Hurricanes Rally, Nip Penguins in OT

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• Rick,
  The Penguins quickly reverted to the mean (as an old coach of mine used to be fond of saying about guys not sustaining a hot streak). They are quite unwilling to sustain a heavy forecheck and play an up tempo pace. I say unwilling, as they are quite capable of playing that way (as evidenced by the Lightning game prior) . Malkin also dialed it down in the game as well.
  Its as if the Penguins really believe they can hang with the Hurricanes straight up. No agressive forechecking needed The shot differential should disabuse them of that thought .
  I personally liked Friedman's tussle with 3 minutes left in the 3rd with the score tied 2-2. It brought some energy back to the Penguins for the next minute of play. The game started to tilt back to the Penguins and I thought they might steal this game . At the two minute mark we were charged with too many men on the ice and I honestly think the carry over from Friedmans fight helped the Pens on the PK. Boyle was getting his ire up during that PK and we were fortunate, imo, to get the tie.
  LeTang losing his composure after getting sucker punched , really cost us any chance at an overtime win.

  DeSmith played great. I can't remember a game with 76 shots. Hard to believe.

  • Hey Lightning,

    Agreed the team reverted to their mean but I am not sure if it was a question that the players were unwilling to maintain a heavy forecheck or they aren't built to play a heavy forecheck night after night. You can't hammer a nail into a piece of wood time and time again with a screw driver. At some point you need to get a hammer.

    I had lunch with brothers yesterday and one of my brothers (Rick B calls him Switzerland because he used to always remain neutral when Rick B and argue) asked "When are the Pens going to move on from Simon and Aston-Reese". These two are screw drivers on that 4th line rather than hammers. Sullivan is so enamored of them because they have gotten some zone time, but they never seem to wear anyone down. Neither does the 3rd line cause any opponent to sweat. Even when these lines forecheck, they are like gnats, a but of a nuisance but that is about all, they have no sting.

    I too, like Freidman's and even Letang's physical play of late but the problem here is, our Penguins are known as nothing but whiners, so they will never get a call. With our team's lack of physicality, the refs are only going to see the retaliatory strike, not the instigating gambit, so we will get the Penalty or Extra Penalty every time. Everyone in black and gold jawing at the ref after the game didn't help.

    As for the shot differential, yes that was disturbing, but what really makes it worse is even when our Pens are on the plus side of the shot differential, in terms of raw numbers, the bulk of their shots are usually from the perimeter with a low percentage of scoring. For a team that is allegedly offensively driven, we are only ranked 24th in the league in S%. Look it up. Only 8 teams are worse than us - thanks Simon and ZAR!

    • The Other Rick
      I agree with you on Simon & Aston-Reese - they couldn't be pulled from the lineup soon enough. Also.
      i like the fact Letang isn't backing off of opponents "but" this appears to be a strategy by opposing
      teams. The assault on our top players has just begun - wait until the playoffs. Teams will continue to
      take our their aggression on Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel & Rust with zero chance of retribution - who
      will hold them accountable "Letang" or "Friedman" come on seriously this has to be some kind of
      joke. I said this before if Hextall & Burke do nothing to improve the toughness of this team prior to the
      start of the playoffs it will once again be a quick exist.

      • The sad thing about this is Mike, When Blueger and Zucker are ready to come off IR, Simon and ZAR will still have jobs. Boyle will be the first to sit then who knows, McGinn, Heinen or Kapanen, but rest assured Sullivan will keep ZAR and Simon in the lineup.

        I am sorry Mike, but I don't see any substantial change in the way Sullivan will handle the team, even if Hextall gets him a Deslauriers or more, Sullivan will need to put him on the ice to make a difference, and I don't see that happening. So, I see a quick exit and early tee times for the Pens and another wasted trade because Sullivan won't change.

      • Quick exit - Lol

    • the Other Rick,
      As the old adage goes, "You don't get to fight the war with the army you want, you fight the war with the army you got ".
      Absolutely aligned with the need for bigger , stronger players with an edge. However, there is no reason they can't suck it up to play a heavier game. Injuries aren't a major issue, and guys like Aston-Reese certainly aren't lighting it up on the scoring charts. Frankly, they should be concerned that their hockey days are numbered.
      Perhaps they are "saving it for the playoffs".
      If so, I'm personally not a fan of that mentality. I'm more of the mind that you have to get in a groove of regular play and habits .
      Get used to the heavy forecheck now. Get used to managing the emotion at a higher level.
      For all the talk that Sullivan has about the need for a clean , up tempo game with the heavy forecheck, he must see the lack thereof on the forechecking.
      If I were him, I would be extremely concerned about a first round exit in the playoffs again and I'd be greenlighting Friedman and others to goon it up a bit.
      It seems to be the only fuse this firecracker has.

      • Hey Lightning,

        You adage is right, you go into the war with the army you have not necessarily the army you want/ But if you want to win the war adapt your strategy to the strengths and weakness of the army you have. During the American Civil War, when General Robert Lee remembered that part of the truism, and he found ways to force the Federal troops to attack him, so that his smaller army could fight from positions of strength, he won battles, at Gettysburg he forgot himself and attacked and lost.

        No matter how we slice it, this team can try all they want but will fail, in the end if the try to play a heavy fore-check, night after night. another old saying, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak will take over. Physically, they are too small and/or too old to continually play that game. Their bodies will break down and injuries will compile.

        Sullivan built this team too light and its core has aged. They may be able to play a heavy fore-check a couple of times, but over a 7 game series they will get murdered.

        • Hey Lightning,

          Really astute comments. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said we're not big or strong enough to maintain Sullivan's forechecking system over an 82-game schedule, let alone a long playoff run. I'd alluded to it in one of my previous articles, but it seemed we started wearing down in early January and...except for brief spurts and the notable exception of the recent Lightning game...just haven't been able to get back to it with any consistency.

          I'm quite envious of the Lightning and their heavy line of Corey Perry, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Pat Maroon. In addition to providing an edge, these guys can play, too.

          Regarding the Civil War. Had Stonewall Jackson lived, the outcome at Gettysburg...and the war...may have been far different. Jackson undoubtedly would've pushed the Federals off Cemetery Hill on the first day of the battle. Abraham Lincoln may have had little choice but to accept the settlement terms that had proposed by the South.

          As it was, the Confederates still carried the first day and very nearly the second. At this stage, Lee, who wanted desperately for the war to end, simply couldn't back down.

          His one glaring mistake, but it proved to be both a costly and decisive one. The Army of Northern Virginia was never really the same after Gettysburg.

          Sorry...got off on a tangent...

          Rick

        • Hey Lightning,

          Interesting discussion about Ewell. I learned something today!

          I have also been to Gettysburg, in fact many times. Many, many years ago, I worked with a BSA troop and we took them there every other year. We would camp just behind Pickett's kick off point, more toward where his artillery was placed to support Pickett. We would walk the Confederate line (the longest line) the final day of our trip.

          Looking down the back side of Little Round Top where the Mississippi boys tried to dislodge Chamberlain. That is a sight in itself.

          We would have the scouts wearing day bags half full caring fairly heavy walking stick while we walked the line. When we would get to Pickett's kick off point, we then had them double time to Chambersburg Pike, then sprint up the hill, trying to give them a half-hearted feel for what it must have been like that day.

        • Rick,
          Been to Gettysburg many times. Its hard not to get choked up when you walk from the Confederate position of Picketts charge to the Union position and see first hand the bravery that must have occurred to charge straight into a position of overwhelming superiority.
          In fact ,I toured it with the West Point Historian and we talked about the impact of command style on the battle itself. Dick Ewell replaced Stonewall Jackson as Ewell was considered the most aggressive of Jackson's generals. Lee told Ewell to take the hill "if at all practical" . Ewell did not interpret it as a direct order as he was unfamiliar with Lee's command style. Jackson, would have understood both Lee's intent and the strategic intent in the bigger picture and would have taken Cemetery Hill . Jackson background was in Artillery and he deeply understood the advantages or disadvantages of terrain.
          Ewell was a reasonable commander under Jackson as Jackson understood how to communicate and gave Ewell direct orders...which Ewell followed. Ewell was said to lack the strategic insight that Jackson had and Jackson didn't do anything to develop those skills in his subordinates. The lesson for us that day was the importance of clear communication and in developing your subordinates.
          Jeb Stuart was also missing in action, so Lee lacked the intelligence that Stuart was responsible for. It is highly likely that Lee understood that his supply situation was in dire straights. A significant percentage of the men under his command had no shoes and they ate unripe Chambersburg peaches because they were low on provisions.
          The bravery of the men on both sides throughout that battle is palpable when you walk the battlefield.
          I had relatives on both sides of that war. One of them killed on the first day at Gettysburg.

        • Hey Rick,

          Had Jackson lived and taken Little Round Top, then the Federals would have been forced to be the attacker and Lee would have been the defender and as I pointed out that was what his army was built to do, defend rather than attack. The Penguins are not built to attack, they are not built to be physical, when your coach thinks ZAR plays a heavy game, there is a problem. He may play a heavier game then Simon, but he doesn't play a heavy game and neither of them can score.