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11 Comments
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Concerned with line 2 (not line 3) & specifically i've been saying for months Smith was a bum signing. I think the "bright lights" of playing along legends like Crosby & Malkin are too bright for this clown. He can't handle the expectations. Softy: is written all over his face. At least DOC is trying hard, but i never believed he had top 2 line talent. Barely a third liner imo. Third line has gobs of talent and i believe in those men. If they keep playing together they will figure things out. It has the makings of an elite third line. Pens have to make a trade for someone who can gel with Geno. I wanted Kuzmenko….now Tarasenko may be the best remaining option. Need to deal Smith.
Judgment on Dubas yet ? Maybe not , but he’s not beyond criticism to this point . The teams no more impressive than Hextalls was .
The more I watch Geno, the more I wonder if he's become a drag on his linemates instead of a center that elevates them. I almost get the sense that the guys who play with him are spending too much time either covering for his deficiencies or acceding to his wishes. How many power plays have we seen where Karlsson is feeding Geno for a one-time that hits the glass as often as it hits the net? Are we seeing a repeat of what happened with Kessel when Geno finally decided he couldn't play with him any longer, that he has way too much influence over how things are going to be done?
Remember how responsibly the team would perform when Geno was out for 10 weeks a couple years back ??
For me that's spot on DK. When they close the gate, they're pretty good at it and they can beat everyone. But besides the 1st line and 1st D-pair there's not al lot to bulldozer a team away. And as soon as their instincts want to try that they get punished for it immediately. The way I see it Dubas should be looking for players who improve their overall defensive game and/or offensive players who can be difference makers. Or he makes the conclusion that this team isn't gonna win the cup this year and he sells players who are not gonna help to win a cup next year.
I thought doc was good the other night on the pk and in the defensive zone but there was nothing offense wise and actually passed up a good shooting opportunity.
I think it's time to have smith-malkin-rak
Doc-eller-puljuvari
Harkin-white-carter…Smith and rak even though struggling are the best chance to get malkin going offensively. And the thirdline would eat opponents up and be trusted to lock down games.
I didn't see any issues with DOC in the last game. He was in aggressively on forechecks and won a few puck battles along the boards. Of the 2nd line, he was really the only one who stood out as doing anything measurable. Ah, lemme guess, because Malkin was invisible yet again, we have to put some blame on DOC now, because beating the dead horse called Smith is getting old? C'mon. Who here who really watched the game had an issue with O'Connor's effort? Maybe be if the moved him to Eller's wing we'd see more than we're seeing with him strapped to Malkin's non-productive butt.
Hey DK! Enjoy your vacation in Winnepeg! It is worth a side-trip to go down and great some amazing Mennonite food in Steinbach (and a Mennonite heritage museum). There's also a very interesting memorial or museum to the Ukrainian famine (Holodomor) in Winnepeg.
The Pens need to get a lot tougher, tired of them being punched in the face . Ludvig is just a young man to young to go up against the big guys pushing us around .