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Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:34 pm
by Gaucho
Another GWG for Phil.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:40 pm
by Dickie Dunn
Totally called this as a letdown game.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:45 pm
by willeyeam
Totally called this as a letdown game.
IDIOT

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:48 pm
by blackjack68
A stress free game is nice

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:17 am
by dodint
Hard to believe there's only 11 games left.
You're early.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:56 am
by mikey
Why was Gudbranson such a dreadful player before coming to Pittsburgh and now looks like he actually belongs in the NHL?

is it all coaching/situation?
That's a lot of it. I also don't think he's been that great. He went from 10 feet below sea level to 6 feet above...what happens in bigger spots and faster games...we played an AHL team last night...

That said, I don't know what Jacques Martin and Sergei Gonchar do to convince guys from roaming all around the defensive zone, I can't find the keys that they point to that somehow register with them...Oleksiak, Johnson, Gudbranson in their previous spots would just go where ever the **** they wanted, whenever they wanted and, ya know, like, whatever...but now, they largely stay in their zone of control, I can actively see Johnson going "not today, Satan" and putting the brakes on and receding in spots where I know he would have chased a guy into the opponent's bench if he could...

Basically, if these d-men were a piece of drywall in your living room...and one day, you threw a bowling ball through it...the next day, your wife cut your pastrami sandwich horizontal instead of diagonally, so you send a warning punch right next to a picture from your wedding day...and then later that night you kick a hole in the wall above the door stop because the Celtics didn't cover...and now you have a bunch of dry wall work to do, right? You gotta cut out pieces, replace them, blah blah blah...

Well, what Jacques Martin and Sergei Gonchar are doing is...just painting over the giant holes...and it's working...and it looks fine...and it's - seemingly - structurally sound...I don't get what kind of super paint this is, I'm guessing there's lead in it because lead makes things better and stronger for sure...but some kind of sorcery is going on...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:48 am
by shmenguin
How much of it is just going from a team that isn’t expected to win to a team that is? If you tell Johnson to stay in his lane, so the team could more effectively lose in round 1, maybe that’s a tough sell? But here, there seems to be a behavioral expectation for guys who aren’t on the 2nd line.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:50 am
by mikey
Maybe that's a small part of it...but there are so many more examples to the contrary...it's something specific to us...

Folks are starting to notice too...to the point that, I wouldn't be shocked if we were without Jacques Martin or Sergei Gonchar in the very near future...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:18 pm
by IMFC
I would love to know if Johnson has said anything to Guds like, "hey, I know what you're thinking - that you have to run around and prove you're worth $4M a year - but you don't. You just don't. Just lock it the **** down like a boss and everyone will love it."

I mean, it took Johnson months and then the injury crisis to get there, but it would be a pretty easy concept-transfer from him to someone with similar skills/mindset now.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:22 pm
by Gaucho
One of the keys is probably the support of the forwards. It's no coincidence that the D still mostly looks like a hot mess when a certain duo is on the ice.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:43 pm
by mikey
Forward support is where I'm thinking the keys come from...I just can't quite catch it live...I need to go over some tape...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:50 pm
by shmenguin
I like this thing where we’re zagging when the NHL expects us to zig, with all this conservative play. I’m worried about the ability to keep it up in a game in Long Island where we’re gonna get the piss kicked out of us an have a few guys who are gonna lose their cool. I kind of want that 8 seed.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:54 pm
by mikey
I'm a big Tampa backer...but I want them first... we aren't gonna get them, but I still don't trust this group that we have, I don't think we're that good...and I demand to know instantly whether or not we can hack it...give me Tampa...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:08 pm
by shmenguin
I don’t want to play the islanders. They aren’t good. But they’re going to get away with a lot at home. There’s going to be a “let em play” approach. And we don’t stack up well against that.

We’re also definitely playing the islanders.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:11 pm
by meow
I want Tampa or the Isles first.

If Tampa really is head and shoulder above everyone else, we might as well be pummeled first so I can spread my viewership around a bit more

The Isles have mid-tier AHL goaltending. It would be a goal feast - probably going both ways.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:31 pm
by Gaucho
Isles, please. I think Tampa in the first round would overwhelm some of the new players who may be unsure about their own playoff mettle. On the other hand, Tampa may be most vulnerable in the first round. Let the Canes take care of them.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:45 pm
by mikey
Also might be a familiarity/comfort level...what team, out of any, could Jugs or Cans possibly have a rivalry against besides Tampa? If Bjugstad is capable of hate (he's not), he's probably really sick of being caught from behind by Brayden Point every game...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:14 pm
by MalkinIsMyHomeboy
I think the Lightning are going to be ripe for the picking to be knocked out in the first two rounds this year. I think similar to how the Caps were all the years they won the President's cup

I think the Bruins are the most dangerous of the Atlantic

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:17 pm
by Beveridge
If this were a video game and you could turn off needs rest setting, I'd be scared of Boston.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:24 pm
by meow
I’m on board with that. If we turn line changes off, Boston isn’t terrifying.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:30 pm
by mikey
I think Boston is gonna give Toronto a lot of problems...Boston's forecheck all the way through their lineup against that Leafs defense...I think there's a hole there, I think that's a weakness that can be exploited...that's gonna be a tough out either way, but while Boston isn't as sexy, they might have a beat on that...

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:54 pm
by Lemon Berry Lobster
Don't wanna face the Isles. Trotz knows how to trap it up.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:03 pm
by shmenguin
Don't wanna face the Isles. Trotz knows how to trap it up.
He knows how to lose in the first round with an overachieving team.

Official GDT: Game 71 - Pens @ Sabres 03/14/19

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:11 pm
by Gaucho
Boston over Toronto in <6