman I am not complaining about is Schultz. Do I think they all should be traded? No! Often times its bad chemistry in the pairing and not the player. I would still like to see Dumoulin with a different partner to see if those flashes he has had are his true self or just that flashes. So long as he is tied to the Letang cart, he is going to struggle.
The proof is in the pudding. 11 GA in 2 games is horrible.
Speaking more specifically, re-watching the highlights of 1st goal, I stand by my assessment of Maatta. With no support, as a goalie, I would want my D man to eliminate Gallagher who was more center of the net and leave me the shooter coming in on the angle. It may not have been his choice. Tactically the team may say block the shot at all cost. Or maybe he has lost faith in his goalie. But Gallagher was the greater threat with Murray having to come out and challenge the shooter.
On Maatta’s 2nd Team Goal Against, after looking at the replay multiple times, sorry, he still looks tentative or slow. He wasn’t coming over to challenge Byron, he was drifting, gliding over. He had plenty of time to assess the danger. He had plenty of time and was well aware that Johnson was way out of position but was moving very slowly into the play. His legs were not moving. He was gliding. Big surprise Byron got behind him. Maybe Johnson had primary responsibility, but Maatta surely had the opportunity to cover for him, but didn’t. He was either too slow or too timid. In either case it was a break away.
As for Murray, yes, I do agree a goalie needs to make some great saves one in a while. So let me ask you, what do you call the initial save on Byron’s second goal. Byron was wide open all alone, with most of the net to work with since Murray had to be hugging the glove side post because Lekhonen was there with the puck. Or how about the save he made on Kotkaniemi when he walked in all alone after the D Zone FO loss. How many big saves does he have to come with before I am allowed to hold the D accountable for too many guffaws.
When someone takes a dislike of a player they always seem to only see the mistakes and not the great plays and vice verse for players they like. I do hold Murray accountable for Hudson’s wrap around last night. I also hold him accountable at least for Orpik’s and Carlson’s goal against the Caps. I try never to be a fan of a player over team. I try to remain objective when I watch a game.
So tell me, which other goals did you think Murray should have stopped?