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Pittsburgh Penguins (Official Thread)

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3074326;1609236; said:
The game could be summarized like this:

Mike Rupp: 3
Marian Gaborik: 2

Imagine how terrible the Rangers would be without Gaborik.
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Yep. They would have been held to 5 goals in 21 minutes against the CBJ instead of 7.
 
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Sid has 11 points in 3 games. On pace to blow away his career high in goals. Dude has a wicked shot on him with his new stick blade.

Pens look back to form. And they still don't have everyone back yet.
 
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Crosby had a hat trick in the second period tonight (in around 8 minutes of play).

Pens up 5-4 right now.. the defense in this game has been bad. Ryan Miller really struggles with the Pens. Martin Skoula really struggles with the game of hockey, and Bill Guerin is basically riding around in a wheelchair. That makes him sound more mobile than he actually is.

Miller is out. 6-4 PP with 1:10 left.

EDIT: Fleury comes up big on the PK. That felt like a playoff game.
 
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Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko have to be two of the worst top 6 wingers in the league right now.

EDIT: Forgot to post the point I was posting to make. :lol:

Despite the lack of quality play on the wings, the win against the Islanders tonight puts them one point behind the Devils for the division lead. Staal has been centering the second line lately and Malkin has been playing on the wing. It's been efficient. I think Malkin has 20 points in 11 games, including 8 goals (could be wrong, but it's something very similar to that). Staal has been playing out of his mind. Just not showing up on the stat sheet. Really want to see Letestu stick on the third line so we can finally have Malkin with a legitimate second-line player. I figure Staal will drop back to the third line after a trade is made/in the playoffs. The Cooke/Staal/Kennedy line is too efficient to break up. It's the best third line in the league.

Wouldn't mind seeing Shero try these lines though.

Kunitz - Crosby - Guerin (or hopefully a free agent..)
Nick Johnson or Luca Caputi - Staal - Malkin
Cooke - Letestu - Kennedy
Rupp - Adams - Dupuis or Fedotenko (if both are on the roster.. Dupuis, easily)
 
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If anyone has ever watched Evgeni Malkin, they should know that he works best with two types of players: A guy that is great at finding loose pucks, and a guy that is good at making space and finding a good shooting lane. Dupuis can find the loose pucks. A sniper would be ideal next to Malkin. I'd love to see Shero trade for Selanne, but the Ducks, delusional as ever, would probably ask for Letang (Who is getting better and better with every game, as is Goligoski).

Ponikarovsky is alright. I'd love to see the Penguins trade for him.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igHgQjS3EmU]YouTube - Alexei Ponikarovsky compilation[/ame]

As you can see, he can take a drop pass and snipe (One of Geno's favorite moves), find open areas, goes to the net, uses the power move to get around defenders, can elevate on the backhand, and he knows how to wait for a screen to develop.

The Fedotenko situation is a painful one. On one hand, Ruslan Fedotenko is a -15. Should be the end of the conversation, right? Well, he also loves to pick his game up during the playoffs. Shero has a tough decision to make.

Guerin is fine. He's 39. He makes great decisions in the neutral zone. He makes safe plays. He can get the puck to Crosby or Kunitz. He will have something to bring during the playoffs. People often forget that he has 17 goals this year. Crosby needs guys with hockey sense on his line. He's got it.

Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin do play well together. Here's the problem: The one strength that the Penguins unquestionable have over any team in the National Hockey League is their depth at the Center position. There isn't a 1st line center in the league that is better than Sidney Crosby. There isn't a 2nd line center in the league that is better than Evgeni Malkin, and the only 1st line center in the league that is better than Evgeni Malkin is Sidney Crosby (Cry me a river, fans of other teams). There isn't a 3rd line center in the league that is better than Jordan Staal. The Penguins have the best 3rd line in the league.

If the Penguins were to move Staal up with Malkin, what would happen to the third line? Do you really believe that the 3rd line would be capable of shifting momentum at critical points with Mark Letetsu or Max Talbot centering the line? No. Absolutely not. If the Penguins were to move Staal up to the 2nd line, they would solve their winger situation and immediately be forced to solve a new 3rd line center situation.

Trade for a winger. Trade for a non-soff defenseman that takes pride in clearing the crease. Pass up the New Jersey Kovalchuks. Beat Washington in the playoffs. Win the cup.

It's as easy as that.
 
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daveeb;1659546; said:
The Fedotenko situation is a painful one. On one hand, Ruslan Fedotenko is a -15. Should be the end of the conversation, right? Well, he also loves to pick his game up during the playoffs. Shero has a tough decision to make.
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Agreed. He just hasn't looked this bad yet in his career. Looks completely awful. Wouldn't have a problem if he was waived.. but also wouldn't have a problem if he stuck around for the playoffs. He's clutch. Just hope he actually does step it up for the playoffs and doesn't take a roster spot from someone who could actually contribute.

Guerin is fine. He's 39. He makes great decisions in the neutral zone. He makes safe plays. He can get the puck to Crosby or Kunitz. He will have something to bring during the playoffs. People often forget that he has 17 goals this year. Crosby needs guys with hockey sense on his line. He's got it.
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Disagree here. The only thing he can do is make a decent pass or two every game, but everything else is a negative. He's hurting the team. Missing open nets every game, most of the time after a nice pass by Crosby. I'm fairly confident that Crosby would have the lead in the scoring race if he had someone who could cash in on 30% of the passes that Guerin has managed to misfire on. Last game he was offsides about 43 times. Just bad right now/all year. Hope the break does something.

Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin do play well together. Here's the problem: The one strength that the Penguins unquestionable have over any team in the National Hockey League is their depth at the Center position. There isn't a 1st line center in the league that is better than Sidney Crosby. There isn't a 2nd line center in the league that is better than Evgeni Malkin, and the only 1st line center in the league that is better than Evgeni Malkin is Sidney Crosby (Cry me a river, fans of other teams). There isn't a 3rd line center in the league that is better than Jordan Staal. The Penguins have the best 3rd line in the league.

If the Penguins were to move Staal up with Malkin, what would happen to the third line? Do you really believe that the 3rd line would be capable of shifting momentum at critical points with Mark Letetsu or Max Talbot centering the line? No. Absolutely not. If the Penguins were to move Staal up to the 2nd line, they would solve their winger situation and immediately be forced to solve a new 3rd line center situation.
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Letestu hasn't looked that bad. I said that I thought the Cooke/Staal/Kennedy line would be back for the playoffs (and it should be). Just wanted to see those lines tried out to see how they worked. Right now the goal should be winning the division, and I think a couple minor changes might spark something. The Pens need Malkin hot for the playoffs. He's been heating up lately.

Keep hearing strong interest in Raffi Torres. I think he'd compliment Malkin very well. I agree with everything you said that I didn't quote btw. :)

ESPN keeps throwing out the rumor that the Pens are interested in Ethan Moreau. Dumbest. Rumor. Ever. He would add no offense and fills no need. And I'm pretty sure he makes too much. :shake:
 
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Pens acquired Jordan Leopold from Florida for a second round pick today. Good deal value-wise, but I'm a little confused. We need either a big d-man, a shutdown d-man or a winger who can finish.

Leopold is more of an offensive d-man, I think. Solid in his own zone from what I've read, but nothing that we really needed. Maybe Goligoski is on the way out? Or even Gonchar? I doubt Gonchar, since he runs the power play and it's beyond awful without him.

I've also read that the Pens have an offer on the table for Ponikarovsky. Curious what it is since the asking price is apparently a 2nd rounder + a prospect.
 
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3074326;1667162; said:
Pens acquired Jordan Leopold from Florida for a second round pick today. Good deal value-wise, but I'm a little confused. We need either a big d-man, a shutdown d-man or a winger who can finish.

Leopold is more of an offensive d-man, I think. Solid in his own zone from what I've read, but nothing that we really needed. Maybe Goligoski is on the way out?
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This trade makes me think the Goligoski trade rumors have some merit. I heard talk of Bobby Ryan being a target of the Pens. I like Goligoski but I'd give him up if it helped bring Ryan to PIT.
 
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