2013-14 pens

[theoneandonly]

Yeah he certainly did jump in and help create the first goal. That was a smart position to take a chance... I just wish he was a little better at picking those spots.

With Letang it's always going to be taking the good with the bad. He is going to make my head spin at times and make me smile from ear to ear at times. It is a work in progress with me as a Letang fan but I certainly do recognize what he brings to the team.

[Aoki12]

3-0 smacking by an average barely .500 team tonight. Completely different team from most nights tonight. They looked weak, physically drained, and mentally tired. Hope this doesn't become a consistent thing.

[GreenMachine]

3-0 smacking by an average barely .500 team tonight. Completely different team from most nights tonight. They looked weak, physically drained, and mentally tired. Hope this doesn't become a consistent thing.

Between this game and the 5 - 1 drubbing to Florida at home after the 5 day layoff with having only 1 game in 8 days I don't think I've seen two worse games from the Pens this year. Fleury wasn't sharpe versus Dallas IMO as well and he'd probably tell you 2 out of 3 of those goals should have been fairly easy saves. Harry Z needs to stay off the top line, Ebbet was pretty worthless, Letang is still a turnover machine thats trying to even his up side to his down, Scuderi hasn't looked normal since he's come back from injury. They're still running away with it in their division and the best team in their conference so obviously no need to panic however some worries here and there are always going to arise after another game like this.

[theoneandonly]

The last time the Pens lost 2 games in a row was over 2 months ago... a bad game here and there isn't much of a concern but 2 in 3 games is enough to raise an eyebrow or two.

Couple notes on how bad the bottom 6 are...

- "The Penguins are top-heavy. We’ve been beating this drum since the beginning of January: the bottom six is a real problem. Look at this game for example: two shots from players on the bottom two lines. Two. That is awful."

When Crosby/Malkin weren't on the ice against Dallas the team managed 3 shots on goal... 3!!

Without addressing the depth issues this team is staring a playoff flame-out directly in the face.

[Aoki12]

3-0 smacking by an average barely .500 team tonight. Completely different team from most nights tonight. They looked weak, physically drained, and mentally tired. Hope this doesn't become a consistent thing.

Between this game and the 5 - 1 drubbing to Florida at home after the 5 day layoff with having only 1 game in 8 days I don't think I've seen two worse games from the Pens this year. Fleury wasn't sharpe versus Dallas IMO as well and he'd probably tell you 2 out of 3 of those goals should have been fairly easy saves. Harry Z needs to stay off the top line, Ebbet was pretty worthless, Letang is still a turnover machine thats trying to even his up side to his down, Scuderi hasn't looked normal since he's come back from injury. They're still running away with it in their division and the best team in their conference so obviously no need to panic however some worries here and there are always going to arise after another game like this.

Agreed. What worries me is I'm getting déjà vu. This is how it always is. Best regular season record by far and then they go in on their high horse and get stomped by a team who doesn't even belong on the same sheet of ice. I doubt it will happen this year but they need to address some things:
-consistency, from fleury and letang especially, but everybody with the exception of a few are guilty
-bylsma needs to be more of a presence, this team has those weird little spurts of lackadaisical play that 9 times out of 10 in any sport you can blame on coaching
-ruthlessness: I am tired of seeing them hold back on teams. Most games they are up by 3-4 goals by mid second period, but then they ease off the gas. That's part of their problem, sometimes I think their Achilles heel is not being used to playing a full game.
Obviously 2 games is nothing, but this is just too familiar and I as a fan am not fond of it.

[KirkHerbstreit]

This team can go 82-0 and I wouldn't trust them in the playoffs with their current makeup. There are 2 players I will not trust come playoff time and they are Fleury and Letang. I feel 1 or both should have been gone last offseason. The playoff failures have not been all their faults, but they have certainly been key cogs in it. To get my confidence up, I want to see one thing happen. They won't trade Fleury, especially with Vokoun's issues. I do think they should investigate trading Letang though. I would look at Edmonton with Eberle (perfect winger for Sid, righty shot on PP), Kane from Winnipeg, Wheeler from Winnipeg.

I would do this for 2 reasons.
1. As good as the Pens offense is, there have been many times these past 4 years that it gets shut down in the playoffs. See Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadians. Adding a elite winger with Sid makes it tougher to shut down both scoring lines
2. Letang plays out of control and it effects the team in the playoffs. His game is full of mistakes and those mistakes are glaring in the playoffs. I think the D without him will be more sound and positional which would help Fleury's confidence.

That said, I don't think Shero will do it.

[pantherxc5]

In case you missed it...

[abpk2903]

Any word on what is actually wrong with Letang? I have a theory. Most sellers have considered their trade deadline to be. Olympic break. Are the pens holding him out of the lineup to shop him or maybe even to give teams a better look at Bortozzo?

[theoneandonly]

I never really looked at it that way but it's certainly an interesting thought... The Pens, as normal, are being fairly cryptic with his diagnosis. I really have no clue what to think about it other than maybe he just actually has some odd illness. He seems to look fine in the clips Root shows of him watching the games though.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2014 ... 1402040117 This article doesn't give much in-depth either. I guess we will see what happens going forward.

With the roster freeze quickly approaching time is running out to pull off a trade of that magnitude, if he is indeed being shopped. It seems like in this day and age very few trades just happen without some sort of rumor or info being leaked in the days leading up to it.

[theoneandonly]

How awful are the Sabres right now? Yikes.

Pens came out a little flat but it didn't take long for the talent to just take over. I know it's still *just* the regular season but MAF has looked superb the last few games.