Pens vs Isles, Game Six

[Orangesteel]

This team was soft as baby shit.

95% of this roster I don’t care about but I do want Carter back.

[Orangesteel]

And Trotz OWNS Sullivan again.

[El Kabong]

Oh, well, at least we can root for the Bucs....er...nevermind.

[Rod & Wire Mill]

At least they went down swinging. Should have pulled Jarry and just gone empty net early. He was gawdaful. The kid couldn’t have been worse

[fractalsteel]

Pens did not lose 3 straight during the regular season, yet they did in the post season.

Hextal has his work cut out for him.

[Louis Lipps Service]

Man, can't help but feel that this team deserved so much better than to get derailed by bad goaltending.

This wasn't like the past few years where it felt like the pieces weren't really fitting together, or we had albatrosses on the roster.

I really liked the makeup of the team. They were dynamic. They were fast. They were fun. And they really played well together. To get as many wins as they did playing ONLY teams from the toughest division in hockey, with all of the injuries they had....they had the makings of something special.

But they just couldn't get past below average goaltending.

[MWS71]

Man, can't help but feel that this team deserved so much better than to get derailed by bad goaltending.

This wasn't like the past few years where it felt like the pieces weren't really fitting together, or we had albatrosses on the roster.

I really liked the makeup of the team. They were dynamic. They were fast. They were fun. And they really played well together. To get as many wins as they did playing ONLY teams from the toughest division in hockey, with all of the injuries they had....they had the makings of something special.

But they just couldn't get past below average goaltending.

Bingo, Louis. They may have won with even below average goaltending. We got poor or worse 3 out of 6 games.

Off-season is v simple for me - get a Tomas Vokoun type and keep Jarry on a tight leash.

[stillthere]

This team gives away momentum more than any team I can think of.

[fractalsteel]

Man, can't help but feel that this team deserved so much better than to get derailed by bad goaltending.

This wasn't like the past few years where it felt like the pieces weren't really fitting together, or we had albatrosses on the roster.

I really liked the makeup of the team. They were dynamic. They were fast. They were fun. And they really played well together. To get as many wins as they did playing ONLY teams from the toughest division in hockey, with all of the injuries they had....they had the makings of something special.

But they just couldn't get past below average goaltending.

Bingo, Louis. They may have won with even below average goaltending. We got poor or worse 3 out of 6 games.

Off-season is v simple for me - get a Tomas Vokoun type and keep Jarry on a tight leash.

If the root problem is the tender and the HC will not make a change are there not more problems then in the goal?

[alancac98]

The forwards on this team are fast, but also too small. When the playoffs come, the ice gets sloppy which negates speed. So, a bigger and more physical team can pound on you all series as the refs also swallow the whistle. We don't even have a big defenseman to move guys out of the crease! Our top 6 was basically completely shut down, particularly our 1st line as Sullivan didn't adjust to the Isle's 4th line who beat the shit our of the tiny tikes Guentzel, Rust and Crosby! Hex needs to inject youth and anger into this lineup. We need some big bodies who will make other teams pay the price for entering our zone. I would love someone with Tanev's tenacity but in a larger 6'4 215lb frame! I know I'm dreaming. We actually have guys like that riding the pine who actually stepped in during the year and did quite well like Zahorna and Angello, even Lafferty!

[Orangesteel]

And this is why I was very meh about playing the Islanders in the first round. Trotz has cracked the Sullivan code. It’s not even fair anymore; he dominates him.

This team wasn’t winning shit anyways. I’ve watched almost every playoff game and we were bottom tier in terms of playoff squads. And probably the worst goalie in the entire dance.

[MWS71]

Man, can't help but feel that this team deserved so much better than to get derailed by bad goaltending.

This wasn't like the past few years where it felt like the pieces weren't really fitting together, or we had albatrosses on the roster.

I really liked the makeup of the team. They were dynamic. They were fast. They were fun. And they really played well together. To get as many wins as they did playing ONLY teams from the toughest division in hockey, with all of the injuries they had....they had the makings of something special.

But they just couldn't get past below average goaltending.

Bingo, Louis. They may have won with even below average goaltending. We got poor or worse 3 out of 6 games.

Off-season is v simple for me - get a Tomas Vokoun type and keep Jarry on a tight leash.

If the root problem is the tender and the HC will not make a change are there not more problems then in the goal?

I would have pulled Jarry after the second goal. That rebound was atrocious. Keeping him in the game wasn’t the right choice because he was the worst Penguin on the ice, and (from my perspective) the reason they lost the game and the series.

That said, I don’t think hesitancy to play the backup’s backup, a 28 year old career minor leaguer, in an elimination game on the road is reason enough to fire the coach.

This team is built around 3 aging players. They don’t dominate games the way they used to, especially in the playoffs. Just go YouTube something from the 09 cup run. It’s jarring how explosive Sid and Geno were back then. They’re not those guys any more.

But...so what they’re old? They’re still good as hell! We lost to Detroit’s aging Datsyuk and Zettergber way back when right?

Crosby was a borderline MVP candidate this year, and Geno was last year (and I thought he was the best player on the ice tonight). Two point per game centers and a defensemen capable of controlling the majority of shot attempts for close to 30 minutes a night is plenty good enough to contend for championships, and all three are still playing very good hockey for Sullivan.

They’re also all at extremely reasonable cap numbers. If it was up to me, 71/58 would sign extensions this off-season that expire when Sid’s deal does. If they could shave 1MM or 500k off each guys number, great, but that’s probably easier than it sounds.

I’d personally let 87 71 58 play together as long as they’d like - if it was 2045 and they thought they could win a chip together as AARP members I’d believe them, because I’ve loved watching them for the last decade plus and I don’t want it to be over. But I really don’t think we’re at that point yet, and I don’t see any way this team is better next year with one of those guys playing elsewhere. And since they’re still playing at a high level for the coach, he can stay too.

[Louis Lipps Service]

I would have pulled Jarry after the second goal. That rebound was atrocious. Keeping him in the game wasn’t the right choice because he was the worst Penguin on the ice, and (from my perspective) the reason they lost the game and the series.

I'm not attempting to defend Jarry, as he was horrible most of the series, but the goal you're talking about was actually deflected by Crosby before it got to him. They showed a different angle during the intermission that showed it much better. Jarry fought it off the best he could and just got a bad bounce on it.

The rest of the game...criticize away!

[Louis Lipps Service]

The forwards on this team are fast, but also too small. When the playoffs come, the ice gets sloppy which negates speed. So, a bigger and more physical team can pound on you all series as the refs also swallow the whistle. We don't even have a big defenseman to move guys out of the crease! Our top 6 was basically completely shut down, particularly our 1st line as Sullivan didn't adjust to the Isle's 4th line who beat the shit our of the tiny tikes Guentzel, Rust and Crosby! Hex needs to inject youth and anger into this lineup. We need some big bodies who will make other teams pay the price for entering our zone. I would love someone with Tanev's tenacity but in a larger 6'4 215lb frame! I know I'm dreaming. We actually have guys like that riding the pine who actually stepped in during the year and did quite well like Zahorna and Angello, even Lafferty!

I'll agree that having big guys who are also fast and skilled is definitely more optimal (I mean, who wouldn't), but I'm not 100% sold that this team couldn't have made it to the finals with better goaltending.

I think it's also important to put this series in the scope of how our series against Trotz-led teams have gone in the past. If you consider that, we actually put a good amount of pucks into the net (averaging 2.6 goals per game. Not stellar by any means, but without checking the numbers, that feels like a pretty big improvement from when we seemingly lost every game against his teams 2-1).

We obviously had some breakdowns in this last game when the wheels fell off, but this year's team played much better defensively. We didn't have the constant breakdowns that have haunted us over the past 2+ years. Which I think is why Jarry's bad play got highlighted so much. If you take away just half of Jarry's bad goals in this series, we're all sitting here talking about how well the Pens are shutting the islanders down this series.

That's not to say I think any series going forward would have been a gimme. Boston certainly would have been tough. But I think we would have had a good chance with decent goaltending.

[Ice]

After overcoming injuries to 75% of the team, and rolling into the playoffs with only one, it's that one that did us in. Unbelievable, except, at that position, it's not just believable but predictable.

[bradshaw2ben]

The forwards on this team are fast, but also too small. When the playoffs come, the ice gets sloppy which negates speed. So, a bigger and more physical team can pound on you all series as the refs also swallow the whistle. We don't even have a big defenseman to move guys out of the crease! Our top 6 was basically completely shut down, particularly our 1st line as Sullivan didn't adjust to the Isle's 4th line who beat the shit our of the tiny tikes Guentzel, Rust and Crosby! Hex needs to inject youth and anger into this lineup. We need some big bodies who will make other teams pay the price for entering our zone. I would love someone with Tanev's tenacity but in a larger 6'4 215lb frame! I know I'm dreaming. We actually have guys like that riding the pine who actually stepped in during the year and did quite well like Zahorna and Angello, even Lafferty!

“The ice gets choppy” the underdog team is allowed to obstruct, hold, interfere, slash, Cross-check and otherwise rough up and or impede the speedy skill guys. If the Pens had a really good goaltender and were the underdog, maybe they’d get some of that freedom to totally bring what should be an uneven matchup all the way down to a pick em game dependent on goaltending. The best thing the Pens could do next year is get a top flight goalie and a close second is to finish in the last playoff spot.