Penguins/NHL
PENGUINS – CAPITALS WHAT WE LEARNED
The Penguins 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals Tuesday night can be looked at in a lot of ways.
One way to look at the Penguins night is to take a positive spin out of it in that the Penguins played the Capitals competitive in a back-to-back situation and did some things well that could cause Washington trouble in a seven-game series.
What I did like, though, was some of the quotes coming out of the Penguins room. When the Penguins have lost to some quality (playoff) teams of late, it’s normally the same complacency with comments like ‘we had our chances, we deserved better, ect.’
Last night there seemed to be some frustration from a few that the Penguins after taking a 2-0 lead and dictating the game in the first 20 minutes, struggled to handle the Capitals push back and were never able to grab momentum back once the Capitals made it a 2-1 game, 4:24 into the second period.
“We’ve got to simplify the game when we lose momentum. We’ve got to grab a hold of it. It starts with one shift” — Mike Sullivan.
“We need to learn from this. Lucky that is happened now and not later in the season — Patric Hornqvist
“They had a push back. They picked it up a little bit, and maybe we didn’t match it” — Bryan Rust
Big picture I think we learned some things where each team can cause each other problems.
The Penguins two goals were examples of areas they can cause the Capitals trouble — Capitalizing on mental mistakes Washington makes in defending the neutral zone —
Pittsburgh is now a team that is most dangerous when attacking with speed through the neutral zone and attacking off the rush. Zone entries are so critical to their offensive success.
On Evgeni Malkin’s goal, Brooks Orpik goes for a big hit on Carl Hagelin just by Pittsburgh’s bench and the Penguins were off to the races with Malkin scoring off a 2-on-1 rush.
Pittsburgh’s second goal of the game, Washington makes a bad change and gets scattered in the neutral zone, the Penguins capitalize with a pretty goal from Hornqvist.
The Penguins are not a team built to impose their will in the net-front area against teams that box out well and collapse to the middle like the Rangers, Capitals do. It’s all about winning the neutral zone for them. They did early in the game vs Washington and not so much after that.
For Washington, we saw when they started to ratchet up the physicality led by Alexander Ovechkin in the second period, the Capitals started to overwhelm Pittsburgh physicality. Washington’s ability to wear down teams over sixty minutes is their greatest attribute and that will especially be the case in a seven game series.
Pittsburgh can skate with Washington and a good argument to be made that they’re a faster team, but the Capitals 1-12 have a superior combination of skill/physicality upfront that projects to wear a type of blueline the Penguins have down as it did Tuesday night.
Coming out of this game, there’s lots of talk that the Capitals are a slightly better matchup for the Penguins than Pittsburgh facing the Rangers. That’s one I will buy, especially if John Carlson is not fully healthy for round 1.
As long as Marc Andre Fleury doesn’t revert back to 2012 or 2013 playoff Marc Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh would have a good chance of being competitive with the Capitals with a lot of games likely being one-goal games.
One of the reasons Jim Rutherford was so obsessed with acquiring Phil Kessel last summer is he looked at the Rangers series last spring as one where the Penguins were able to play tight scoring games with a superior team and felt having a Phil Kessel could have been the difference in making one more play than the Rangers.
The problem with that belief is more often than not, Kessel doesn’t show up against teams like the Capitals, Rangers that play with great structure and are very effective at keeping passive wingers like Kessel outside the dots.
Kessel had one shot on goal and one shot attempt in the loss to the Capitals and his first shot didn’t come until three minutes into the third on a chance in front off a setup from Evgeni Malkin where he fanned on the opportunity.
If there’s any disappointment for the Penguins having a missed opportunity last night in getting two points, it was the Capitals able to limit Sidney Crosby without Carlson in the lineup. Crosby was held without a shot and had a poor possession night at 35.4 % (5 v 5).
Bryan Rust was +16 in corsi differential 5 v 5, Sidney Crosby was minus-9. If that’s reverse, maybe the Penguins come out with a point or two.
Where the Capitals had success in limiting Crosby was using Mike Richards on him [hide]. Head-to-head vs Richards, Crosby was on the ice for 1 shot attempt and 9 against 5 v 5, via war-on-ice.
Washington had a vulnerable third pairing dressed in Mike Weber – Nate Schmidt but with the last change, Barry Trotz was able to keep those two away from Malkin and Crosby from going up against the Penguins’ top two lines.[/hide]
It appeared to me that Letang was upset with Chimera because the puck was clearly played and Chimera took a few extra strides to finish his check, you know the way we were all taught to do growing up. In watching it again it was really no different than the Doan hit that knocked Letang out of the playoffs last year, except Letang was closer to the boards and didn’t awkwardly absorb the check. Not sure where Im going with this post ..oh, I know, This is the way playoff hockey has always been played (and the regular season used… Read more »
I don’t really disagree with anything you said but you’re negating the fact that the league is changing, or at least they claim they are trying to change in an effort to protect their star players. The only real problem I have with the play is that I think it goes beyond the realm of just finishing your check(which has completely change over the last few years), I too was always taught to finish my check but I was always taught that the act of the check began 1-2 strides before contact and end with the contact and in general… Read more »
Letang is a pussy . Stated by Stan
A french pusssy. Get it right, Frog.
I think that’s a good assessment Jay. Chimera could easily have turned away and headed up ice. But having not affected the play in anyway with his forecheck he opted to try to take a piece of Letang late. If that’s not what the nhl wants then it’s going to take a generation to “teach” it out if the game.
the NHL is a garage league. if letang is seriously injured on the play the hosers on NBC would have loved it. the NHL is sitting on a gold mind. if only those idiots would realize people would rather see stars produce than bums taking them out the league would be so much better. i figure it will take another 30 years or so. unfortunatley, we will have to wait for the guys who run the league to die off.
Good discussion ends here.
How can one acquire a gold mind? Studying 8 hours a day?
Don’t come on here much anymore, mostly due to my lack of respect for the NHL these days. I did tune into most of last night though, and to hear Pierre say “The Washington Capitals have turned this into a street fight and good on them. It’s really getting them going and turning the game around.” (or something like that) is the most disgusting statement and the biggest reason why I can’t stand this league. The refs don’t want to decide the game, so they don’t call penalties late in the game is another statement tossed around. By not calling… Read more »
he said that street fight thing few times
Senators sign Scott gomez for the rest of the season. Another American fraud that stole paychecks over his career
Haha – rmeember when that french pusssy gainey gave up a prince’s ransom for him? McDonagh! Nice job, Bob!
st.blurry will revert back to his old self. don’t worry. also, the pens are easy to play against. with all of the head to head match ups coming up against the rangers and flyers, it is safe to assume they are going to beat the pens up. the pens are in trouble.
I can’t wait until this all turns to Murray in a few years. You know, because you don’t know anything else.
murray didn’t put up sub .900 save % in the playoffs and had to be replaced by vokoun because of meltdown reasons. st.blurry deserves all the critisism he gets from me because he sucked when it mattered most.
He also flourished when it mattered most?
yeah, in 2009. the cup win was one of his 3 miracles that allowed him to achieve his saint hood status. remember the others? 300 wins and his perfect smiley teeth. all hail st.blurry!
Exactly what I said above… MAF struggles 08 and 09 dont matter… MAF rebounds and if far from the issue all that matters is the years the team collapsed. You’re a fuckenhypocrite.
Yoda – any thoughts about your GOD sidney looking like a 3rd line center when they finally played a game that mattered last night?
sid is 8th in the NHL in scoring and would be in the top 3 if johnston wasn’t the coach for the 1st part of the year. he still put up a point.
40 games he’s taken off this year. that’s YOUR GOD. Keep making excuses for him. 8th in NHL in scoring! what a feather in his cap.
agree 100%
Of course you do – you jiggle his bean bag like it’s part of your job.
sid wouldve been top 3 if Kessel perron and Horny scored more when he was making the plays.its funny clowns like stan and others evaluate sid games trough points .
I Agree sid wasnt skating as hard the first 2 months but thats how he is trough out his career slow early season starter its just he didnt get points like he did before because his line mates Chocked just like Stan Chocked when Npl sat on him
Besides not knowing what “chocked” means, the rest of this post is laughable. He’d have got more points if other people scored more! That’s so good. Hey sam – if your aunt had balls, she’d be your uncle, too.
you are a certified Clown along with your buddy Npl
The only thing me and my buddy npl have in common is knowing that when we take a shitt, it’s more knowledgeable than you.
Ha ! Must be the joke of the year
Yeah – ya kinda are. But you knew that. We’ve told you ad nausea.
What a uselessfuckingcunt… Fleury doesnt even play last night and this cumguzzling balllicking master of taking a good pegging come out to speak only about him. Whole bunch of shit that could be discussed about last nights game, one MAF wasnt in, yet fucktarddipshit cant comment because he is a clueless ra-tard! Also let’s note once again that this feels like one of his flip flop posts, I think at this point the Pens won’t make it is what he is saying… I am sure that will change by Thursday.
Oh thats right… there was a blurb in Ds write up to fuel asshats like yourself. We havent seen that MAF for sometime so its a motherfucken moot point but its Ds way of giving dumbass a fucken bone to chew.
D mentioned Fleury so Yoda comes back here since last 2 games he hasnt been apart
Thats what I mean.. he is dead fucking silent after the shutout and the game vs the Caps but the moment someone mentions MAF in a negative way he is all over it…. hes a fuckengoof… prison goof not playground
true or false, st.blurry had sub .900 save% in the year the pens were favorites and then was replaced by vokoun like i said would happen? maybe he put that in there because everyone knows that st.blurry is a ticking timebomb.
They still fucking lost and it had nothing to do with MAF. How can you be this stupid? Clearly they were not winning despite who was in. What I love about your rhetoric is this… when he went through his real bad seasons people referenced his back to back finals year and you stated it was irrelevant because he loses now. All of a sudden MAF is giving the team a chance to win yet you happily go back to years he struggled while ignoring the emotional meltdown vs philly overall and the fact that 28 Million dollars in high… Read more »
how am i clueless? the pens got out muscled last night in front of their own net because they have little defensemen. you act like the pens won last night.
How are you clueless! Oh let me count the way!
“st.blurry will revert back to his old self. don’t worry. also, the pens are easy to play against. with all of the head to head match ups coming up against the rangers and flyers, it is safe to assume they are going to beat the pens up. the pens are in trouble.” Show me where you mention anything of the sort you stupidfuck. As for me acting like the team won… I made a pretty clear assessment of what I saw that went wrong last night… you virtually C&Ped what I said about the D albeit I was specific to… Read more »
Holy crap DePaoli, one of your most analytical pieces yet.
I was thinking the same thing. And there was actually some positive objectivity instead of nothing but doom and gloom.
Almost every move GMJR has done since he is here has been a bust
only one that has played out good and decent is the Daily team
he has been trading canadian players and bringing in American Frauds such as kessel,lovejoy cole bonino
lets say if pens got sutter Despres bortuzzo back the team would be better than it is now but clowns here wont admit it
Rutherford is Canadian – What?
I actaully agree with that. Pens would be better with all three of those guys.
Haha! That’s really good stuff. Despres and Bortuzzo, with this current lineup, would be doing the same thing Sam does during a game – shoving nachos into their respective pieholes.
sorry dude, you’re nuts. No way Despres isnt a top 4-5 guy on the Pens.
Who are you sitting over Despres? I’m curious.
Dspres plays ahead of Lovejoy, Schultz, Cole and maybe pouliot
Maybe ahead of Lovejoy. Maybe Cole, depending on which Cole. You’re high if you think it goes beyond that.
Probably not even Lovejoy the more I think about it – he’s been plenty serviceable this year now that he’s not being asked to play 18 minutes a night mis-cast in a top 4 role due to injury. There’s at least an argument to be made wit him, but the other two? No chance.
He doesn’t play 18 mins and is a nightmare to watch. Every time he is on the ice its a disaster
You think Dion Phaneuf is a good defensemen. I’d rather hear from someone knowledgeable on the subject. Thanks.
Dion is better then most pens current D and last i checked he has been doing better with Sens .since the trade
No he’s not. And he couldn’t do much worse.
maybe Maatta the way the golden boy Swede has played lately.
Yeah the golden boy swede isn’t having a great year – he’s playing like #4. No argument. That’s still two slots higher than Despres on a good day. So, yeah, not really. Prout!
I feel like you should both know that the golden boy swede is a fin.
I should have put quotes around mine, since it’s not really my term – but you’re correct.
good point lol
By the way – Despres was a joke of a bottom pairing defenseman before. Now that he signed this new deal, he’s an even bigger joke. No way this team could afford to pay that price for that kind of mediocrity on a 5 year deal. $300k less than Maatta! For a 5/6 guy! No thanks.
Thats the thing too many miss. He got Maatta money and he doesnt have that game. As bad as Maatta has been somenights… chalking it up to missing all of last year etc, he is still a better option than Despres by a lot
You clown you are telling me pens are better with Cole an gayjoy you must be on high meds
Bortuzzo dresses for half of St. Louis’s games. He’s a #7. Even that might be generous. He doesn’t matter. And Despres sucks. Another weak frenchy that can’t even skate backwards without tripping over himself. No thanks.
You are a clown almost every pens defense will be healthy scratch when the go other teams because they are not good enough scuderi, ehroff. Example but when they come to pens they are top 6. My comparison was with pens current defense vs despres and bortuzzo I don care if they are healthy scratch elsewhere which that’s their case . I am sure if pouliot dumouin shuktz lovejoy were traded they would be healthy scratch elsewhere. Only 2 that would play elsewhere would be letang and maataa