Meow's Morning Meeting - 4-17-15 vs. NYR - GAME 1

Postby **meow** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:53 am

Morning Yinz. Let's start with the good. Fleury was great. Martin was good. Cole was the best defensemen on either team. Malkin had spurts of dominating. Lapierre was in full troll mode. Comeau was actually useful.

Now, let's talk about the bad. Kunitz is on the struggle bus. He's the chief inspector at the struggle gum factory. Sid's interest seemed to come and go, but he was pretty responsible defensively. This might be because of the penalty parade in the first. It's tough to get your high skilled involved in the game when you have to kill 8 of the first 20 minutes.

Some X's and O's. The first half of the game, F2 was atrocious on the forecheck. They constantly got caught between being aggressive and being passive, ending up in some no-mans-land. Then, once they got solid possession, F3 lost his mind and got sucked into the play too far, resulting in a few odd-mans against. Johnston kept positive on the bench and got these problems fixed.

All told, missing 3 of your top 4 d-man and you hang in there with the President Trophy winners like that - it's a good thing. Gives you hope.

Postby **Gaucho** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:00 am

Pens in 5.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:04 am

A point of emphasis for the Rangers is each blueline...pucks in, pucks out, it's evident in their play style...we need to do a better job winning those battles within five feet of the blueline, really need to be on the plus side of that...point that forecheck towards the weak mentally (Hunwick) and the weak skill-wise (Girardi)...

Postby **columbia** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:21 am

A few gaffes (which proved to be fatal), but I thought they played well overall (given the circumstances) and - most important - didn't give up.
With Letang out, Crosby and Malkin are going to *have* to make a real difference. Is that possible with all of the interference and the Rangers tightening up even further? I have my suspicions.

Also, MAF should run for mayor of Pittsburgh.

Postby **llipgh2** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:30 am

Write off the first period (which unfortunately cost them the game) and the Pens played well.

MAF - Awesome.

Nice to see some of the role players come back to life.

Geno came alive in the 3rd, hope that carries into the next game.

Sid...seemed off. Don't know if it's because he barely played 4 minutes in the first, interference or what. But he has to be better.

3 AHLers on the D hurt, but they seemed to settle down as the game wore on.

Kunitz was just a waste of space. I hate saying that, but man has he gone downhill.

Postby **meecrofilm** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:36 am

Yeah, Geno had some real gallop once the Kunitz anchor was removed from his line. Coincidentally, that was about when Sid started to not be much of a factor after playing well the first two periods.

Also, man does no Letang, Pouliot, or Ehrhoff hurt. The D, especially Scuderi, did just an awful job of moving the puck up the ice via an actual tape-to-tape pass.

Postby **Jofa Guy** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:40 am

I unfortunately didn't get to watch the game last night, but how was Lapierre? I believe that meow said he was in full troll mode, which is good. I just was wondering if his spit eating grin was showing.

Katherine Tappen is sexy

Postby **Trip McNeely** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:41 am

Yeah, Geno had some real gallop once the Kunitz anchor was removed from his line. Coincidentally, that was about when Sid started to not be much of a factor after playing well the first two periods.

Also, man does no Letang, Pouliot, or Ehrhoff hurt. The D, especially Scuderi, did just an awful job of moving the puck up the ice via an actual tape-to-tape pass.

Not only is the D struggling with passes, there is no shooting threat on the blueline. Having Ehrhoff and/or Pouliot bombing shots during 5 on 5 and the PP could be very helpful

Postby **meecrofilm** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:44 am

I unfortunately didn't get to watch the game last night, but how was Lapierre? I believe that meow said he was in full troll mode, which is good. I just was wondering if his spit eating grin was showing.

Katherine Tappen is sexy

Playoff-Lappy came as advertised. I would've made an effort to give him more minutes the way he was going, but hey, you can't offend Kunitz, he's been here a while.

Postby **meecrofilm** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:45 am

Yeah, Geno had some real gallop once the Kunitz anchor was removed from his line. Coincidentally, that was about when Sid started to not be much of a factor after playing well the first two periods.

Also, man does no Letang, Pouliot, or Ehrhoff hurt. The D, especially Scuderi, did just an awful job of moving the puck up the ice via an actual tape-to-tape pass.
Not only is the D struggling with passes, there is no shooting threat on the blueline. Having Ehrhoff and/or Pouliot bombing shots during 5 on 5 and the PP could be very helpful

Cole has a bomb, but it's tough for him to get too involved in the offense since he knows Scuderi sure as hell isn't going to be able to cover for any mistakes.

Postby **TheHammer24** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:50 am

The difference is our defense takes 3x as long to clear the zone as their d does.

Postby **meecrofilm** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:52 am

Also, what's done is done, but I feel like this is a game where a guy like Despres could've definitely made a difference. With the D's inability to move the puck up, his ability to just skate the puck out of danger in transition would've been very welcome. Ah well.

Postby **shmenguin** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:58 am

this was like games 3 & 4 against boston. you look at the last 2 periods, and think we were onto something...but then you try to find an actual instance of a scoring chance, and you come up empty. the rangers backed off, but they still didn't give us anything substantial. it was just a bunch of patty cake. if we give up the first goal, it's going to be tough sledding.

also, glad to see no big mention of the refs yet. it's an established fact - there's a way to interfere that isn't going to get called. everyone knows it, but our guys are all pouty about it. the league will let you get in someone's way. they won't let you punch or slash people, and if you wipe someone out in a big way, you're going to get called. the stuff the rags got away with is the same stuff we would have (and did) get away with. we just happened to go the extra mile and got caught.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:02 am

shmenguin your description of the last two periods is spot on. It certainly looked like we were gaining momentum, but do we even remember one legitimate scoring chance? Puck possession is great, but if you can't create real chances, it's meaningless. Just like most advanced stats, right slappy?

Postby **meow** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:04 am

The reffing is what it is at this point. I'm not going to be a proponent of diving, but someone might have to go down a easy on a blatant interference to get the ball rolling on calling it.

Postby **shmenguin** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:10 am

i don't know how diving plays into anything. moore didn't dive, perron and downie committed legit infractions, chorney's hit was strong and kunitz plowed into lundqvist. the rangers didn't benefit from hamming things up, and we spent our fair share of time laying on the ice.

the best play is to adapt to the established standard.

Postby **eddy** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:12 am

pretty much agree with Shmenguin and shaf about the 2 & 3rd, but

and I'm surprisingly at peace with it.

Postby **meow** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:13 am

That's the point. The standard is to not give iffy calls to the Pens. You have to make an interference look like an obvious interference. It isn't diving.

Postby **shmenguin** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:17 am

That's the point. The standard is to not give iffy calls to the Pens. You have to make an interference look like an obvious interference. It isn't diving.

yeah, sorry, i wasn't really clear with where i was going.

the diving isn't going to help. the refs aren't missing these calls because they aren't obvious enough. they're seeing everything and willfully missing them because that's how the game is currently officiated. you are allowed to follow someone into the boards 3 seconds after they get rid of the puck. you are allowed to do what moore did.

the chorney penalty was probably the worst call, since the spirit of his infraction was inline with what's legal in today's NHL. but it was a big hit, so they had to account for the optics. so if we're going to dive, it has to look like we got annihilated in the process.

Postby **meow** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:22 am

That's the point. The standard is to not give iffy calls to the Pens. You have to make an interference look like an obvious interference. It isn't diving.
yeah, sorry, i wasn't really clear with where i was going.

the diving isn't going to help. the refs aren't missing these calls because they aren't obvious enough. they're seeing everything and willfully missing them because that's how the game is currently officiated. you are allowed to follow someone into the boards 3 seconds after they get rid of the puck. you are allowed to do what moore did.

the chorney penalty was probably the worst call, since the spirit of his infraction was inline with what's legal in today's NHL. but it was a big hit, so they had to account for the optics. so if we're going to dive, it has to look like we got annihilated in the process.

Bold is my point. It may only take one time. Johnston made one comment in his post-game about officiating. That might be enough to get one or two calls.

Postby **shmenguin** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:24 am

although it's all moot, since last time i checked, crosby is still sabotaging the power play by continuing to park his stubborn ass on the right boards. getting an extra 6 minutes with an extra man isn't going to do a whole lot.

Postby **Robot B9** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:25 am

Pens overall fundamentals were barf. Stick handling, passing, blech.

They got plastered, often willingly, to the boards all game. Not in a hit sense, just unable to play in open ice.

Postby **meow** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:26 am

The second unit might score in the :09 seconds they get.

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:35 am

Rangers forecheck was aggressive and we turned it over/iced it way too much. You're not going to win if you crap your pants in your defensive zone like that

Postby **thehockeyguru** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:38 am

I liked what the line of Comeau - Lapierre - Spaling added. Say what you want about Lapierre not scoring but he has been a more effective Craig Adams and I am fine with that for him being a 4th liner. I hope he is brought back.