Pens vs Blackhawks (10/16/21)

[Pabst]

Getting this in early, as I'll be out most of today. No word on the status of Rust or Crosby, so take the lines with a grain of salt:

Jake Guentzel - Jeff Carter - Bryan Rust (?)
Jason Zucker - Evan Rodrigues - Kasperi Kapanen
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn
Dominik Simon - Brian Boyle - Sam Lafferty

Brian Dumoulin / Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson / John Marino
Mark Friedman / Chad Ruhwedel

Tristan Jarry


Someone in Chicago must have pissed off the NHL schedulers, as they start the season with 3 road games in 4 days (I'm not complaining):
Dominik Kubalik — Jonathan Toews — Philipp Kurashev
Alex Debrincat — Tyler Johnson — Patrick Kane
Henrik Borgstrom — Kirby Dach — Brandon Hagel
Jujhar Khaira — Adam Gaudette — Mackenzie Entwistle

Calvin de Haan / Seth Jones
Jake McCabe / Connor Murphy
Riley Stillman / Erik Gustafsson

Marc-Andre Fleury

Flower makes his return to Pittsburgh in the Pens home opener, so that's nice.
The Hawks looked like absolute shit in their opener vs Colorado. Didn't watch last night, but losing to NJ can't be a good feeling.

Honestly, I was surprised to see so many pundits picking Chicago to do well this upcoming season. Sure they get Toews and Dach returning, but that defense is still a sieve, and I'm not a big fan of that bottom 6. Johnson hasn't been good through two games. My negativity could be a byproduct of living amongst Blues fans, so who knows.

If the Pens can keep playing the way they did vs Tampa & Florida, the should be able to take this one. LGP!

[fractalsteel]

Rust and Crosby did not skate with the team this morning.


Going back to 2014 the Pens are 2-10 against the Hawks including a few epic beatdowns.
The worst was the outdoor game but the honor for one of the most embarrassing moments in franchise history came in that game and fell upon one Brooks Orpik who was trying to get into position to fend off Toews.
Toews made two quick moves, left Dickpik in the ice shavings and scored. It was so bad that Dickpik should have been sat down for the rest of the game.

It will be nice to see the reception that Fleury gets tonight.

Hopefully this group continues to surprise and comes away with 2 points tonight.

[fractalsteel]

That was fast
1-0

[fractalsteel]

Flurry might get pulled before his tribute
4-0

[fractalsteel]

5-1 in a period the Hawks dominated.

[Orangesteel]

We’ve sucked against the Blackhawks so that was very cool to see.

Love the young dudes stepping up early.

[Pabst]

Looks like I won't be getting an NHL Network games this season

Good to see Zucker get on the scoreboard.

Chicago has been absolutely dominated out of the gate in 2 of their first 3 games.

[fractalsteel]

Looks like I won't be getting an NHL Network games this season

Good to see Zucker get on the scoreboard.

Chicago has been absolutely dominated out of the gate in 2 of their first 3 games.

Are you saying the Hawks were dominated last night?
I might disagree.

The Pens got off to a great start on the first rush with a fluky goal. From that point Fleury looked a bit spooked and made a terrible play behind his nets minutes later that led to an embarrassing goal.
The Hawks were not ready to play in the first and they left their goalie out to dry and you saw the results.
In the second period it was a much different period of hockey. The Hawks were the better team, much better but the Birdies got bailed out by Jarry a few times and some good luck.

In the third the Pens pretty much shut things down but I wouldn't come close to saying that Chicago was dominated.

Very good victory and this team so far isn't really doing much of anything to beat themselves.

Zucker has been very aggressive so far this year and hit another post last night.


When they introduced the team I was surprised to see Malkin there because the word was that he wasn't around the team much this Summer or pre season.
He looked good striding out onto the ice.

[Pabst]

Are you saying the Hawks were dominated last night?
I might disagree.

The Pens got off to a great start on the first rush with a fluky goal. From that point Fleury looked a bit spooked and made a terrible play behind his nets minutes later that led to an embarrassing goal.
The Hawks were not ready to play in the first and they left their goalie out to dry and you saw the results.
In the second period it was a much different period of hockey. The Hawks were the better team, much better but the Birdies got bailed out by Jarry a few times and some good luck.

In the third the Pens pretty much shut things down but I wouldn't come close to saying that Chicago was dominated.

Very good victory and this team so far isn't really doing much of anything to beat themselves.

Zucker has been very aggressive so far this year and hit another post last night.


When they introduced the team I was surprised to see Malkin there because the word was that he wasn't around the team much this Summer or pre season.
He looked good striding out onto the ice.

To clarify. Dominated out of the gate = dominated in the first period.

Colorado scored 3 goals in the first 10 minutes. NJ scored in 17 seconds. The Pens scored 15 seconds in, and dominated shots in the 1st.

Here's a quip from a Chicago site;

2. The Blackhawks generated five shot attempts, three shots on goal and two scoring chances in the first period, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Penguins had 24 shot attempts, 13 shots on goal and 15 scoring chances; three of those scoring chances came on the power play.

3. In three first periods this season, the Blackhawks have been outscored 8-1 and outshot 38-17. It's not hard to see where the concerns are so far.

I hear you on the 2nd period (again, couldn't watch), but the Hawks have dug themselves into an early hole in each game they've played this season. That's a problem, and I'm not complaining

[fractalsteel]

Pabst you are right.
Big reading whiff on my part.