Game 2: Will Penguins make the obvious adjustments or stand pat?
Anything out of a coaches mouth should be taken for a grain of salt at playoff time but Mike Sullivan at least publicly on Sunday sounded like an head coach who was pretty pleased with his clubs’ performance in Game 1, a 3-2 overtime loss to the underdog Montreal Canadiens.
Multiple sources close to the situation say what Sullivan put out to the media on Sunday has also been the general feeling inside the room since Game 1’s OT loss.
As expected, there will be no changes in goal tonight for Game 2. Matt Murray was always going to have least a two game window and word in the organization is the coaches feel Murray is on the cusp of finding his game as the coaches have been very encouraged with the strides Murray’s taken from the exhibition game vs the Flyers to Game 1.
The bigger question entering Game 2 was going to be what line changes and or personnel changes are made, if any at all.
The Penguins have a faster lineup than Montreal, but it’s more of a group that is quicker with the puck on their stick than it is without the puck. This group still doesn’t play with the speedy puck pursuit game in all three zones that made then so hard to beat four out of seven games during the back-to-back title runs.
One former NHL assistant coach [hide] who watched the game from afar like many of us, told me Sunday that caught his attention the most. Pittsburgh is on a different level [than Montreal] from a speed aspect when they’re possessing the puck and attacking through the neutral zone, but Montreal after the first period was able to ‘system it up’ similar to what the Islanders did to the Penguins last spring. The Habs were the faster/more efficient team in pursuing the puck, just making it hard on the Penguins to get to those high danger areas and the Canadiens did an effective job in countering the Penguins in transition because of it.
This is why a lineup change to inserting Sam Lafferty who had a great camp or Evan Rodriguez has been seen as an obvious move to make in punching back with some young legs who can track the puck with more explosiveness.
Whether the coaching staff is ready to go there remains to be seen. Many will bring up Patrick Marleau whose now nine game sample with the Penguins has been very poor as Marleau would be the ideal option to get some younger legs in there. Would the Penguins go this route after one game? Word yesterday is that it would be a surprise to many inside the organization. [/hide]
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I’m not sure why Evan Rodriquez who had a great camp isn’t inserted to play on the 4th line. He has .speed and a god shot so Sullivan ???
ZAR blowing Sullivan
That must be it…….he is an ok checker but wow zero offense…
Team can’t score and ZAR getting a regular shift. 3-4 lines are so underwhelming.
Reaves took a knee on the national anthem. Npl must be proud of his BLM movement
So did Vegas’ starting goalie, Robin Lehner.
We and they should be happy hockey is back yet they still push that BLM agenda in times like these. Thanks to George Soros that scum bag that funded 33m for this movement. I bet npl gets a paycheck from it too
I can’t wait until tomorrow’s what we learned article.
D worked hard for this one so he earned another month off for the next article
Good call. We may never know what we learned then.
Lol back to quarantine mode for him I guess
I wonder if he wears his mask when he sits behind his computer typing this articles
Spoilers are up 2-0
2 goals by mcdavid
2-1
At least penguins wont be swept imagine last year and this year if they got swept sully would’ve been canned
Lost the last 7 playoff games. He should be canned if they got swept this year. Price played good again.
MM won thanks to the team once again he can’t steal games on his own.
Matt Murray was solid in game one and solid in game two and that’s what we need.(give him some credit average year he has stepped up) I’m still thinking he is moved this summer because he will want $6 million plus on this upcoming deal. Tristan Jarry’ stats were better and he was an all star this year. If the stats are even Murrays leaving. .A problem to deal with later in the off season right now all systems go Murray
Nice win tonight. Played a much better game. Montreal won’t go away easy. Got to keep bringing it.
If they don’t figure out the PP they won’t go far. Hopefully this is MM hitting one of his streaks
Agreed! Tonight at least they were shooting more on the power play and a lot of mad scrambles in front of Carey Pricerice which didn’t happen much in game 1… baby steps still 1 for 12 uuuggghhhh
Agree 100% keep the foot on the gas….
Can sheary score on an empty net? Lol
He will hit the post…. I must say two terrific assists tonight…
The PP is utter shit! Recchi was a great player but can run a Power Play unit for shit.
Murray was much better so far tonight.
Sheary had a much better game.
He needs to go!
Wow… Sheary did something!!!
Now if the 3rd line could click. They had better moments so far this evening
Why in gods creation don’t they move Brandon Tanev to the third line? He has speed, he is a pesky forechecker, and has a good shot. Remove Marleau from the line up, move Tanev to the third line, and insert Rodriquez to the 4th line…he has a good shot
Tanev is locked in! Move him up to the first line!
Brandon Tanev could play 3rd line and you have two speedsters in him and Mccann. I think Tanev would be great on Crosby’s line adding speed, forechecking to get the puck, and he has a shot that can score.. Put Sheary with ZAR and Blueger..
I agree with you sadly….
If this team is having hard time vs a ahl team like the habs. No way they have a chance to win the cup or go far in this playoffs specially with fraud murray in net
Sadly, I agree with you. They look better then the other night but that is not saying much. Recchi is not a good PP coach. They need a new voice on the bench. It is beyond predictable.
Reminds me of 2010. When penguins were too predictable vs halak with no secondary chances. At least tonight they had a few but still habs is a very weak team specially the defense even their top lines they are not elite level like pens
Sam you bumbling bag of chips Murray was much better tonight so give him some credit .He was good in game one stopping several 2 on 1’s and shorthanded opportunities with Kris leturnover out there..be fair bro.. I don’t have the Penguins winning the Cup tis year but it would be nice to get out of the first round.!!
“Sam you bumbling bag of chips” hahahaha
Another horrible PP!
They said SH!T!!!
Oh well, Sheary does not “have” covid.
I’m sure it wasn’t for a lack of looking.
That is mean bro you shouldn’t wish co=vid on anybody…
i’m saying sullivan sticks with the same linup. the pens will lose 2-1 or 3-2 tonight. they’ll adjust next game, but by that time the series will be over.
I had a dream the Pens were up 2-0, then down 3-2 then the score was 4-4.. No idea who won.
Sounds more like a nightmare..
Good article D. I agree with you. Bench Sheary, insert Lafferty and move Hornqvist up to the 2nd line to start. Go with Sid, Jake and Zucker on the 1st line. Hornqvist plays better with Geno than Sid at this point. Murray needs to be at his very best tonight. We go down 0-2 maybe a tough climb to beat Price three in a row if he’s in a zone.
This team has no urgency in it’s core. If they lose tonight, most players will just mail it in during game 3. Everyone over looked Montreal and Chicago which was/is stupid. When your are in a tournament, (that by all logic, you should not be in) with absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain, that is when you are the most dangerous.
speaking of being on a short leash, did anyone else notice that your beloved hero and saint isn’t starting out in vegas?? and i loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it!
Saw that. I thought for sure Fleury would start. Surprising to me.
I am guessing they want to see what they have in Lehner and see of he is their future. They are in the Round Robin, they can lose all their games and it will mean nothing. Just reseeding for them. All those games are tune up games.
I thought they were playing for position?
They are but does it really matter the way this playoff system is set up? I would rather fine tune and lose a seeding then get knocked out of the playoffs even though you were supposed to be in already.
MM better be on a short, short leash. Sit Marleau (no idea why they went after him to begin with), insert Lafferty. Try Tanev and/or Zucker Sid’s line and tell Sheary he tested positive for Covid.
This is a must win game. If they do not play with any sense of urgency then the DNA of this team must be altered in the off season.
Tell Sheary he has Covid! Priceless!
Yes, yes and yes
Murray better be able to make a save without being fully reliant on his D to make the looks as bad as Montreal had last game.
I wish this team had another option for Sheary! What a stupid fucken trade
murray gave up 2 goals in regulation. that’s an acceptable game.
Murray was heavily insulated last game… HEAVILY! He was again tonight but had to come up bigger. That OT goal Saturday was the only good look Montreal had after the first and Murray couldn’t make the save.
He’s no Price but has to elevate his game… something he’s struggled to do since 2018. He was solid tonight