Penguins/NHL
The book on Mike Johnston’s offensive system last season from opposing coaches…..’Easy system to defend’……
The Penguins struggled last season in creating offense from prime scoring areas from the low slot to in around the net as teams were constantly able to keep them to the outside.
Game 1 of the 2015-2016 season was more of the same.
The Penguins put up 37 shots and 66 shot attempts in their 3-0 loss against Dallas but aside from a few flurries late, at even strength it was an offense that struggled to create through the middle of the ice, a primary issue last season.
Lot of the Penguins action vs the Stars was creating zone entries from the outside and hitting a trailing defenseman.
Johnston’s system is great for Kris Letang who was magnificent in the loss but the Penguins only have one Kris Letang and is it a great system for the two centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin?
So far the answer is no.
A year and now one game into Johnston’s system, the system continues to be too fixated on the d-men activating on the rush and being primary shooting options when trailing the play.
A Ben Lovejoy should be the fourth or fifth shooting option, not the first or second. Rob Scuderi had the same amount of shot attempts as Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist vs the Stars.
That has the Penguins firing too many shots from the outside and that was the story last night. It wasn’t a difficult 37 save performance for Antti Niemi.
Until the Penguins start creating more offense through the middle of the ice, it’s going to be more of the same against quality teams.
MORE BUZZ
— Some may feel Sidney Crosby’s zero shot attempts are a cause of concern that he’s forcing the puck to Phil Kessel. That’s something not worth evaluating until 10-15 games down the road.
The positive with Kessel was the shot volume. six shots on goal, 13 shot attempts. One of the few Penguins who put himself in position for high quality shot attempts.
— The Olli Maatta – Ben Lovejoy No.2 pairing. Maatta was on the ice for 8 shot attempts at even strength, 19 against. Lovejoy on the ice for 7 shot attempts, 18 against. That pairing isn’t going to last. Have to find a way to maximize Maatta’s ability on the ice. Having Lovejoy with him is just going to be problematic.
— Against a good skating Stars team, Sergei Plotnikov struggled mightily in keeping up with the play and his decision making was a step slow with the puck. Forced the Penguins staff to put David Perron on Malkin’s wing as the game progressed. When facing quick teams, Plotnikov and Hornqvist are going to struggle to keep up with Malkin’s pace and tempo as evident last night.
That’s where Pascal Dupuis as an option was missed last night.
In a game where the Penguins trailed and Malkin needed more speed on his wings, a missed opportunity from the staff To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Crosby and Pouliot for Seth Jones and Forsberg.
When do the “what’s wrong with Crosby” stories start? Probably injured from the 2009 Cup run, you know when he couldn’t make it out for the 3rd period of game 7.
Pretty sure I could win a draw against Crosby. Getting off a shot on goal is really hard in today’s NHL. Who knew winning an ozone draw was so hard. Give me Toews any day of the week.
As I said this team will never win because they have no heart and adding Kessel is the cherry on top for a failure recipe in the long term and not to forget the worst D core of the nhl
I think we need a 3rd PP unit two don’t seem to be enough
Lol. Good one
Ya malkin is any better you clown. He gets paid to take dumb penalties
Yes. Malkin is any better, chunk fat.
He’s getting $6 million per SOG!
Sid!!
Few more losses and pens fans will stop going to consol. Although it won’t make it difference if the arena is empty or sold out because it’s a museum in any given night
Nice to see officiating in mid season form already. Not the reason for the lost but come on call the felonies.
Hey Yoda fleury sucks yet he faced 40 shots
Ahahaha typical malkin costly penalty when team needs him.
Team Geno
Trade malkin to sharks
And this will hit a nerve but if they honestly think that Letang, Maatta, Doumolin and to a lesser extent Cole and Clendening provide enough O,,,,,then you may have to go after a higher pedigree D with a rebuilding team with Poulliott as your chip
I think Jean Claude van Damme needs to make another movie in Pittsburgh but only this time consol museum blows up along with the bandwagons
The Pens best bet is to try and catch a reverse Despres deal where a team is willing to give away a player who could be a top 4. And that’s not gonna be easy. There are not many teams with a depth of NHL READY d men. Calgary and Anaheim. Are two
They’ve already done it twice in the last year with Cole and Clendening so it isn’t that tough.
PP looks muuuch. Better loaded up.
I smell a trade from now to end of November
I doubt it takes that long. When TJ Brodie heals
Sid is retarded.
The more we keep that bum the more his stocks will drop by the minute trade the Russian already
I agree Plot-ass sucks
Doumolin looks better than Maataa right now
Maatta is having a tough one
Dumo was great last night. Created a lot
Where is waldo? Oops I meant where is malkin? Can you guys imagine when the championships this spring will be in moscow and malkin will pull another vacation mode
Sam, you’re a fucking idiot. Sid is useless.
F’ing Lovejoy is useless.
Agreeeeeed
You’re right they shouldn’t have challenged….Jackass!
Hey gaydogg is same right pens roster only good on EA16 and NHL fantasy. Also same said few years ago when pens had iggy some of you were throwing Stanley Cup parade . And said team needs better defense to win championship I guess I am right again an after few years once again
Does Sid get credit for a shot if there’s a shootout.
I have a feeling your favorite player is TK
That cyotes goal was clearly offsides. Sharp move by pens to challenge.
That release is wicked.
that was worth watching
Big Ben is relieved Sid still plays.
Just for some clarity because obviously Maloni’s memory isn’t very good but the Pens powerplay has been in the top 10 in the league the last 4 years with 1 loaded up unit, I believe they were 10th, 1st, 2nd and 5th respectively. just d to make sure we were all clear on what the actual facts were.
How long do we have to witness the split pp go 0 for until this craptastic experiment ends?
Please throw more meaningless regular season stats at us jay.
As just watching an interview karlson Crosby and Stamkos all 3 said best place to play is bell center. Tough it was a bad place to play according to Stan an npl. Also karlson said best goalie is hank while crosby and Stamkos both said price. Once again according to Stan and npl price is not good and bishop is better. Why don’t you 2 clowns stop watching hockey and go sell some hot dogs
MeTV. Love it CB.
Even sprung for the antenna so I could the retro for MST3000
Bennett is a useless as a poop flavored Popsicle.
I am watching this instead of Svenghouli
Ok, I can be convinced there should be 1 pp unit but Crosby can’t be in it, ever. Most overrated player in professional sports.
At least they were smart enough to switch to the left side and let Kessel work off the half wall as opposed to Sid. Still a retarded move trying to use 2 units but at least there are signs that they are starting to realize it.
Trade this lazy Russian already he is still in vacation mode since last year
Sam, you watching NPL’s radio again?
More maddening than watch Sid save his first shot of the year for the playoffs is how inept he is on face offs.
Yoda you are right pens should trade fleury because it’s obvious he doesn’t deserve to play with bunch of AHL defensemans
Poor Matta he has battled cancer, season ending injury and now Lovejoy
At least some cancers are curable but lovejoy
This team is unwatchable. Johnston will be gone by Christmas.
Sutter had to go. Pens needed a third line center that can’t skate.
Where is the anti Sutter group? He was no Staal and Bonino is sure as hell no Sutter.
Did the Pens look into whether Bonino could skate before they traded for him?
I’m confused which team was supposed to be tanking for Austin Mattews? Luckily the Pens have their 2016 1st rounder protected.
Midget is sharp tonight ( I just jinxed him)
Smith is a fag
Kunitz blows
Powerplay looks good…lmfao
F’ing brilliant not loading up your first unit.
Yes. Let’s load up the first unit. It’s gotta work. After all look at the last few years.
Finally a right handed shot on the left circle wouldn’t make a difference?
But the pp looked si good in years past.
wow what a start
Canes are heavily out playing the red wings I didn’t expect that
Leafs losing again let’s see how long after their arrogant fan will chant fire babcock
Franson has been non-existent on the ice for the Leafs.
Why are Bennett and Perron playing their offwing on the same line?
Sam no parade till I schedule it.
Tonight pens beat a shit team and people here will throw a Stanley Cup parade
Sam, if I knew right now that this team wasn’t making the playoffs, I would probably not watch the season. I need some reassurance and tonight would be a good place to start.
DB sucks
One game
This bylsma team sucks wow nothing changed since he left pens
Obsess much?
On a side note, anyone not following the RIT analytics conference would be wise to do so. Really good stuff being discussed about improving the analytics which are behind other sports and making them more translatable to the average fan.
Since my opinion of Despres and his trade has become such a hot topic I thought I should take a few seconds to clear up some misconceptions being spread about what I said at the time and still maintain to this day. First, I never once said that it was a good trade or a bad trade or that the value was either good or bad, what I said at the time and is still true today is that it was an inconsequential trade of depth defenseman that had little effect on the current or future of the Pens. Secondly… Read more »
I voted this up because Jay has had that position from day one… eat a bag of dix Diego.
At least there still 1 person here that gets it.
You Despres fanboys are killing me.
Zack. I’ve been in the same position since Day 1. It’s not just that they trade Despres. He’s not Bobby Orr. It’s that it was a horrible return and no one understood it then and no one does now. If it was Despres for Prout. I get it. If it’s Despres for even a guy like McQuaid. I get it. But Lovejoy sucked when we had him the first time and he may be worse now. Just a horrible return. That’s it
Personally I feel moving Despres was a long term negative but there is also that factor of whether or not he wold have found his stride as a Penguin. I just hope we are not seeing a similar thing in Pouliot as the scenario feels familiar
I remember you specifically saying he sucks. He actually was working out here, unfortunately he had a moron for a coach as he was trying to break into the league, and last year he had the honor of lugging a boat anchor named Scuderi around the ice. No adverse effect on the Pens? Did you see the “free agent to be” Lovejoy last post season?
I don’t believe I ever used the word sucks unless it was in a sacrastic post to get King riled up, I was not a fan and still am not a fan but none of that has anything to do with my original post. Obviously if 2 different combinations of coach/GM didn’t like his game and didn’t want him in the lineup he wasn’t working out here regardless of how you have it worked out in your mind. As far as the effect, the would have gone no farther and would have played no better with Despres still here and… Read more »
Utter ******** Jaydogg. You said basically EVerthing you said you just didn’t say. So you either have Alzhiemer’s in which I feel bad for you,….or you are a guy who just can’t admit he’s wrong.
Actually your post lost all credibility when you said they are both depth defenseman. The Ducks signed him up at too 4 money and that’s what he has played since he got there..,,.meanwjile we should wave Lovejoy and are looking for a TOP 4 D man. Ho figure
Sutter got second line money… guess that makes him a legit 2nd line C. Bozak must be a decent top line guy… because ya know… GMs never overpay
Don’t use common sense Zero, that’s very frowned upon in these parts.
Yeah…. That’s a long winded way of saying “even though I was wrong, I’m not wrong”. Comical.
No it was a long clarification of the facts and correct information I have said from day 1 that many on here still don’t have the mental compacity to process.
What Anaheim has planned or he does in his time in Anaheim has absolutely no relevance to what he was or would have been in Pittsburgh. If you think this is the first time in NHL history a team has found a guy that didn’t fit in on his current team and felt he could fit better with there then I’ve lost all respect for your knowledge of the league and the game and I’ve always thought you were one of the more knowledgeable posters on here. As I said in my original post, everything I said and have been… Read more »
Stop typing.
Everyone and. I mean everyone questioned the trade from the pundits to the casual fans The guy that made it openly regrets it. But hey JAydogg didn’t mind it and says depth for depth. That says it all right there.
OH GOOD, Perron has decided he has to be better again… Guess he is really gonna make it happen… this time. This fucking guy, I keep falling for his shit but I am not sold this time. Guy recognizes his deficiency but does NOTHING to fix it. “I just stopped shooting” and then… he continues to not shoot the fucking puck! I also would argue he is pouting due to his 3rd/4th line demotion… you haven’t earned a top 6 spot you jerk off. Its been one game this year but when you include the preseason you look no different… Read more »
Good call on the pouting.
It’s hilarious people actually spend the time to “click on” a post’s thumbs up or down icon.
As opposed to composing a dozen and a half word post bitching about it?
I voted this up and posted about it. Suck it DiegoPittFan.
I remember telling Jaydogg that value of Despres’ extension would settle the argument on that trade. It did. GMJR got ripped.
Jay still won’t agree. Anaheim’s GM and coaching staff must be a poor judge of talent. Jay and Pappy know better.
It’s a bad deal, I liked Despres. But at the end of the day that blue line would still be a huge question mark. People make this trade out to be Naslund for Stojanov bad, news flash it’s not even in the ballpark.
Agree Balth but it was still a terrible deal
At the end of the day, Rutherford was the GM, but given how he’s publicly backed away from this deal and said that “he questioned it at the time”, it does sound like Guerin and Fitzgerald were leading the charge on this. Regardless, it was a horrible deal. Despres being around wouldn’t completely change the narrative on this blueline, but it’d be a one piece closer to respectability than what we have now.
I can agree with that. Guerin being the next man up for GM scares the shit out of me.
Jaydog works in a bar.
As what ? Dishwasher ?
What a huge mistake! Ben fucking lovejoy for Depres.
I liked how the local media praised that move. Hahaha!
@zero. Who the hell is oddball?
Poster from DKs site that shares your views in a lot of ways it seems
Despres signed to extension. Just threw up in my mouth.
Lovejoy is waaaay better. Hahaha! What a joke organization the pens have become v
Lovejoy fills a need for a RH shot and is very cerebral. Despres was totally expendable. Pens are flush with young D
81 more meaningless games to go. This team sucks!
Why do you even watch Pittsburgh sports?
It’s one game. Settle down ladies.
NHL teams that find themselves four points or more out of a playoff spot on November 1 almost never recover to make the postseason. It’s never too early to panic.
1 game into the season is too early to panic.
Saw a comment on DK’s site that I thought was pretty interesting and I hadn’t even noticed until reading it. Through the entire beginning portion of camp MJ’s focus was on setting up 1 stacked and using Sid in the rover role, then Sid gets asked about being moved off the half-wall and make a contrite comment about it and the very next day MJ split them into 2 units.
Go and read “oddball”s comments on that page… tell me it isnt yoda lol
Wow you have a lot of free time on your hands.
I would like to see Sprong with Malkin and Hornquist for 5 games to see if there is something there –
everyone would like that except for pens management. they hate young players. the older, the better as far as the pens are concerned. what a joke!
I would have liked to seen him used there at the end of the game when they were down and needed a spark but with the exception of not using him at all he was used exactly how he should be used, limited and protected minutes at even strength and moderate pp time.
Did anyone else notice that on the 1st ppg against Geno was on the ice killing and on the 2nd ppg against Sid was on the ice killing? Obviously 1 game is not a far sample size but is anyone surprised that the changes Maloni and Yoda advocated failed miserably in their first game? 0-3 for Maloni’s 2 pp units and 2-5 for Yoda’s let the stars kill penalties, I’m sure it won’t be that bad every game but I’m guaranteeing that if they continue to use 2 pp units this will be the 1st time in 5 years they… Read more »
hey jay, the D on the ice are more important than the forwards on the PK. the pens sent out scuderi and lovejoy! scuderi needs to retire immediately and lovejoy is a number 7 at best! got news for you, the PK is going to be a nightmare all season long with the pens sending those two out there.
All 4 players on the ice are equally important on the pk and what the forwards do drastically effects what the defense has to do. On the 1st pp goal Geno makes a half-assed attempt on Hemsky which allows Hemsky to build speed through the neutral zone and exploit Scuderi, if Geno does his job that play can be slowed or sealed off before Scuderi even becomes a factor. On the Benn’s goal Sid gets caught drifting outside the dots(a major no-no) which opens up the huge area of the ice that Seguin used and put Sid a step behind… Read more »
And I didn’t even bring up the waved off pp goal in which after taking the FO Sid drifted clear through to the far circle and completely abandoned his coverage side of the ice, it didn’t hurt them because Dallas took the shot but Sid left 2 guys wide open on the backend by over pursuing.
Cant wait to see where this team is after 10-15 games, hopefully it will reflect in a positive manner, if it doesnt, be very interesting to see if there are moves to change the team- non player related.
you guys do realize though the key point. all of this could be worked out, everything could be made perfect, and it won’t change the fact that the Pens have a goalie with ADHD.
I could totally say “you know, you guys do realize all of this could be worked out, everything could be made perfect, and it won’t change the fact that the highest salary on the team is invested in someone that’s no longer the best in the world, and disappears when the games matter as bad as Barry Bonds did.”
bonds had a solid world series.
you are a st.blurry lover
You’re a Crosby lover.
I know I am. Best Player in the world overall
Lol. You must have quit watching in 2010
LOL – Malkin plays like a woman – meanwhile, Sid looks like he’s finishing off the evening with a nice “couple’s skate.” You give retarded people a bad name.
okay stanch, 60 goals in 3 seasons is definitely an acceptable number for malkin… OKAY!!!
We’re talking about your boy Sid – whom you loveeeeee.
st.blurry lover
and for everyone who says i’m a crosby lover, F him too. how the hell can you play 22 mins of hockey and not even attempt a shot on goal? he is annoying too. the other teams could make all 5 players stand within 5 feet of kessel and sid would still try to thread the perfect pass through.
maybe malkin isn’t on the top unit because he plays like a woman. didn’t he only have 1 powerplay goal in the last 40 games last year? it was a horrific number. his ass needed traded 2 seasons ago. 50 goals in 2012 and 60 in the last 3 seasons. he is a joke. all of that skill and he doesn’t even go to the net. F him.
Two power play units is retarded.
I’m not being negative JayDogg. I liked a lot about the game last night. Enjoyable to watch. Btw – check out all the quotes from pens players about value and purpose of two PP units, you know, observations I made three seasons ago. I should be coaching this team.
By the way check out the quotes from the coaches about the value and purpose of keeping Scuderi on the roster. You have as much a chance that a player will bash a bad decision from the coach as you do a coach bashing his players. The simple fact that you think the players publicly supporting their coach means they like it says all you need to know about your opinions.
Well Penguin fans the puck and been dropped and we’re off with another season…..the Stars cross the Pens Blue line ….shot goal!
D you must be funny when you say johnston system is easy to defend while DB system was no diffrent to be harder to defend watched sabres game also last night and DB system was same when he was here and to predictable as well. Once again that clown relies on Talent and not his coaching strategy . Just because he is american the american media thinks he will be jack adams candidate this year. Must be the joke of the year .
All systems are predictable it’s how they are executed that matters. Everyone in the league knows Babcock’s system and how his teams want to play but I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t acknowledge his system as predictable.
As same said, “is anyone gonna eat that last twinkie…?”
where is your bf npl been a while he hasnt been here .maybe he realized its not a circus here and its a hockey site or maybe his playtime is over and its back to school season for him
Maybe he got tired or reading your lunacy.
as same said 61 will start with malkin but end up 3rd or 4th line as the season progress
A lot of people predicted he would be better fit out of the top 6 you fucking jackass
So Sid looks like ripe asshole, and we blame the goalie again. So good. The more things change, the more they stay the same!
I think its funny that all we have heard for years is that Sid needs an all-star winger to play with, then everyone gets mad when we get Kessel and Sid passes to him a bunch the first game haha. Yes Sid needs to shoot the puck more but I wouldn’t worry about it based on one game.
Actually I am laughing hardest at yodirt on this. As he bitched and moaned non-stop forever on the subject we get Sid the best possible winger we could for him and Sid shuts himself out. I know it’s just the one game but it is funny. When you consider all his crying about what went on last night he has kind of ignored that lol
I’m trying to remember the last time Sid was an actually a game breaker. I was on the “He hasn’t had a skilled winger since Hossa” wagon. Sid hasn’t looked dangerous crossing the blueline in years, he just looks predictable.
He looks that way because he is. He’s a nice “really good” center these days. Best in the world? No way.
Not everyone thought Sid needed an all-star wing or thought that getting him 1 was a good idea. Hornqvist/Perron were more than enough and adding depth at forward & D was the better move for the team success wise but they will definitely be fun to watch in the regular season.
Nothing like a good loss to make Yoda & Maloni the happiest Pens fans in the world.
Holy meltdown batman… Scuderi was awful. This was predictable and he needs to be replaced asap. Sid overpassed to Kessel, somewhat predictable but hopefully fixable. End of the day we have what 7 new faces? Gonna need a bit of an adjustment I am sure. There are definitely concerning elements notable in this game when you consider how juiced the O should be but Dallas is not a pushover and there are 81 more games.
Lets not ignore the simple fact that the Pens outshot the opposition because they controlled the play much of the game. The do need to work on offensive zone set up and execution of plays in scoring areas but we wanted a possession team and now we have one… back off the ledge please
Read DKs article on the game… a little less apocalyptic.
One thing is for sure… They did screw up not given Sprong more time as opposed to less. I would like to see the kid in the top 9. If Plotnikov does struggle it may be worth seeing what Sprong would look like with Geno despite it being his wrong wing
DKs article comes to the same conclusion, the defense is garbage and those players directly correlate to the pk. Then he covers up the bad luck with another mediocre goaltender having the game of his life against the Pens. They’re not going 0-82, but I’ll stick with my opinion this is going to be a rough season and that they will be battling for the 8th seed. That defense is not a cup contender by any means.
I found it a tad more level headed. Yes there are concerns but the reaction after one game against what should be a good team this year in their barn is a little much. Maybe its because the team looked as bad yesterday overall as they did at the end of last season but I still argue its too early to scream the sky is falling. That said… as much as I was hoping Perron would find his game, I am getting sick of waiting. His BS play on the 1st goal set the tone. If there is a market… Read more »
Everyone got what they wished for on the PP. Why would you want all of your top talent on your fist PP? All this talk about Kessel finally giving them a right handed shot on the left circle with Sid, Geno, Letang and Hornqvist parked in front of the net. Hope they enjoy wasting points to test our theories when they believe points don’t matter.
this team is so predictable it is hilarious. i told you last week that sprong would be a 4th liner! hahaha! ruin that kid too! he’ll be headed back to junior hockey in 2 weeks with his tail between his legs.
balthzazzar is right. st.blurry will always be st.blurry. however, if you had a time machine and brought back dominic hasek from 1997, it wouldn’t matter with those turds on the blue line. lovejoy and scuderi are really bad. cole is a dime a dozen. maata and letang are good but they have crappy partners right now so they are a waste. pens need to move perron and bennett so they can aquire 2 average defensemen. lovejoy and scuderi can’t be logging close to 20 mins per night. that is going to be the case and that is why the pens… Read more »
First game in and blaming MAF for the AHL constructed defense in front of him? They have one proven bonafide NHL defenseman in Letang. You can’t count Maatta just yet, as he’s had one NHL season under his belt. Then you have a bunch of 5-6 defensemen and players who should be in the AHL or out of the league. This club will have problems making the playoffs let alone compete for the cup. I’m just going to blame Kessel for this mess in the end though.
That defense gave up just 24 shots to a very good offensive team. Scuderi obviously shouldn’t be there, but let’s wait before we throw some of these guys in the trash. PK is where I saw the biggest troubles.
the PK was in trouble because scuderi and lovejoy are turds.
the stars had 24 shots because they were sitting on the lead a the 18:30 mark of the 1st period. they weren’t even pressing a little bit.
I respectfully disagree Mike. What my eyes witnessed last night is just a prelude to the sh1t show that defense will be long term. There are still 81 games left, but that 3-6 on d aren’t going to get better overnight especially Scuds and Loverjoy.
Quality of shots and not volume is what matters and it was evident last night. Shots don’t win games, goals do. You can get outshot 50-1 and still win the game 1-0 and I’ve seen it happen.
Nobody saw the Flower coming out and letting up a turd on the first shot. NOBODY
all hail st.blurry!
actually, i knew he was going to give up the 1st shot. always does. that’s because he has ADHD.
You and everybody else with a hockey pulse knew he would do that
It does suck when your goalie gives up a goal on the first shot he faces. Very stoppable puck but the Mental Midget and his inferior hockey instincts overplayed Hemsky.
all hail st.blurry!
I agree about Sprong. Early on you could see he was flying while PlotNob was a pilon.
in order to get ice for the pens, you have to own a red smoking jacket that you received from the 09 cup win. haha! amazing, the pens win the cup with kids, now they think old veterans are the way to go. what morons. sprong will be ruined soon enough.
Somehow I missed Hornqvist’s name on the Cup. For that matter I missed Kessel’s as well.