RedLightGoesOn

The Sharks somehow end up as a train wreck one way or another in the playoffs. The diving, the invisibility of star players, etc. The Sharks have a few good players, but that's about it. Jumbo Joe and Marleau are definitely on the decline. The Sharks are the team that can't win a Cup but will make sure the opponent that beats them goes on to lose the next round. Congrats, you are good enough to take a toll on a team but aren't good enough to win. Everything else about that organization is going to have to change if they really want to win a Cup. McLellan is definitely not helping things change around there, especially when he had to tell the refs to stop calling his players out for diving. Maybe he cannot make the changes he wants to yet because of current players or politics. You figure he would try emulate Babs after working in Detroit. Bylsma being extended is shocking. You figure he would have been the fall guy for all the playoff blunders that have plagued the Penguins since 2009. You might say who is going to replace Bylsma, but the truth is it looks like anyone could do that. Maybe Bylsma is on a short leash as the head coach. There is definitely a strong sense of arrogance that the Penguins have had, and I think that is a terrible attitude to take into a playoffs series. During the Islanders series he let his team run loose and play like crap. If Nabokov were a better goaltender the Pens would have been beat by the Islanders. His players decided that they were going to play when they wanted to. The success against the Senators is nothing new, and I thoroughly expected Pens to beat the Senators in the fashion that they did. It is clear to me that Bylsma is struggling to coach that team, given by the performance of his team and his inability to make adjustments.

OH MY GOD.

Missed call on a goal sets the Kings back. s***ty.

Down 0-2 , Kings are sinking fast.

Shero is going from GM of the year to textbook example of what you can't do in the new NHL cap era.... give it a few years at most.

The Hawks just beat LA in LA for the first time in the playoffs... without Keith. They are looking pretty solid. Now how about the role reversal where Chicago loses 3 straight?

The Penguins are going to lose this series because the first 2 games they decided to be full of themselves.... I feel like the Pens have/had a lot of arrogance going into this series and let it get to their head. That's probably the best explanation of why they blew the first two games in such an awful fashion. They were busy trying to plaster guys into the 3rd row with hits, complaining to the refs at every chance possible, frustrated that they couldn't effortlessly play their game... Also Boston happens to be a very good team which is something the Penguins completely ignored or didn't respect. For all the Pens fans that ***** about the so called Jagr "hook" that led to the GWG, they should take these factors into account: 1. Whining about everything that Boston does to you while doing basically the same stuff to them probably pisses off the refs. Can Crosby go in between two whistles without talking to them? The refs are going to let things play out, and I am sure there are calls they know they could make but won't because it isn't as black and white. Crying about it doesn't endear the anyone to the refs. This goes for any team. 2. You are in double OT, in the conference finals.... guys are dead tired, worn out, injured, etc. You go to a scrum against the boards to get the puck and you see something that might be a hook, but then realize this is double OT playoff hockey in June. Malkin got away with a hook as well and did the "chicken wing" with his arm to tie up Jagr's stick. It wasn't a clear cut hook, so the refs decided to let them play. 3. There were several noncalls that happened in both OT periods, but being the nature of the situation the refs want them to play. 4. Malkin is bad at hanging on to the puck. I remember a few games ago NBC did a short clip of footage that showed Malkin's lapses in his ability to hang on to the puck. Jagr might be 40 and a shell of his former self, but you wouldn't know that based on his OT play. He was so hungry out there and you could really see his talent show. Malkin was probably exhausted and definitely mentally frustrated.

There have been bad calls for delay of game when the puck was deflected out of play.... It is funny to listen to Pierre say that no player is trying to shoot the puck out of play in their defensive zone when it happens, that's because it is a penalty and Pierre is an idiot. If it isn't a penalty you would see that stuff happen left and right. If it becomes a discretionary penalty then it tips it way out of balance of when it should be fairly called and when it should not. The simplest way to avoid such a fiasco is to keep it as a delay of game penalty and suffer the occasional bad call than suffering the alternative.

I don't think it was suspension worthy. It was clear that he didn't intend to high stick Carter, he was just trying to return the slash Carter gave to Keith moments earlier, it was just bad luck. There have been far more plays that should have received the NHL's attention, but instead it is this mishap that Keith gets a 1 game suspension. Nothing about Bolland or Shaw's elbows to the head. Nothing about Crosby's elbow to the head, etc. Cooke didn't get anything.

I doubt Boston is going to lose this series. Most of the Bruins on the team have lost a series being up 3-0 before, they have come back from being down 3 goals in a Game 7 with less than 10 minutes to go.... They know better than anyone not to let up at all. Penguins are going to work really hard to win Game 3, but if they fail it is lights out for them. The first half of the first game was good for the Penguins, other than that it hasn't even been a contest. Now I get to listen to NBC supporting the Pens telling us all how they can come back, etc, etc etc. And now, some fun news: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/06/even-jetblue-pilots-think-sidney-crosby-is-a-crybaby/

Bruins are decimating the Pens, someone should call FEMA. Yet NBC seems to keep talking up the Pens, despite looking like a group of high schoolers against a bunch of men.

Oh god. Boston knows how to quiet a building.

3-0 WOOOHOO!!!!!

Talking about switching goalies if a 3rd goal is scored. Pens are suffocating.

Look at Dupuis's +/- the last 3 seasons and playoffs. They are way better than Franzen's. This year Dupuis has been on a surge, but he also plays on the top line with Crosby and Kunitz. Maybe Dupuis's line mates (and division) also helps his +/-, but he would be on a top line here as well. I look at PPG and +/- to determine how effective a player is. Franzen's higher PPG can be negated by his +/-. Is that worth the cap hit? Dupuis may not have Franzen's numbers but Dupuis's +/- tell me that he can do more than just shoot the puck, making him more valuable in a team game. Also, Dupuis is 1 year older than Franzen, so buyer beware.

Franzen's point production is only helped by the fact that he can have multi goal/point games in streaks. Sure. He does his job just frequently enough to maintain decent averages but when you look beyond the numbers he is useless. His playoff production is a joke, and that's what also matters. In general Franzen just sits around and shoots the puck, this might have worked for Brett Hull in his later years (especially in Detroit) but things are way different and we can't sign superstars to all 4 lines anymore. Franzen's average point production is good, and we would be hard pressed to find that kind of production for an affordable price. Finding a replacement is hard, and it just disgusts me that we are stuck with him on the top 6. Has anyone considered what Franzen's numbers would be elsewhere? What about someone else who is below Franzen's PPG average, could they out produce Franzen on this team? I would rather take someone who skates, checks, etc, -- plays with more effort because chances are they will produce more consistently and less streaky What good is a player who the team depends upon as a top 6, who helps you get into the playoffs and then becomes invisible? It is sort of a Catch 22 marred by his contract length and price.

Poorly run/managed teams that had financial issues were the top reason for a salary cap. Now most of these teams still struggle in the cap era. Maybe there should be new ownership/management established for these teams? They don't seem to make smart decisions or invest in their future with draft picks.

Franzen's effort is inconsistent and is really holding him back from being a flat out better player. His numbers would easily rise above average, even is +/- ! But when you don't put in a solid effort every night, your production nights will be streaky and occur just at the right times to keep you in the "average" range. Point production might be good, but work ethic is valued on this team more than that. Franzen's work ethic is crap. He is taking up valuable space on our roster and valuable cap money and is a HUGE reason why our 2nd line is crap when Dats and Z play on the 1st. Like I said before, we need to motivate him or get rid of him before its too late. A contract buyout now is crazy talk, but maybe not within 3 years.

So the question(s) for Game 2 are: 1. Can the Bruins shut down Pittsburgh's offense again? 2. Will the Pens defense improve? I personally think if the Pens can't get their offense going it is going to continue to pressure their defense to play better. If Boston plays hard I am certain the Pens defense will have its lapses and you will see Bruins generate great scoring chances. Also, I like that the Bruins played physical but didn't make it their priority to hit everyone as much as possible. They played a smart game by focusing on stick work than just trying to blast guys into the 3rd row. They didn't seem to really flinch when Pittsburgh got very physical/gooned it up, so good on them for keeping their composure.

Bruins stepped on their throats the last half of this game 0_0

Can we just go ahead and label Franzen the new Robert Lang? I'm half kidding and half serious.

I liked Abby a lot on the top line. He would battle hard, go to the rough areas of the ice and scrums to get the puck or make a play.... We need more of that on our team. However, I don't think his skill set is good enough to consistently produce in a top 6 spot. Most people agree that Abby should be in bottom 6, I agree. I think for a bottom 6 he is lethal and can be way more effective in a grind/shutdown/energy line -- that was proved by his top 6 play. Our top 6 needs the likes of a young Bert and Homer (even a younger Cleary) to compliment our skill, add a sniper to boot and this team will be brutal on up front. Cleary is aging, Homer is gone, Bert's future is in question, Franzen is a former shell of himself, Filp's future is in question (at the moment). We need to find a way to replenish these types of players to find our former devastating top 6 success... I also like the idea a lot of having Nyquist-Andersson-Brunner on the same line. If Brunner had played with Nyquist and Andersson in GR they would have way more chemistry. I want to see this chemistry develop as they also develop as players. Keeping them as a bottom 6 line is going to win us games, pure and simple.

Franzen is going down hill and is useless the majority of the time. He skates lazily, makes mistakes, doesn't put much effort in, etc. I don't think someone who has proven to be largely ineffective and unmotivated worth any cap hit. What is worse is he doesn't seem to care and is way to comfortable making a fair chunk of change while playing like crap and being outpeformed by Cleary in the CHI series. This guy is a nonfactor for us. If we aren't prepared to motivate him by benching him or scratching him, I say we look to unload him in the near future via trade and get some value out of him before it is too late.

What's sad about this statement is how shocked we are about this. If he played better everyone would have been chanting Cleary's name. He was GOD AWFUL and would always find a way to choke on HUGE moments. He could have easily tipped this series in our favor if he capitalized on the truck tons of chances and not make as many terrible mistakes/plays with/without the puck. The fact that he is point leader shows us how bad our offense is/was.

Can't believe we really sucked that much and lost. I hate it. This teams needs some adjustments, but we played very very well and surpassed all expectations. The future is bright.