The Pittsburgh Penguins sit in a precarious position in the Eastern Conference standings, but host Nick Brlansky believes they are still closer to raising another banner than closing up shop. Tune in!
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5 Comments
It's too late to start a rebuild now. The chance was in the summer, before they signed 4 vets to long term deals. They've committed to trying to win, so they may as well go for it, sacrificing picks in the process.
The reality is this though…
Who's waiting in R1 if the Pens qualify? Boston or Carolina, unless the Pens go on a surge to get 3rd in the division.
It's quite hard to picture the Pens beating them 4 times out of 7. So can we really call them contenders with this roadblock?
If Sullivan used his lineup properly and Hextall made a few significant trades it would give more hope for a mega upset like that, but those things aren't gonna happen.
In terms of dominant lines, I think we should look at their actual goals for and against instead of expected.
GCRak is 16-13. ZMRust is 13-12.
They are fine, but nothing special. Actually the most effective line the Pens have is Poehling-Blueger-Archibald, with a 4-1 goals breakdown. They've been scored on once in 103 minutes together, despite getting very heavy D-zone starts. 0.58 GA/P60.
Compare that to our worst defensive line, ZMRak. They have a 3.93 GA/P60. It's amazing that Sullivan goes back to it, time after time.
I question your analysis on the quality of the pens top 6. One configuration is a near bottom first line and below average second. The other is at best 2 average second lines. How is that a strength?
Jarry being hurt is not helping, Desmith has honestly been terrible. He cannot keep us in games, he’s letting in terrible goals.
Sullivan needs to stop being so stubborn he needs to back to 59-87-67 & 16-71-17 or would love to try 16-87-67 & 59-71-16.
Honestly bottom 6 is just a mess. Liking the new combo of 10-25-43, they’ve looked really good. But McGinn-Blueger-Carter have been gawd awful. Idk how you fix this but to start the Poehling line should be the third line. Because the Blueger line is not generating any offence.
Carter needs to be sent idk somewhere. This man can’t even see the puck it’s actually sad. He’s playing around like he doesn’t give a crap.
I’m not buying it. I wanna believe it but I don’t.