What has scouts buzzing about Murray and Reality check on Pens night vs Leafs
Murray’s ability to anticipate the play Because the Penguins threw 41 shots on net, there might be a lot of ‘Jonathan Bernier stole two points for the Leafs out there’, but the reality is Matthew Murray stole a point for Pittsburgh. The rookie netminder was tremendous in making 34 stops, including three breakaway saves, two in the third period. Murray reads shooters so well and what scouts rave about Murray is a special ability on anticipating the play. I’ve wrote about this in the past of how scouts view a goaltenders ability to anticipate the play as a great barometer for projecting success for a goaltender and that’s been the No. 1 area that catches the attention of evaluators with
Four Penguins selected in USA Today’s Original Six Fantasy Draft
Kevin Allen of the USA Today ran an original six fantasy draft using today’s players. The panel of six former NHL players, coaches and general managers were – Craig Button (Boston Bruins), Eddie Olczyk (Chicago Blackhawks), Doug MacLean (Detroit Red Wings), Pierre McGuire (Montreal Canadiens), Tom Laidlaw (New York Rangers) and Neil Smith (Toronto Maple Leafs) — Four Penguins were picked: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc Andre Fleury and Kris Letang. A sign of how far Sidney Crosby’s stock has fallen in the eyes of these former coaches/GM’s – Crosby was not drafted until round three at 14th overall. Six centers were picked ahead of Crosby – Connor McDavid, Jonathan Toews, John Tavares, Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron, Claude Giroux –
Penguins’ odd handling of players with concussion issues continues
The Penguins are being cautious with goaltender Marc Andre Fleury who suffered his first concussion almost two weeks ago. When it comes to their top defenseman who has had multiple concussions and is owed over $43 million the next six seasons, being cautious with Kris Letang for one game was enough to satisfy everyone. Letang admitted today he had “hard headaches” following the hit he took from Jarret Stoll Saturday night. Yet Letang is a go tonight vs the Maple Leafs after passing the concussion protocol and Letang telling doctors he feels healthy enough to play. It never hurts to be safe and the Penguins should be sitting Letang the next two nights just to make sure everything is okay.
On Shea Weber, Penguins’ Moving a big Contract This Summer & More
There is a serious disconnect in the Penguins organization on how to attack the rest of the season when it comes to upgrading the roster. Some in the organization feel spots need to be opened for young forwards like Dominik Simon who continues to get rave reviews in Wilkes Barre, and the only type of trades the team should be looking at is contract for contract type trades. Examples include like trading David Perron for another forward or defenseman on an expiring contract. Jim Rutherford is said to have much different plans. Sources in the organization say Rutherford is adamant this team has the makings of being a Stanley Cup contender and has told many close associates the pieces in
Roethlisberger losing to significantly inferior QB’s has been a concerning trend
“A painful lesson we learned today,” said Mike Tomlin of the Steelers embarrassing 20-17 loss to the Ravens. For Tomlin and the Steelers, losing to inferior teams has been a continued theme under Tomlin since the 2009 season. Sunday saw a Steelers team that just never looked right. There was no balance offensively. The Steelers were gashing the Ravens on the ground in the first half but yet at times it seemed like they were being too conservative through the air in quarters one and two. In the second half they appeared to get too deep pass happy, somewhat of a problem this season, to go with in-game management problems which seem to happen almost every week. There was just
On Sullivan’s plan of Separate Lines for 87/71/81, Derrick Pouliot’s inconsistent play, Timing of Coaching change
1. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel all on separate lines? That appears to be the plan for Mike Sullivan moving forward once Sidney Crosby gets back to the lineup [hide]. The Penguins expect Crosby to return vs Minnesota. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford revealed during an interview on 937 The Fan today that Sullivan told him a few days ago he would like to have Crosby, Malkin, Kessel on separate lines to avoid the opposition being able to match up a No. 1 pairing against one particular line. Expect to see Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino stay together after the break. My Take: This strategy sounds good on paper to spread things out but it rarely works out
Friday’s Penguins Buzz: T.J. Oshie > Phil Kessel
PENGUINS PROJECTED LINEUP VS BRUINS David Perron – Evgeni Malkin – Phil Kessel Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Conor Sheary Sergei Plotnikov – Nick Bonino – Patric Hornqvist Kevin Porter – Matt Cullen – Eric Fehr Defensemen Olli Maatta – Trevor Daley Brian Dumoulin – Ben Lovejoy Ian Cole – David Warsofsky Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff FRIDAY’S PENGUINS BUZZ 1. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan will go back with Jeff Zatkoff tonight vs the Bruins. Appears likely Murray gets the nod tomorrow night vs Carolina but Sullivan would not commit to the rotation, saying he’s comfortable with both goaltenders. Sullivan called Murray the best goaltender he’s seen in the AHL this season….Sullivan said the Penguins line combinations are not set in
Changing the Coach Wasn’t going to fix Penguins Biggest Problem — Perimeter Offense —
IMPROVEMENT ON GETTING PUCK OUT OF ZONE QUICKLY, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE The Penguins 3-0 loss to the Bruins saw Pittsburgh have a 34-29 edge in shots, including a 59-37 edge in shot attempts at even strength. They ran into a hot goaltender again, right? Only paid team reporters and some fan blogs might be writing about that today. There’s wasn’t much to like from the Penguins in the loss. Through two games under Mike Sullivan we’ve seen an improvement in the Penguins getting the puck out of their own zone quicker with less reliance on the defensemen carrying the puck out of the zone themselves. That was better vs the Bruins and puck possession wasn’t the issue. But, when
Latest Penguins Buzz
PENGUINS MORNING SKATE LINES Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – David Perron Sergei Plotnikov – Evgeni Malkin – Phil Kessel Conor Sheary – Matt Cullen – Patric Hornqvist Kevin Porter – Eric Fehr – Daniel Sprong (Nick Bonino Illness- Game time decision) D-PAIRS Olli Maatta – Trevor Daley Brian Dumoulin – Ben Lovejoy David Warsofsky – Ian Cole Jeff Zatkoff to start in goal LATEST BUZZ 1. Trevor Daley requested a trade in mid-November which started the process of the Penguins considering him, though, they were targeting some bigger fish before the trade. Once they reached the point where targets like Kris Russell just weren’t available, Daley became easiest acquisition to make. When preliminary talks first began last month, Chicago
Post-Game Reactions on Acquisition of Trevor Daley & More
POST-GAME REACTIONS ON TREVOR DALEY Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said today the trade of Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley really got serious in the past couple days. “When I really got serious about this deal, it was probably in last 2-3 days,” said Rutherford after the Penguins 4-1 loss to the Capitals tonight. “We like Trevor because he can skate and move the puck,” said Rutherford. “Trevor’s been a good NHL player. Can help our team [in puck moving department].” Rutherford indicated what he likes about Daley is that while he’s a left shot, he likes to play the right side. Rutherford said he wasn’t actively looking to move Scuderi but did talk to some teams around training camp in