VEGAS @ PENS - GAME 3 GDT

Postby **MR25** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:50 am

Nah. Jack Johnson is still a thing. He really brought that pairing down tonight.
Nah, he is the complement that Schultz needs. Sure he had one bad play on the second goal but he was solid otherwise.

Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson tonight:

6 shot attempts for
25 against

They got buried. That pairing did not work out tonight. Score effects play a role for sure, but it was basically bad from start to finish.

Postby **Gaucho** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:55 am

5 years.

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:56 am

Nah. Jack Johnson is still a thing. He really brought that pairing down tonight.
Nah, he is the complement that Schultz needs. Sure he had one bad play on the second goal but he was solid otherwise.

Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson tonight:

6 shot attempts for
25 against

They got buried. That pairing did not work out tonight. Score effects play a role for sure, but it was basically bad from start to finish.

Yikes, to be fair I had some whiskey during the game so I didn't have the best perception.

Postby **Gaucho** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 8:03 am

I frankly don't see what the coaches see in him. If anything, he looks worse than I feared.

Postby **grunthy** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 8:11 am

Just move him to wing....

Postby **Morkle** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 8:31 am

That Johnson signing was awful, and they're not going to bench him this early. He's at best a third pairing defensemen, but I wouldn't want him and Oleksiak paired together.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 8:58 am

JMFJ has been as advertised (by me) the last two games certainly...same old mistakes that had me label him "a power forward playing defense" for the last 10 years...he's just too dumb to fix I think...we'll see...

Re: Breakouts. Sorry, was partially tied up in a project last night. So I couldn't really converse during the game.

Penguins have a variety of breakout options based on forecheck and situation. They are to encourage speed beneath the puck, not so much headmanning. Headmanning is dead in the traditional sense. One could say that we actually killed it on a big stage - the 2013 ECF vs. Boston. I think a lot of teams learned from that, as that was a marquee matchup in more ways than one.

So, first, if you haven't seen it already...take a look at some of the options that we use...

We had another option last night that some won't like it because it's kind of Roethlisberger-y...if you're under pressure, just heave it onto the other side of the surface and hope it works out...

Vegas looked like they were mostly in a 2-1-2 stack last night on the forecheck. What's that mean? So you have one guy on the puck and another that doubles up on that strong side, then you have 1 on the far side to cancel out the ability to cross the net line cleanly. So, D to D passes are tough and going up the boards are tough. Meaning that you need to either go through the middle (which we like) or, what we were doing fairly often is group 2 or 3 forwards on the middle or far side of the ice and flipping a puck up to them (i.e. a deep ball) and going, "well, you have 3 of your guys below our dots...and we have three flying the zone...I like our odds...*flip*"

Even with those numbers, it's not a high percentage play for cleanliness, but it is a high percentage play to exit the zone in any regard. So, the less time our fringe NHL goaltender (as well as he played last night) combined with our power forward (JMFJ) and our guy playing his first game (Riikola) have to defend, the better chance we have given our tremendous forward depth...

You can't be too upset with it...the "well, I'll just wing it ahead to a guy flying the zone" thing netted Kessel's second and third goals, respectively...

Postby **Morkle** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:02 am

I thought Riikola played well enough to get the second game. Maybe try him and Maata together. I'd be interested to see if he hits a wall due to player quality and rink transition.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:05 am

I thought Riikola played well enough to get the second game. Maybe try him and Maata together. I'd be interested to see if he hits a wall due to player quality and rink transition.

100% agree.

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:11 am

Re: Breakouts. Sorry, was partially tied up in a project last night. So I couldn't really converse during the game.

mikey is into bdsm #confirmed

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:19 am

The safe word was "Riikola"...

Who is earning a regular spot in the lineup...he would make a wonderful shutdown guy with Maatta if we wanted. Maatta has familiarity with a partner of this magnitude (though, probably not even as technically skilled) in junior when he was paired with Scott Harrington. Best shutdown pairing in junior hockey that year...

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:26 am

I remember being so excited to have those two. Thought they'd be as killer of a combo in the NHL as they were in the OHL. Then again I wanted to get Khokhlachev to try to revive Kuhnhackl from their Windsor days....

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:30 am

I had a soft spot for both Harrington and Koko...it was young Kuhnhackl I didn't care for...but then he adapted his game, the others did not...

Though, you kind of wonder (and by "you" I mean "me") sometimes, if Koko and Vladislav Namestnikov switch organizations and Koko gets all the same breaks (for lack of a better term, maybe bounces would be better served here), you wonder if he's still in the league and Namestnikov is not...

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:30 am

I would love it if this team had a true shut down pairing.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:32 am

Historically, everything that Olli Maatta touches is a shutdown pairing really...there are few d-men in the league where bad stuff happens less when they're on the ice than #3.

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:38 am

I had a soft spot for both Harrington and Koko...it was young Kuhnhackl I didn't care for...but then he adapted his game, the others did not...

Though, you kind of wonder (and by "you" I mean "me") sometimes, if Koko and Vladislav Namestnikov switch organizations and Koko gets all the same breaks (for lack of a better term, maybe bounces would be better served here), you wonder if he's still in the league and Namestnikov is not...

Kuhnhackl had that nasty shot at a young age, something the Pens desperately needed. I always crushed with him in NHL 16, had 9 goals in a game once...

Postby **meow** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:11 am

The safe word was "Riikola"...

Who is earning a regular spot in the lineup...he would make a wonderful shutdown guy with Maatta if we wanted. Maatta has familiarity with a partner of this magnitude (though, probably not even as technically skilled) in junior when he was paired with Scott Harrington. Best shutdown pairing in junior hockey that year...

I remember catching flak from people because I was much much higher on Maatta than I was on Harrington that year. Maatta basically erased his half of the rink

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:12 am

I think a lot of people remember single plays where Maatta gets burned more than the 50+ plays where he does everything right. It's unfortunate, really.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:13 am

Yeah, like when one of the fastest guys in the league walks Maatta, even though that **** would happen to most defensemen.

Postby **Gaucho** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:15 am

#freeOlli

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:20 am

That thyroid cancer really boned him though.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:37 am

5v5 League d-men with 3000+ minutes played since 2014-15 (inclusive), lowest GAA:

1. Brayden McNabb 1.75
2. Brian Campbell 1.80
3. Josh Manson 1.81
4. Drew Doughty 1.83
5. Hampus Lindholm 1.84
...
13. Jonas Brodin 1.92
14. Niklas Hjalmarsson 1.92
15. Paul Martin 1.92
...
24. Jay Bouwmeester 2.06
25. Alex Pietrangelo 2.07
26. Anton Stralman 2.07
...
32. Roman Josi 2.09
33. Ryan Suter 2.09
34. Victor Hedman 2.10
...
43. Olli Maatta 2.17
44. Braydon Coburn 2.17

Pretty good for a guy who averages a point every four games...still a career +49...only one minus season in his career (-1 last year). And he gets better in the playoffs - up to over 0.3 points per game, a +23 in just 68 games, just 10 career minors in the playoffs to boot.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:47 am

Yea, but remember when Bobby Ryan beat his ass like Bobby Ryan's dad used to do to Bobby Ryan?

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:53 am

It'd be really interesting to see that stat of his d-man partner when they're with Maatta vs when they're not. I know that'd be nearly impossible to do, but that'd be a hell of a stat.

Postby **llipgh2** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 1:41 pm

The safe word was "Riikola"...

Who is earning a regular spot in the lineup...he would make a wonderful shutdown guy with Maatta if we wanted. Maatta has familiarity with a partner of this magnitude (though, probably not even as technically skilled) in junior when he was paired with Scott Harrington. Best shutdown pairing in junior hockey that year...

You may get your wish. They are the defensive pairing today at practice.