I still can't understand why Kunitz is an automatic on our PP. As a net front presence he's pretty mediocre, and playing a skill game in the offensive zone isn't his forte either.
Every single other player that's been used regularly on the 1st PP unit this year serves a better purpose. Sid, Geno, Neal, Letang, and Sully. Stick with that, for ****'s sake.
I still can't understand why Kunitz is an automatic on our PP. As a net front presence he's pretty mediocre, and playing a skill game in the offensive zone isn't his forte either.
Every single other player that's been used regularly on the 1st PP unit this year serves a better purpose. Sid, Geno, Neal, Letang, and Sully. Stick with that, for ****'s sake.
Gotta have someone willing to stand in front of the net... Don't see anyone on that list who will do that, which is why Kunitz is on the first PP.
Gotta have someone willing to stand in front of the net... Don't see anyone on that list who will do that, which is why Kunitz is on the first PP.
As I said, Kunitz is a mediocre net-front presence. And when he's not in front of the net, he contributes nothing to the PP.
If my choice is between Kunitz and a guy like Sully, who can gain the zone, make quick decisions with the puck to maintain possession, and provide an RH shot from the left side of the ice, I'm taking Sullivan every time. Ditto Neal's shot, Geno and Sid's offensive IQ, and Letang's presence as a defenseman.
He's just not good enough at his "specialty" to warrant his inclusion over any of the other options.
As I said, Kunitz is a mediocre net-front presence. And when he's not in front of the net, he contributes nothing to the PP.
If my choice is between Kunitz and a guy like Sully, who can gain the zone, make quick decisions with the puck to maintain possession, and provide an RH shot from the left side of the ice, I'm taking Sullivan every time. Ditto Neal's shot, Geno and Sid's offensive IQ, and Letang's presence as a defenseman.
He's just not good enough at his "specialty" to warrant his inclusion over any of the other options.
I don't disagree about Kunitz's abilities, but I can't think of any successful PPs that don't screen goalies. It is a thankless job and I doubt we want Neal, Geno or Sid as the lone man down low being pounded on.
That again is why Kunitz is there. Tangradi is pretty good at that role, but oh well....
They have to win this game. If they somehow win this series, the loss in Game 1 might have been the best thing that could have happened to them.
We'll see. I have no reason to believe they'll learn from it. Why would they? They've lost games like this many times before. They play the way they think is best to win, to a fault.
Someone on NHL Radio called it "adrenaline dumping." I think that's pretty appropriate. Go balls out for 10-20 minutes, usually get head but not always, then after that? Well against the Winnipegs and Torontos of the world it works wonders. Those teams usually don't have enough to come back. Either that or they open it up enough that we score even more. Not the case with legit teams. We looked like complete **** in the OT, period. What's the right adjustment? I can't say for sure, and I wouldn't ever want to blunt the hammer they try to put down on teams early, but they need to play the entire game hard. Will they? Well, they don't really have a choice if they want to make it to the Finals. We shall see.
One thing is for sure, in my opinion, someone will lose tomorrow. The way I see it, the Penguins NEED to win this, or else they will go down 2-0 in the series. The players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal will need to score goals, and the players like Marc-Andre Fleury, Brooks Orpik and Jordan Staal will need to make sure that goals aren't scored against them. It's the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they're playing to win the Stanley Cup. Whichever team has scored more goals at the end of the hockey game wins said hockey game. The first hockey team to win 16 games without losing 4 games in 1 series will win said Cup. People die when they are killed. Let's go Pittsburgh Penguins.
I think I might be alone in this, as I now look at the last game as a good thing ; the pens and the flyers are quite alike in how they play, and the pens are equally capable of flicking a switch like the flyers did last game and just turn it all around.
I don't disagree about Kunitz's abilities, but I can't think of any successful PPs that don't screen goalies. It is a thankless job and I doubt we want Neal, Geno or Sid as the lone man down low being pounded on.
That again is why Kunitz is there. Tangradi is pretty good at that role, but oh well....
I think I might be alone in this, as I now look at the last game as a good thing ; the pens and the flyers are quite alike in how they play, and the pens are equally capable of flicking a switch like the flyers did last game and just turn it all around.
It can be a good thing if they respond the right way.
