That's more like it. A good structured game at last. Clendening wasn't great, but he's a lot better than Scuderi. Forward depth is clearly evident compared to past years.
- jfkst1

You should have listened to the Sens feed. All they were talking about was how we have no depth. To be fair, Porter was playing on the third and that's unacceptable.

You should have listened to the Sens feed. All they were talking about was how we have no depth. To be fair, Porter was playing on the third and that's unacceptable.
- Victoro311

Porter was fine. They don't have to be great, just serviceable and cost-effective. Can't have Sutter and Spaling going ghost despite costing $5m+/yr. Or non NHLers like Adams, Sill, Lapierre, Goc. etc.

Much much much better, considering this was the weakest forward group we've had this season and all. Congrats to Danny Sprong, first of 2000 goals he will score in the NHL. The kid is the complete package and you can safely pencil him onto the game 10 roster. No Scuderi= dominant win, who knew, besides everyone but that coaching staff. I swear MJ is reading the comments sections of any online press he reads because he has corrected the things the average person was complaining most about. Can't take any teams lightly but a win against toronto should not be too difficult a task. Columbus is just brutal right now but once they hit their groove they are going to start literally killing teams. Sid is slumping big time, there was 2-3 shots he took tonight that he easily buries 3 years ago. Dumoulin has improved every game and is becoming the player I know he can be, a giant that has great puck control and is one of the fastest skaters in the league. Lets hope the current injuries are not too bad and it looks like Fehr might be back any day now so if Beau and pascal can get back soon too and they continue to bench Scuderi we should rack up a few wins and get that record back to respectability.

Farnham actually landing hits... also, he may never live down that monstrous whiff he had in the preseason here.


So, its Maatta and Clendening, and Lovejoy bumped down with Dumo?


edit: Forgot I could use the ice tracker... nice Clendening getting the 2nd pairing shot... wouldn't have minded Dumo getting that and Clendening getting the 3rd pair with Lovejoy. That is a BIT of an insult to Dumo from HCMJ to not bump him up over the "call up" type player though.
- Guile

I think it's a right hand left hand thing and nothing more. Dumo and Maatta are both lefties and Clendening and Suckjoy are righties. Don;t read anything more into it than that.

No Scuds. Pens win!
Coincidence, I don't think so!

Clendening did some good things and some bad things, but he is a plus 1 and Scuds is a minus 1. I still want Clendening in there.

Way to go Sprong! Geno's line looked great! Power play was OK, Crosby can still play much better, so we have something to build on.

Good game, Keep it going Pens, good luck in the next game!

No Scuds. Pens win!
Coincidence, I don't think so!

Clendening did some good things and some bad things, but he is a plus 1 and Scuds is a minus 1. I still want Clendening in there.

Way to go Sprong! Geno's line looked great! Power play was OK, Crosby can still play much better, so we have something to build on.

Good game, Keep it going Pens, good luck in the next game!
- so_buzz11

I agree and let's not forget Fleury too. He made some key saves in the shutout.

No Scuds. Pens win!
Coincidence, I don't think so!

Clendening did some good things and some bad things, but he is a plus 1 and Scuds is a minus 1. I still want Clendening in there.

Way to go Sprong! Geno's line looked great! Power play was OK, Crosby can still play much better, so we have something to build on.

Good game, Keep it going Pens, good luck in the next game!
- so_buzz11

No doubt Clens over scuds .... That being said clendening was not good tonight... Scuds has just declined that much ( yes I said that )

That's more like it. A good structured game at last. Clendening wasn't great, but he's a lot better than Scuderi. Forward depth is clearly evident compared to past years.
- jfkst1

I hope Clendenings play had to do with him not playing for over a week. Good in the O zone but 2 penalties and a couple bad turnovers. Overall a good team outing. I was impressed with the Pens forwards on the back check.

No doubt Clens over scuds .... That being said clendening was not good tonight... Scuds has just declined that much ( yes I said that )
- Brianandr1

He needs to clean some things up, but at least he can skate. No way can they go back to Scuds.

I think it's a right hand left hand thing and nothing more. Dumo and Maatta are both lefties and Clendening and Suckjoy are righties. Don;t read anything more into it than that.
- Dcoms

dumo is looking like he belongs.

cole isnt bad. not great, but he can be a "get by" sort of guy.

lovejoy can be a get by guy on the bottom pairing as well.

really though, the issue becomes that unless maatta figures it out again, there are too many get by guys on defense. that being said though, minus scuderi they really have been at the bare minimum breaking even as a whole unit.

I agree and let's not forget Fleury too. He made some key saves in the shutout.
- powerhouse

I agree Fleury played very well. They seemed to play better together as a team, better passing out of the D zone. Better passing over all. Much more cycling and keeping the puck in the offensive end. Not many odd man breaks by Ottawa compared to giving up odd man breaks in the previous games. Sid still looked like he was not in sync yet with his line mates, but that will happen SOON (I hope).

dumo is looking like he belongs.

cole isnt bad. not great, but he can be a "get by" sort of guy.

lovejoy can be a get by guy on the bottom pairing as well.

really though, the issue becomes that unless maatta figures it out again, there are too many get by guys on defense. that being said though, minus scuderi they really have been at the bare minimum breaking even as a whole unit.
- stayinthefnnet

Clendening is RHS which helps the entire lineup and prevents a LHS from playing on the offhand.
Clendening/Dumoulin/Maatta should all show some signs of improvement through the season. Scuderi is just gonna be Scuderi.
The defense overall is average with Scuderi and can probably be decent without Clendening instead of Scuderi. God help this team if Letang goes down.

By the way, did anybody else notice that Sid didn't get on the ice the last couple of minutes in the game. MJ had Geno taking important FO's. I'm not sure Bonino got out there either. I thought that was interesting, if not a little insane on MJ's part.

Clendening is RHS which helps the entire lineup and prevents a LHS from playing on the offhand.
Clendening/Dumoulin/Maatta should all show some signs of improvement through the season. Scuderi is just gonna be Scuderi.
The defense overall is average with Scuderi and can probably be decent without Clendening instead of Scuderi. God help this team if Letang goes down.
- jfkst1

if letang goes down, i think the team might actually be able to hang in there defensively, relatively speaking.

but i do not think they will score more than a goal a game.

HCMJ paraphrasing- We wanted to get Clendening in a game. It is tough for a young guy to sit, so we wanted to get him in.

Nooooooooooooooooo!

No more Scuds, Please!!!!!!!

That's quite unfortunate for your squad...
- Victoro311

I'd worry about your own defense.

if letang goes down, i think the team might actually be able to hang in there defensively, relatively speaking.

but i do not think they will score more than a goal a game.
- stayinthefnnet

I think he's the most important player on the team by far. Maatta looked better tonight, but he played a lot fewer minutes than he should be by now. Cole and Lovejoy have been solid so far but aren't anything special. Johnston is a moron if he puts Scuds back in the lineup.

By the way, did anybody else notice that Sid didn't get on the ice the last couple of minutes in the game. MJ had Geno taking important FO's. I'm not sure Bonino got out there either. I thought that was interesting, if not a little insane on MJ's part.
- madmike71

Sid never got on due to the fact the Malkin line iced the puck a couple times....but yeah I thought I was odd Sid wasn't out there with Malkin when that line went on the ice with about 1:30 left to play. That late in the game you'd think they would try to have 2 centers out there

I'd worry about your own defense.
- Blackstrom2

8 GA in 4 games + a shutout. Nice timing on this one bud.

By the way, did anybody else notice that Sid didn't get on the ice the last couple of minutes in the game. MJ had Geno taking important FO's. I'm not sure Bonino got out there either. I thought that was interesting, if not a little insane on MJ's part.
- madmike71

Who knows... He might have been pulling a Herb Brooks and making the line finish the game.

Time for Sid to get a curve on that blade. Roof those gifts!

This whole having forward depth and four competent lines thing is very satisfying; adding another standout rookie like Sprong is just icing on the cake.

Sid never got on due to the fact the Malkin line iced the puck a couple times....but yeah I thought I was odd Sid wasn't out there with Malkin when that line went on the ice with about 1:30 left to play. That late in the game you'd think they would try to have 2 centers out there
- willi

There was time to get Sid out there. I thought it was strange because let's face it, Geno isn't exactly dominate at the dot.

Yep, the Pens ran into 2 hot goalies, Scuds played really bad in the first game, the PP was bad in both games, and lines can use some slight tweaking.
Put the right 5 players on the ice for The top PP (Sid, Kessel, Geno, Letang, and Horny). Put Perron on the line with Malkin and Horny, try Sprong with Sid and Kessel. Play BB on the RW and put in Clendening instead of Scuds. - I guarantee a WIN!
- so_buzz11

I posted this a few games ago. I got a few of my wishes. I hope BB gets better very soon. I'm not sure if Sprong can play LW, but I wouldn't mind seeing:
Sprong-Bonino-Bennett or seeing Sprong with Sid and Kessel.
These are my next wishes. I think the team will be better with Beau healthy and trying Sprong in the top six or with Bennett and Bonino.

I think it's a right hand left hand thing and nothing more. Dumo and Maatta are both lefties and Clendening and Suckjoy are righties. Don;t read anything more into it than that.
- Dcoms

I hope Dumo turns out like Maatta did a few years ago (without the injuries/cancer). In other words, I hope Dumo turns out to be a surprise who has a great first [full] season, and then a legitimate top 3/4 the next few seasons with the potential to be in the top 2!