Penguins/NHL
BIG DROP OFF NOT LIKELY WITH FLEURY INJURY
The concussion to Marc Andre Fleury just adds to the long list of injuries to core players that continues for the Penguins’ year in and year out.
Fleury will be re-evaluated Monday, the Penguins have no clue at this point how long he will be out.
Just imagine if the Penguins didn’t have the luxury of having the NHL’s best goaltending prospect in Matt Murray and were turning the goaltending situation over to Jeff Zatkoff right now.
That would be crippling but that’s not the case.
Murray while inexperienced, is capable of providing little to no drop off as long as the Penguins commitment from the forwards playing their own end remains near the same level.
If Fleury is out for the start of the post-season which begins April 13, there will be a huge unknown of how Murray handles the pressure of the post-season but it’s not like Penguins will be getting 29th/30th ranked type goaltending and are turning things over to a Mike Condon or Jeff Zatkoff. They’ll be in position to stay competitive whether they face the Rangers or another opponent.
PRODUCTION WITHOUT MALKIN OFF THE CHARTS
The Pittsburgh Penguins have won nine out of 10 games during the latest stretch of games Evgeni Malkin has missed and the numbers are off the charts of how well they have played without the Penguins’ star center.
With Evgeni Malkin in the lineup this season, the Penguins are just 30-20-7, averaging 2.72 goals for and 2.98 goals against. That is a 96 points pace over 82 games.
Since the Penguins season can be looked at as two different seasons with the coaching change, the Penguins played around .500 hockey with Malkin in the lineup under both coaches.
Under Mike Johnston with Malkin in the lineup, Pittsburgh was 15-10-3. Under Mike Sullivan with Malkin in the lineup, Pittsburgh is 15-10-4.
Here is the Penguins record this season without Evgeni Malkin (All games with Mike Sullivan behind the bench):
14-5-1 | 3.45 Goals Per Game | 2.65 Goals/Against
That is nearly a quarter of the season.
While not surprising, but the great success of Penguins attacking north-south game they’re playing without Malkin has started some talk in small circles from pundits that Malkin needs to adjust his east-west style of play in this system once he returns this season or next.
For that crowd, keep this in mind.
The Penguins were averaging 3.1 goals per game with Malkin in the lineup under Sullivan and Malkin had 14 goals, 18 assists in 29 games. It’s not 3.45 goals per game like the Penguins have without Malkin in the lineup but it’s not like they’ve been around 2.5 G/G with him.
The discussion of moving Malkin in the summer To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
We will see how this fairs when teams clog the neutral zone and clutch and grab without malkin in 10 days, bet the gpg avg goes down
11-1 without the Russian.
Same knew the Russian is a fraud they need to trade him before he is 32 the more they keep him more his value drops don’t know how he still has high values since he hasn’t been impressive since 09
He hasn’t been impressive since 09. Because idiot Canadians think “impressive” equates to Wendel Clark.
the more i think about this, i’m calling BS. st.blurry isn’t hurt. they are giving him a week off. he’s at home chillin.
They should. They abused him enough over the years. Now that they finally have a backup they should take advantage making him rest
That makes 3 of us that think this is time off for Fleury, and that’s a good thing. Letang should also be sat the rest of the regular season.
Magic # for the 2 seed down to 7!
Fleury was sharp today. He clearly will be the difference if they go all the way.
Snark is the wit for idiots and I couldn’t think of a better word to describe you.
there will be zero drop off with st.blurry out of the lineup
Hope you’re right… We all know Murray is gonna be a good one. Is he ready?
Is he ready to play nightly in a league where everyone was once the best player on their AHL team? I’m hopeful but I don’t discount the fact that having Zatkoff instead of MAF is a fucken significant downgrade no matter how you wanna spin it
I hope he plays lights out and increases his trade value!
In Phil We Trust!
Kessel’s shot power
Typical fight with a Frenchy
“Some talk in small circles from pundits” lmao. Reminds me of a baseball stat.
“His batting average for balls in play when facing left handed hitters in away day games on kentucky bluegrass fields during the month of June when the temperature is over 90 degrees is .291”
Both mean the same thing: nothing.
Goals Against in 10 game stretches under Sullivan:
2.6
2.7
3.1
2.2
1.9 (9 games)
Is it coincidence that Ian Cole has played the last 20 games since his month-long stay in hockey purgatory?
Here are the average goals for for the Pens in every 10-game stretch under Sullivan, starting with the earliest. See if you notice anything:
2.4
3.0
3.3
3.4
4 (9 games)
Any chance this team could just be improving the more they play in “Sully’s” system? Dumb article, but no surprise.
This^
With Malkin on the team the totals are X… without him, but only in the games where we see significant improvement under Sullivan the numbers are Y. Therefore, we deDEUCE that Malkin is holding the team back? This is the record without under MJ… and here is the record under Sullivan, you know, early, while the team was adjusting to the new style…while there was a ton of work to do. This is fucking awful click baity article bullshit that serves one poster on the board. Congrats, this is a sam level stupid article.
Last summer I said it another 2 years and Russian is gone they were thinking to trade him and this Mario selling the team and kessel acquisition delayed his departure. But this summer or next he should be gone. Wish pens traded him last summer to oilers for McDavid before he was drafted. Along with bonino and Bennett. Pens were only team that had the tools to get that first overall pick and they didn’t
#SamKnew.
In really like this article D finally some people starting to see about malkin and trade is a must. If only the average bandwagon fans realized
10 -1 since he last went down. Trade the Russian
Gotta love it. Ten years of Malkin carrying this team, he’s out for a stretch while the team is playingwell and all of the sudden he’s an “east west” player that doesnt fit the system.
Trade Malkin for Kessel
Kesselmania LXXXI
Fatsomania. Xtra Xtra Large
Wait your turn.