Game 28 vs. Canadiens - Thoughts from the Morning After

[IntangibleBeer]

• Another crazy, unpredictable roller-coaster of a game!
• Pens weren't ready to play at the puck drop and had an absolutely dreadful 1st period. At that point, the game had all the makings of a complete blow-out. Ned played well but was being shelled. EK was a turn-over machine, one of which led directly to the first Montreal goal. Despite 2 assists, he did not have a great game.
• Sidney Crosby stopped the bleeding, getting his first goal of the night after stealing the puck from Montreal's defense.
• 2nd period was much better as the Pens scored twice to even the game (Guentzel and Crosby). Sid and Gruden had impressive face off stats. Even Carter while below 50%, won some important duels.
• Pens killed off a 4-3 powerplay in the OT.
• After a nail-biting 12 round shoot-out (I figured the trainer would be the next shooter), Jansen Harkins secured the Pens victory, beating Montreal goal Montembeault with a snap shot.
• Given the start of the game, it was an improbable victory. But I'll take it!
• Ned got the helmet and deserved it.

[Admin]

• Yes, indeedly-doodly, Ned was fantastic in net!
• Congrats to Harkins for finally ending the shootout but I have to admit I was hoping Carter was going to end it for the laughs.
• Is there a reason they just don't have the Dads at every game?!

[Badger Bob]

I was hoping that they'd need Jarry as a shooter.

[Puck-Lurker]

• Rough 1st period for all, including Ned to a small extent. Looked like we'd get slaughtered by Habs.
• Ned shut the door after that disastrous period. Great goaltending to keep the Pens within distance.
• Crosby will carry this whole team on his back and Guentzel is right there with him.
• Defense looked awful at times.
• Puustinen is a pest on the forecheck, keep this guy up, please. Vinnie is also making a case for himself.
• Geno having a bad time of it, takes a bad penalty in OT.
• Harkins with a round 12 SO winner. What would the odds have been I wonder? Probably even longer odds than Carter scoring on the PP and PK in the same game against Yotes.

It was "just" Habs, who are near the bottom. Then again, so are we (and we remain so) and 2 points are 2 points.

[Pitts]

The shootout was the best part of the game. Period.

[IntangibleBeer]

I was hoping that they'd need Jarry as a shooter.

When Ned went down for a minute during the SO, the camera panned over to Jarry on the bench. He had that stupid grin on his face.

I'm thinking "DON'T put him in cold!"

And yeah, the Dads should be at every game.

I also think Sully should motivate the team by offering to buy them ice cream cones at Dairy Queen after every victory. Might help.

[largegarlic]

I thought last night was kind of a blueprint for how things were supposed to go when the Pens didn't have that much jump in their legs, especially early, which is inevitable with an older team.

Like others have said, I thought Nedjelkovic was shaky in the first but then was really good after. So, they got good goaltending to keep them afloat.

Then the PP and high-end skill guys (Crosby and Guentzel in particular) got them the goals they needed to get a point.

Then a random depth guy got them the 2nd point in the shootout.

Too often this season when they've been off their game a bit, goaltending let them down (especially early in the season), or the PP let them down (pretty much for the last month).

[BigMcK]

Do the past two games add proof that the coach has no impact on the roster or results, and it was the players who have figured out how to win?

Sullivan's system didn't change within two games.

[Daniel]

Do the past two games add proof that the coach has no impact on the roster or results, and it was the players who have figured out how to win?

Sullivan's system didn't change within two games.

I think the system works, just not for this aging roster. It’s like putting Carl Lewis into a race in the next Olympics. Sure he might start off fast but he won’t be able to sustain that speed when the competition is younger than him. What’s the saying, Father Time is undefeated?

This team is clearly not too old to play hockey and succeed, they’re too old to play hockey like it’s 2016 and succeed.

[Antonio]

Do the past two games add proof that the coach has no impact on the roster or results, and it was the players who have figured out how to win?

Sullivan's system didn't change within two games.

By that logic, unless a team goes 0-82, a coach should never be fired.

[Dynasty1970]

We were not exactly playing against any powerhouses these last couple of weeks. We didn’t dominate any teams either….really all season long with the exception of San Jose. We struggled to win these last two games even after scoring 2 PP goals. No, I would say that this is the same team that we have been watching over the last 6-7 years. Every-time we think we are turning a corner, we fall back into the sloppy crappy play. I think we need to FIRE THE ENTIRE STAFF still. I hate looking at Sully, I hate hearing his voice. This isn’t a playoff team right now. At this point I just want to see Crosby get his points.

[Badger Bob]

Do the past two games add proof that the coach has no impact on the roster or results, and it was the players who have figured out how to win?

Sullivan's system didn't change within two games.

By that logic, unless a team goes 0-82, a coach should never be fired.

You have to consider who they just won against.

The Coyotes who were on a eastern road trip playing 3 games in 4 days, including the Pens on the tail end of a back to back. The Coyotes had 28 points when they played and the Pens had 25. So not much different levels of success either. The Pens were coming off 3 days rest.

Montreal came into the game last night with 27 points as did the Pens, so two fairly closely matched teams in terms of success. The Pens were playing the second game of a back to back and it showed in the first period. And it took them to go to OT to get the second point.

Even a blind squirrel finds a couple nuts every once and a while. It also helps when he has easier nuts to crack. I don't think you can read much into the last two wins except that having PP success sure influenced both games. An element that has been missing for quite some time.

[FLPensFan]

Do the past two games add proof that the coach has no impact on the roster or results, and it was the players who have figured out how to win?

Sullivan's system didn't change within two games.

By that logic, unless a team goes 0-82, a coach should never be fired.

You have to consider who they just won against.

The Coyotes who were on a eastern road trip playing 3 games in 4 days, including the Pens on the tail end of a back to back. The Coyotes had 28 points when they played and the Pens had 25. So not much different levels of success either. The Pens were coming off 3 days rest.

Montreal came into the game last night with 27 points as did the Pens, so two fairly closely matched teams in terms of success. The Pens were playing the second game of a back to back and it showed in the first period. And it took them to go to OT to get the second point.

Even a blind squirrel finds a couple nuts every once and a while. It also helps when he has easier nuts to crack. I don't think you can read much into the last two wins except that having PP success sure influenced both games. An element that has been missing for quite some time.

I think the biggest problem with this team is consistency. Other than the 5 game winning streak, they haven't put together any other strong stretches of play.

When's the last time this team lost and you said "This was a loss where the team played very well for 3 periods, and simply lost to a better team. There weren't glaring mistakes made. The other team buried some very high quality, tough to stop shots."

Not sure if that's happened yet this year, honesty. And therein lies the problem. We won 2 games, the PP has been on fire now the last few games....and in 2 weeks, it's probably once again going to look like the team spends half the period clueless, giving up odd man breaks, and looking like they belong in the AHL.

It's been the story of the this year AND last year for sure.

[IntangibleBeer]

We were not exactly playing against any powerhouses these last couple of weeks. We didn’t dominate any teams either….really all season long with the exception of San Jose. We struggled to win these last two games even after scoring 2 PP goals. No, I would say that this is the same team that we have been watching over the last 6-7 years. Every-time we think we are turning a corner, we fall back into the sloppy crappy play. I think we need to FIRE THE ENTIRE STAFF still. I hate looking at Sully, I hate hearing his voice. This isn’t a playoff team right now. At this point I just want to see Crosby get his points.

I think you've got something there.

But probably the biggest reason to fire Sully was that sports coat he was wearing last night. Does Heywood Hale Broun know it's missing out of his closet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heywood_Hale_Broun

Broun had coats that would put Don Cherry to shame.