derblaueClaus

I enjoy having that nice relaxing game we have. Imagine being a Pens or Bruins fan tonight.

It's not even Buffalos fault atm. Bruins aren't scoring.

Pens scored one. Not looking good for the Bruins.

Barring any injury bug or one of Babs surprising decision it probably is. And I'm with you on the hope.

Mrazek like Hasek.

Chris Kunitz after the first period against the Sabres. That sums up the Pens situation. Game is still tied there.

Jep, with Cole out he is certainly one of the key players. If he gets going Wings might make a deep run. If not....

Nope, could still be the Rangers depending how Boston and the Pens play.

This game feels weird. Nothing much to play for (except for the third division spot for us) and at least Babs doesn't seem to care much about it. I guess this will be a contest who wants to win this games least.

Nice !

If that's the way to give Thornton a pantstrick (= 4 goals) I'm in favor of doing it.

His mistakes aren't rookie mistakes. If you compare him to the Smith that played two years ago he plays pretty consistent hockey now. The Abby comparision is sound. You usually expect from a forward not only to try but to score goals while you expect from a defenseman to help to keep the puck out of the net. As you already admitted Abby exactly and offensive threat until this season. Abby stands as an example how to answer a question you asked and that isn't answerable definitely : How much long do you give a player to develop ? We seem to disagree on it. Smiths job description is little different from Abbys. It's more easy to look defensively sound when you're Winger. There are indeed some things not to like on Smith but overall, as you youreself said, he plays like a decent 3rd pairing defenseman. He is not spectacular, but he doesn't need to be. Our "defensive first" coach is playing him on a regular basis, so he has to have some value on that position. At least he seems to be thought of better than Oullet or Marchenko. The difference between Kindl and Smith is that the former is older and looks like a fringe NHL-Player. He played over 60 games only once in his career despite being on the roster for 5 years now. Smith has only played two and a half seasons so far, so their games totals and experience are hardly comparable. Of course not. Kronner will likely get some rest tomorrow.

A.) with 200 games at 26 years it isn't an excuse, it's a fact. B.) ask Abby about that.

Yet the same people who wanted to trade Tatar are the ones that now advocate trading Smith. That should make you think. Smith didn't play good the last few games.The penalty yesterday was stupid to take but in the end it's just a fluke and Smith will not do it again. (If this was some mid season game I'd probably just laughed at that.) What actually bothers me at the moment aren't this stupid penalty but his turnovers and his inability to simply get the puck out of the zone. There is no doubt that Smith has to better at these basics if he wants to stay at this team. But what I said at the beginning and through the season still holds true now : He is still a very young player and adjusting to the NHL especially as a defensive player takes some time. Yes, there is the probability that he might not adjust at all, but two years are way to short to be sure about that.

I think one point was also a struggling Quick. The worsened defense plays a role there of course, but at some time during the season quick didn't look as solid as he used to. He found his game later, but there are some goals and points the Kings probably like to get back.

Can't blame him. Good thing is we did it regardless and Smith will never do such a stupid thing again.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to invent a new variant every morning.

Spot on. Both of you. You'd think this is a Pens or Bruins forum.

How do these differ from the regular one ? Are they extra hard ?

100 %

Well deserved. Although we're somewhat limping in, the team played a great regular season. Let's see how far we can get. Let's GO Wings !

A little bit ? The puck changed direction about 10° to 20°. That last goal was as much Howards fault as the one going off Kronwalls skates in Game 7 against the Hawks.

If we get one point against Carolina we'd clinch 3rd place. That point tonight would have been huge for us. On the other hand it may spare us the Canadians in the first round.

Playoffs guys !!!

Ahh f***. I'd loved that point.