Pens vs Rangers
- Thread starter psu00
- Start date
Going to be hard to beat Rangers three in a row. Too bad we either let or traded away all of our physical defensemen. I think Johnston deserves another year, but Rutherford has made a mess. Why can't the Pens score in the playoffs?
They are just not a very good hockey team right now. I agree on Rutherford. He needs to go. Even if he does, I think there are some lean years ahead.
If you took away the top three defenseman (that also happen to be the best puck movers) from any team and throw in a star center playing at a fraction of his health, they're going to struggle scoring goals. I really can't find much fault for how the Pens have performed through 4 games. This series could be any combo of 3-1, 2-2 or 4-0 for either team...and given the Pens' depth issues due to those injuries, I think this is quite surprising. You can't have D that would traditionally be 5th or 6th on the chart logging top minutes as much as these guys are....Martin is the only real top 4 D playing right now and even he is seeing way too many minutes.
I get that they have 3 of top 4 defensemen out, but they couldn't score against Rangers last year and Bruins the year before. There is still enough talent on the top 2 lines to produce more goals than they have. The issue for me is that both goals came on jams around the net. Pittsburgh does not have a defenseman that puts fear into forwards and can knock them on their butt.
Same old Pens in the playoffs, regardless of their storyline this time (injuries, not playing well late in the season, yada, yada).....
Woulda, coulda, shoulda in each game, all were winnable and they simply can't finish. They're likely done next game in New York.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda in each game, all were winnable and they simply can't finish. They're likely done next game in New York.
Criticisms of the past are fair but I'm just looking at this year and how this particular team is constructed. Can't really argue with the performance of the top line (unlike years past) - Sid/Hornqvist/Kunitz are by far the most productive unit from either team with 5 goals between them. Problem comes when Vigneault knows full well that Malkin is a shadow of himself so he does not need to waste much effort defending him and can throw all of his bullets at shutting down 87s line. This is a bit of a different situation than the ones they've faced the past few years.
As for the blue line, it is what is is right now. There are guys playing admirably but simply seeing more time than their talent should dictate but the Pens have no choice. Throw Letang, Maata and Ehrhoff in and this is a very different series right now (particularly given what 58 could do for the PP in place of Martin)
I'm hoping for a Rangers/Isles series in the next round. That would be even more emotional than most playoff series. No dog in the fight for me. Just fun watching. I'm also hoping for Montreal/TB, that should be good. And, St. Louis/Chicago is usally a war. Not a great first round around the league. But, I think the 2nd round looks promising.
Maxi-Pad Lapierre up to his old antics. Once a Hab, always a Hab.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...--is-completely-devious--video-135319973.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...--is-completely-devious--video-135319973.html
I think the first round has been good, with only one sweep. Detroit is talking upset; St. Louis responding to pressure; Cap/Isles looks like a 7 game series.
