Penguins/NHL
All of the focus was on Mike Johnston’s future coming into Wednesday night’s game vs Colorado, and it wasn’t just the Pittsburgh media, as some big guns nationally like Bob McKenzie were wondering if this was a do-or-die game for Johnston.
It’s felt like there’s been at least three or four games/stretches this season where Mike Johnston’s seat starts to get very warm to the point he might be coaching for his job but the Penguins come out of that game or stretch of games with wins.
Wednesday night it played out that way again with the Penguins coming from behind with three goals in the third period, en route to a 4-2 win over the Avalanche.
The Penguins played the way they should be playing vs Colorado. Tempo, pushing the pace through the neutral zone and in attack mode off the rush.
On the flip side that’s how things should go against an extremely poor defensive team in the Avalanche.
The Penguins will surely take a 2-2 road trip and now the big test comes.
Can the Penguins play the way they did vs Colorado against quality teams and Cup contenders? The answer has been a resounding no to this point but that’s what management wants to see.
The Penguins get the Kings again on Friday night, followed by the Capitals and a home and home series with the Bruins.
It will surely be Mike Johnston watch all over again by the end of next week if the Penguins struggle during this upcoming stretch.
Was Johnston coaching for his job vs the Avalanche? All indications out of the organization are he wasn’t and that many were reading too much into Rutherford’s comments Sunday night when he was caught at a bad moment following a loss, a source says. Rutherford then backtracked his comments a bit to the local papers on Monday but Johnston was clearly put on notice as was the team.
Rutherford held an informal meeting with co-owner Ron Burkle over the weekend and To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
I guess DP meant they gave him three days.
Adios johnston and agnew
Listen to Yoda GM JR and trade fleury. Trade him not because he suckss trade him to free him from this miserable team in front of him
how can you love a player who was so pathetic during the prime cup contender years?
Sid get your lazy ass off the ice in time
At this point we could trade Crosby to Florida for Jagr and call it a day. At least Malkin shows heart.
P.S. TIOPS Police, this was a joke.
No way would Florida take that we would have to throw a prospect or a draft pick
PS was in business meetings gave the tickets to the kid how was the first two periods? By the way what happen to Letang
Letang has vaginitis.
Do we even have our first round this season??
The only reason Pens aren’t talking Auston Mathews is MAF. This is a lottery team without him, better hope he doesn’t get injured.
When you’re intent on playing a guy until the wheels come off, guess what eventually happens? 6th in the league in TOI/GP at 26:15. It’s been an ugly season for Letang, so maybe some time away will actually serve as a reset and do him some good in the long run… and I think it’ll be illuminating to see who if anyone is capable of stepping up and taking a greater role in his absence. The ice time has to go somewhere – particularly looking to Dumoulin and Maatta. Coaching staff seems to see it differently, but I think I’d… Read more »
Agree and i’ll add i’d rather see Pouliot than either Scuderi or Lovejoy. Time to move on from those 2.
Letang is a thief. He steals a paycheck every year. I was never on board to give him all that money. We are stuck with Lesuck!
He learned from the best your fellow American Rick Dipietro
overall lack of toughness and size on their defense and forward lines.
Big Buff
It seems to me that everyone on here has the answers for this team. I have posted this several times and nobody ever gives a good answer. What available coach would you like to coach this team and why?
The available candidate market really isn’t much better than what is already in place so I would rather see GMJR fix the roster first and see if what we have can work with the proper roster. We say it work at the beginning of last year when the roster was constructed properly and we saw glimpses of it in Denver the other night. I wouldn’t make any changes before the roster is fix because that is the biggest issue.
Carlyle primarily due to the fact that he got the best from Phil, got the Leafs into the post season and managed the egos in Anaheim to a cup
D first but seems to let his stars play
Marc Crawford. Guy has won a cup and knows how to play an offensive system that gets the most out of his superstars.
I guess it’s time for Kris Letang’s annual visit to IR. This guy is the worst. Pussy frog can’t stay on the ice. $7.25M a year to butcher the power play for 2/3 of a season. What a steal!
I wish I could keep giving this comment thumbs up. Letang should have been traded 2 seasons ago when he had value, another gift from RS.
FFS, this is absurd… I mean I am sure the level of ice time we are forced to give him isnt doing any favours but this is tiring. I love Letang but when he misses as much time as he does whats the point. I wouldnt say I have joined the lobby for his move but I no longer am part of the group that would be opposed to the move if its there. We need a high end D man that is more reliable. I dont get how a guy that is that much into his physical fitness consistently… Read more »
That’s nice of Pappy to keep MJ employed for christmas. Lots of companies lay people off around that time, nice to see the Pens don’t.
Honestly really doesn’t matter hell get paid regardless
They lay off after Christmas.
stanchion, haha, you are truly a mental midget
Sam and Yoda are the same person – I E5 guarantee it
I want Rick Tocchet to be gone as well that bum has been a cancer everywhere he goes and coaches behind the bench
He’s not willing to touch your pee pee like Bylsma was. You jaded chubster.
zero and jay, so what you are saying is it was totally acceptable for the pens to ignore the fact that their captain took a beating and not one player on the team had the guts to stick up for him? it proved to the entire NHL that head hunting season on crosby is open and that the pens are a bunch of women.
Quit calling him “the captain.” He’s a pussy. On top of that, maybe it has nothing to do with guts. Maybe players think he doesn’t deserve being stuck up for. You know – cause he’s a pussy. He doesn’t have the guts to produce in the playoffs, so what’s fair is fair.
Flyers and ducks should trade vorasek and getzlaf because they each have one goal stan
English would be nice, you french fuck.
But they did you dumb fuck thats the point. What are you expecting? A line brawl or the WWE type circus that was the game vs NYI three years ago? The team consistently engaged in the BS and stood up for themselves with every after whistle event. What you think they should have done was run around like assholes to ensure someone is hurt. That is the exact reaction teams are looking for from us… see Philly vs Pittsburgh circa 2012 playoffs. That is the exact reaction we got and look how bad it hurt us. So thick it hurts…… Read more »
somebody should have skated over to dubinsky and dropped the gloves. but they didn’t because they have no character.
Initial reaction… every single Penguin was looking towards the blueline as the crosscheck occurs… the moment the play dies Dubinsky is carted off to the penalty box. It was all after whistle shit for much of the game. You ask for gloves to be dropped and there was, not with the guy that did the checking but there was still a response from that. Fighting is no longer seen as a deterrent… this is league wide. Again what do you want? Someone to take the instigator to jump Dubinsky… because that would be the last time he ever did this?… Read more »
that is the response of a person who gets all of their knowledge by listening to paul steigerwald on the broadcast. the best response is to smash dubinsky’s face in. it’s the NHL for christ sake
You really do a great job of owning the title of village idiot you know that.
Would have been good to score on the powerplay, and even better to give Dubinsky about 20 games instead of 1 – that might ensure that it was the last time he did that, to Sid or anyone else. The only ones that can do anything about the headhunters and on….and on….and on….is the League! They apparently like what they are seeing – sickening as it is!
I didn’t say anything about Crosby, I said you’re a clueless fool that knows less about hockey than I know about nuclear physics, the Crosby situation has nothing to do with it.
I am sure somewhere pens missing MT
I’m sure they are desperate for an average coach that regularly get bailed out because he has the best goalie in the league. Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t they 5-4-1 and have lost 3 in a row since Price went down again.
I just don’t see MJ behind the bench in 2016.
Remember when you said “anyone is better than db” because he quit having sex with you? Yeah – you were wrong. again.
the caps, bruins, and the blue jackets are all reviewing the tape of the dubinsky cross check to crosby’s head. they took notes and noticed that not one penguin came to defend their captain. it is going to be a bloodbath next week vs the east. the pens are going to get their as$es beat.
Wasnt that the game where Geno got into a fight less than a minute after Dubinskys transgression? Ya I think it was… I am not sure what people expect with this “defending the captain”. Geno of all people seen the BS and picked a fight… He stood up to CLB himself
Seriously zero. Look at who wrote the post and that should tell you all you need to know. Yoda talking about hockey is like me try to talk about nuclear physics.
Geno didn’t stick up for Crosby. It was a completely separate situation. He was locked in a battle with Jack Johnson and responded to that, not the crosscheck.
The entire situation was predicated on the escalation of the nonsense after Hornqvists hit on Calvert. That started it.. Dubinkys play took it to another level and it culminated in Malkin fight. Our guys stood up for themselves in that game… we took runs as did they. I dont get this caveman mentality where if we dont see our guys cart someone off we failed to protect ourselves.
I wonder if nobody defends him because he’s an awful captain.
So ur saying there’s a chance