Montreal @ Pittsburgh Saturday Jan 27 @ 7 PM EST

[seventeen]

Anderson fails to check Guentzel and Pens tie it. Galley actually notices it.

[Skilly]

Please don't let Armia see another shift

[seventeen]

Anderson casually gives Pit the puck on a rush and it turns into a mess in our end. What the hell is wrong with Marty that he keeps playing that guy. Should we start calling him MT for Marty Therrien ?

[Skilly]

It felt like Pitts was playing to win, and MTL was playing to reach OT that whole period

[seventeen]

Slaf has been playing great but MSL puts Evans out there in the last minute. Sigh.

[seventeen]

I don’t think Slaf is playing any more tonight. Marty doesn’t ‘trust’ him.

[Skilly]

Galley talks about MTL playing spoiler like Pitts is way ahead of MTL ... they are 2 points ahead of MTL

[seventeen]

Jake Evans in OT. Playing for shootout. Can’t brlieve aslaf was out there. Whew. Only 1 point.

[Skilly]

Matheson took a poor shot (or tried to force it to Anderson) and it goes the other way 2 on 1 .... game over. Man, I really dislike Matheson's selfishness

[drkcloud]

Jake Allen was cheating this right expecting a pass. Unfortunately he left the entire other side open for a hard shot and goal

Is this guy ever going to be traded

[seventeen]

Anderson was out in OT? That’s suicidal.

[Willie Dog]

A coach who puts Evans out in ot is doing a stealth tank, no other reason for putting him out

[habsorbed]

Monnie and Salfs have some great chemistry. Put Armia with them and it becomes a black hole.

Cole and Suze have some great chemistry. Put Josh with them and it becomes a black hole.

Marty has to smarten up. Pit HP with one of them and Ylonen with the other. Can't be any worse and let the kids play!

[Willie Dog]

Jan 27, 2024 22:31:01 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Monnie and Salfs have some great chemistry. Put Armia with them and it becomes a black hole.

Cole and Suze have some great chemistry. Put Josh with them and it becomes a black hole.

Marty has to smarten up. Pit HP with one of them and Ylonen with the other. Can't be any worse and let the kids play!

Stealth tank... it has to be

[habsorbed]

Did i hear Galley say "Armia plays like a bull in a China shop? If only!

[drkcloud]

If it's a stealth tank, and I don't think it is, we're failing at even that. Playing 500 hockey is death, we gotta really start losing for a top pick.

For me, the shine is really coming off MSL. I think he would have benefitted as an asst coach or skills development coach before taking the lead role. Need some improvement at some point and we really haven't seen it

[Skilly]

Jan 27, 2024 20:38:16 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Can someone explain to me why Matheson will not pass the puck to Slafkovsky on the PP. He ALWAYS pass to the left to Caufield or Suzuki.

On that last PP, when Matheson shot and it was whistled down in the save. You could see Slafkovsky visible frustrated because he was wide open for the one timer with a gaping open net

Proof

I ask you all to look for this is the coming games. It happens once or twice a game.

[jkr]

I don't think Matheson does stuff like this on purpose. I think he just doesn't have the vision or patience to pick guys out, even guys as open as Slafkovsky was on that play.

He shouldn't be running the PP if his 1st instinct is to shoot.

[Willie Dog]

I'd be happy if we traded Matheson, he's an absolute horror in the D zone and my head explodes when him and David 'I need a mobility scooter' Savard are out on the PK

[seventeen]

Jan 27, 2024 22:31:01 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Monnie and Salfs have some great chemistry. Put Armia with them and it becomes a black hole.

Cole and Suze have some great chemistry. Put Josh with them and it becomes a black hole.

Though I hate to admit it, Armia has been pretty good lately (though he still misses some great chances) and that line has produced, so the combination is not as bad as it would be if Armia was the old Joel.

Agree completely with you on Anderson. I specifically paid attention to him on a few shifts last night (when the camera allowed). One time he carried the puck up through centre ice and there were 4 Pens between him and the goal. The Habs may have been changing lines. Instead of turning back, he flipped the puck in (which is one of the two basic functions his brain is able to process) and turned it over. Sure, the habs were able to change, but he lost possession, completely unnecessarily. His second basic function is to aim at a dman going back to retrieve the puck and ensure he hits him, right after the dman has made an easy pass to their teammate. The important part is to arrive too late to pressure the dman. He thrives on that play and perhaps that's why GM's like him. He hits. Sure he does.

As context, consider how the 19 year old Slaf does it. He arrives just as the dman is trying to make the pass, gets his stick in the way and uses his body to decouple the opponent from the puck. Sometimes it's more of a push than a hit, but he maintains control and is able to immediately retrieve the puck and make a pass, which he has already planned in his head.

On other occasions I watched how the play developed after he touched the puck. Most of the time (over 50%), it was a simple change of possession, usually within a second or two. On other occasions, when he made a typically poor pass, it took a few seconds longer, with a board battle ensuing, but Pittsburgh would come away with the puck. It still amazes me how often he can make that happen. His play driving is Kelvinesque (which is an obscure referral to absolute zero). The fact Suze and Cole are still putting up some points with Anderson on their line shows how good they are. One will also note that Anderson is rarely involved in any of their points. He doesn't create turnovers like Slaf did.

So much blackness with that guy. But he sure looks the right part, huh? Big, fast. He's a Lafleur who can't score or stickhandle or shoot to miss the goalie. Do he and Armia train together? They must have one of those plywood net barriers with only one big hole right in the middle.

[Willie Dog]

I missed the game but watched the OT highlights, a minute and a half into OT Guhle comes in on the right side and Kake 'Black hole' Eclvans sneaks on the left side is open, Guhle passes to him and it bounces over his stick and the Pens get possession, how does Evans get a shift in OT ffs

[habsorbed]

Jan 28, 2024 14:58:45 GMT -5 jkr said:

I don't think Matheson does stuff like this on purpose. I think he just doesn't have the vision or patience to pick guys out, even guys as open as Slafkovsky was on that play.

He shouldn't be running the PP if his 1st instinct is to shoot.

I agree with you that Matheson doesn't have the vision or patience to pick guys out. But, how come when Nick is to his right on the PP, Matheson has no problem feeding Nick. It's almost as if matheson doesn't believe Slafs has proiven himself to be worthy of Matheon's attention. Matheson should wake (unlikely) as Slafs is slowly but surely becoming our best player. With any luck, in a few years when Slafs is our leading scorer, Matheson will be skating circles somewhere else, while his brain continues to spin.

[seventeen]

Jan 28, 2024 15:45:20 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

I missed the game but watched the OT highlights, a minute and a half into OT Guhle comes in on the right side and Kake 'Black hole' Eclvans sneaks on the left side is open, Guhle passes to him and it bounces over his stick and the Pens get possession, how does Evans get a shift in OT ffs

Asked that same question during the OT. Playing for the shootout? Shades of Michel Therrien. Put your bottom 6 guys out there because, you know, they'll play a 200 foot game. That was a doofus choice by Marty.

[seventeen]

Jan 29, 2024 1:40:46 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

With any luck, in a few years when Slafs is our leading scorer, Matheson will be skating circles somewhere else, while his brain continues to spin.

That's my dream too. We keep him for now, no doubt about it. While he can be infuriating, he can also pull off some magical plays, so let's pray he has one hell of a year and then we trade him because......ummmm....we can't afford him with all the money we'll have to pay the kids....yeah, that's it, we can't afford him any longer. Sell at an astronomical high, hopefully, get a few more picks into the future for when we really will have to shed salary.

[Willie Dog]

Jan 29, 2024 2:14:48 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Jan 29, 2024 1:40:46 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

With any luck, in a few years when Slafs is our leading scorer, Matheson will be skating circles somewhere else, while his brain continues to spin.

That's my dream too. We keep him for now, no doubt about it. While he can be infuriating, he can also pull off some magical plays, so let's pray he has one hell of a year and then we trade him because......ummmm....we can't afford him with all the money we'll have to pay the kids....yeah, that's it, we can't afford him any longer. Sell at an astronomical high, hopefully, get a few more picks into the future for when we really will have to shed salary.

That would make the Petry trade tree interesting