Changing the Core starts with a major defensive overhaul
How did the Penguins not come out of Round 1 with at least one win?
“I don’t have an answer for it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “The reality is we win as a group and we lose a group and we’re all a part of it. We’ve all got to take responsibility. It’s disappointing. We had high expectations of this team. We believe we have good players and we have the potential to be a good team, and we obviously did not play well enough to win.”
What matters into the summer and next season on the ice is whether the New York Islanders four game sweep of the Penguins will actually be a lesson learned for the entire Penguins organization from management, coaches to the players?
The Penguins after their four game exit were at least saying all the right and obvious things about what they learned in the series.
“We’ve gotta be committed to a team game,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said in stating the obvious of what needs to change moving forward.
“They [Islanders] were a little bit hungrier,” Evgeni Malkin said. “They want more to win. They were blocking shots, forecheck, backcheck. They looked like they want more to win.”
That’s accurate but also quite the indictment of this hockey club from Evgeni Malkin who pretty much coasted all season and was just another guy in the regular season and playoffs.
How does the GM react to all of this?
With Jim Rutherford, he’s such a wildcard on how he’ll approach this off-season. When a plan gets developed, those who work under him don’t even know what he’ll do on a week-to-week basis. There’s been no direction under Rutherford with his personnel moves since the 2017-2018 season and one thing he’ll certainly do is make it an entertaining off-season with a number of a controversial moves I’m sure.
What’s scary with Rutherford moving forward is he totally went away from what worked in 2016 to things like getting spooked by Tom Wilson last spring that impacted roster decisions. Even antics such as Rutherford’s obsession of going to the media to talk up Jack Johnson constantly this season to defend a bad signing is troublesome, while most importantly just the lack of forward thinking with his roster decisions.
What the embarrassment of being swept to the Islanders does do is it has the chance of being a good thing for Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff that they need to adapt better next season around the personnel they have and this had to be a wake-up call of how much of a defensive overhaul this group needs from personnel to playing a different system defensively. Great coaches adapt and Sullivan getting ran out of the building by Barry Trotz should make him a better coach moving forward.
Most concerning, though, with the outlook for next season is how much this group tuned Sullivan out in playing the way he wants them to play. None more evident that the start in Game 4.
Jake Guentzel scores 35 seconds in and what do you know, just over a minute later Kris Letang doing Kris Letang things in showing awful situational awareness once again in turning the puck over on the wall in the offensive zone with no forward help and Jordan Eberle scores off the rush.
[hide]
“I tried to get it deep and get in there,” Letang said. “I think it was more of a clusterf*** at the blue line. I don’t know what really happened. Guys ran into each other.”
[/hide]
The Brock Nelson goal late in the first period was more in-excusable defensive play where Marcus Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson are chasing Josh Bailey to the corner leaving the net-front open. Starting with Kris Letang, this coaching staff had no impact to rein-in this team defensively when it mattered most and this wasn’t just a four game thing.
Before Rutherford stresses the need to change the core and makes Phil Kessel the scapegoat which many around the league anticipate or before he calls up To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! trade Olli Maatta, the organization has to To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Somehow Letang has earned this legacy status with ownership, sources say, but a proper evaluation this summer of changing the style of play to becoming a structurally responsible team and getting this team to playing a committed team game under Sullivan, it starts with moving out Letang.
Letang at age 31 is who he is. Sullivan and the defensive minded Jacques Martin are not changing him. Letang playing 27 minutes a night dictates the risky style of play this team plays with and lack of structured game that exposed the Penguins so much vs the Islanders.
You can’t talk of how you’re going to change the way you play and still have Letang roaming the ice nearly 30 minutes a night in the erratic nature he plays with. Finding value for Letang is another story as clubs have great concerns about his neck issue and coaches around the league To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Damn everyone but MAF… Vegas should have closed tonight but everyone but MAF let em down. Especially on that game winner… I mean tricky shot and such a slow shot it was near impossible to stop.
MAF almost stole it right sam… I mean shots were 2 to 1 for them but the shots from SJ were far better than the VGK shots, especially that winner
Jones stole that game!
Bigtime, hes been dogshit all series but he was solid here
Impossible? He shot a wrist shot MAF could see all the way from like 30 feet out.
You missed the sarcasm?
Sharks won party at stans
Does someone need a tissue?
Nice save Fleury!
Hahahahaha!!!!!!
Apparently marchand and other bruins players don’t want to go to Boston. Saying Boston ice suckss.
Apparently MAF is stealing this game as his team outshoot them 2-1 and Schmidt bails him the fuckk out
The Ice is not from Canada.
Sam(e) how is Austin Matthews doing?
Very good since leafs got a Canadian to have other teams focused at
We all saw how bad jets been choking since they have their main guys being Americans. Goalie, captain, assistant captain
Where is James Neal from?
Canadian born players all get a pass. They can do no wrong. Don Cherry Jr says so.
Steven Stamkos I believe is from America Jr… how did he do?
How was kucherov or their russian goalie. Or that overpaid #9
Of all those… Stamkos has a decade of “Will he show in big games”… the rest not so much
Also… what about Laine?
Yeah, he was horrible until JT got there. I know you are just trolling but you really are stupid.
He was constantly shut down come playoffs before JT arrived. You have no clue since you are too focused on suckingg malkins dickk
Constantly being shut down? First playoff appearance, 6 games, 4 goals and 1 asst…. Second was not as good, 7 games, 1 goal, 1 assist,… 13 games… 5 goals, 2 assists. Not amazing, but not shut down. It also helps to have other players around you. Kind of like when Crosby goes quiet when Malkin is out but that is ok.
Mather and Tavares are a combined -7….
Fuckk your ability to spin things is both incredibly and fucken pathetic
Cbauer. Can you checked in our hockey bracket how am I doing apparently I got the blues series right too.
If they trade Malkin and Kessell, i’m done with this team.
Team would be better trust me. You’ll have players going the dirty areas and not take dumb penalties every single game
I watch hockey because I enjoy the skill, not because I want to see a bunch of grinders. No thanks.
If Sam were a gm, he’d have a bunch of fourth line plugs that try hard but accomplish nothing.
But they’d all be Canadians 🙂 so there is that… I think
Another swing and miss for MAF for the Vezina. Glad we have a younger, better, cheaper option in net.
Wow so disappointed flames are out
I knew goalie issue would be a big question mark but the way then finished 1st in West I tough they can handle avalanche.
Their goaltending was fine. Rest of the team sucked
Top line didn’t show up and neal didn’t show up all year
Exactly. Sam doesn’t understand what he is watching. Sad.
Forgot you understand the most here specially when you turn off your TV when team is down 2-0 in first period
THOUGHT!
Flyer’s will stop playing Kate smith recording after racist songs come to light .
Really after many years they realize that the singer had racist lyrics for other songs and even to that what has to do with God bless America song
Typical liberal agenda they have not better to do.
Did she say “black kane” or “Jew Bettman” in the songs? If so can we let the league know you clearly wrote them
So much obstruction.
Npl is a beta male
Oh god, if you’re what they call an “alpha” in PQ… I mean at least for the incels that think the phrasing matters lol
Fleury’s magic number is 5.
Murray’s magic number is 4. Just like it took islanders only 4 games to take Murray out
MAF had one good game, the Vegas offense bailed him out of the rest. His numbers were pretty much the same as MM’s, actually a bit worse. So then by logic MAF is having an average playoff. If Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Jake showed up and if Letang remembered how to play hockey things may have been a bit different. Oh well.
It’s been the case for many years that penguins star players don’t show up but instead it was always fleurys fault
Yeah, we were losing to the flyers 7-5, that’s definitely on the offense. Dumbass.
What a come back by the blues. In Winnipeg on top of that got blues in 6 let’s see if I get that
TJ Oshie out long term after Foegele hit.
Ek with a crazy rumor. Malkin to LA for Doughty+ or Malkin to LA for the fifth pick+++. Hard to take anything he says seriously, but it’s interesting to think about. If we did move him for Doughty, we’d certainly be moving Letang, which would be a dramatic upgrade.
And then you cocksuckerrs will say wish we had letang. Doughty makes a lot on defensive zone mistakes. But you box score specialists wouldn’t know that
No one says “we wish we had letang” back. They actually play team defense when he is out. If they trade him tomorrow I will buy his ticket. His contract is an albatross around this teams neck.
You do that Stan you do that
Letang can move into your mom’s basement with you. You two can gush over Fleury together.
The “box score specialists” are the ones would would want Letang, clown. He puts up points, but sucks at playing defense. Funny how triggered you get when someone says anything negative about a French Canadian player, again proving you aren’t a Pens fan.
Hahaha same could be said about your Russian and chubby
Only difference is almost no team wants those lazy boys except for penguins fans
Pretty sure they would, chubby. And they are forwards, not dmen. Therefore, their primary job is to score (and they do that very well), not hang back and play defense. It’s hilarious that you don’t know the difference between the two positions.
One gets paid a lot money and can’t score 5v5 anymore and the other one gets paid a lot of money to play like a goon and take a lot of penalties doing its beer to kill his own team momentum
I could see giving up Crosby for Doughty + but not Malkin
EK citation. You just lost your last shred of credibility.
Well this sadly says a lot…. “I think our defense is probably the best now that it’s been since I’ve been here, as a group,” Rutherford said. “You always like mobile defensemen. You like guys that can move the puck. We have at least one guy on each pairing that can move the puck, and now we’ve got guys that can have some pushback. At one point in time, you asked me, ‘Do we have enough guys that can push back?’ Now you’re asking me if I have enough guys (that) have speed. If you find those guys, they’re making… Read more »
This statement shows why he should be let go. This season is on Rutherford. He comprised this roster. He needs to move on.
More then the defence offence was the issue they couldn’t help the D like they did 2016-17. Plus penguins had the most changes this season so obvious there was chemistry issue as well. Also like to add penguins added too many Florida people as we all know anything that comes out of Florida sucksss
First move would be to get another GM and move JR into another position that would assist – cannot trust him without oversite-the last two off-seasons as well as just the similarities when he was in Carolina have this squad resembling the early stages of the titanic
Now that the season is over….will the people with the multiple accounts come out and say who they are?
Good luck with that
I think Sam, Stan, NPL and Gaydogg all have multiple accounts.
Sam(e) is actually Letang. That is why he always defends him.
If they move forward and keep Letang which I’m sure they will his ice time needs to go to 20 -22 minutes MAX a game tops. Get him off the number one power play to start he cant shoot the puck or won’t. Teams just pack it in down low knowing he wont shoot. You have Schultz who has a cannon use him. Sullivan needs to wake up..
take him off the power play that’s 6 minutes a game.
Don’t let him kill penalties that’s another 6 minutes a game..he cant cover and makes bad decisions in front.
Wasn’t cutting Letang’s mins the original plan when they got JJ? They cut Letang’s min but getting rid of him.
Maybe carramrod can finally admit he is Stan
After all every one knows it except for him and zerotool
Lets start with GMJR the last time he left a team they didn’t make playoffs for 12 seasons or so. He has become addicted to the deal. He needs to understand the term restock but then again lets figure his window is short so what does Pens brass do with him. Now what about Sully has he become lost in his system or method. His inability to play players he doesn’t like really needs to be addressed. Is he having a meltdown DB style because this worked before and is should work now. Does he understand roster management with the… Read more »
Best time for Mario to sell this team while they still have value. After this year expect to drop
All of this article is true, however it doesn’t address the issue of Simon and Aston Reese skating in the top 6. The pens couldn’t score and that coaching blunder was the reason why.
So that is your new mantra now that MAF is gone…..ZAR and Simon are the problems you seen. Wow tinted glasses
Hey Yoda how is fleury doing in the playoffs this year
First 3 games he was average. The team bailed him out.
Blow it up!
[https://media.giphy.com/media/iZuLdzQ5eoD1C/giphy.gif]
Where have you been 🙂
Probably npl hacked his account too
You really don’t pay attention to the details do you sammich…
Can’t believe the same cast of characters are still running around on here. With the same rhetoric no less.