DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: Bad defensemen

33 comments

1. Being a 6:30 game start for me, I got to see most of the second half. Hockey is supposed to be up and down, right? Much of what I saw was decent; some bad, some really good; Acciari was a beast when I was watching. As much as I want this team to be a Stanley Cup competitor, right now I'm going off nothing but "feelings." I still think they have an honest chance, but it's early in the season and a lot of work needs to be done. Sid does look off and when Geno doesn't produce it generally means he does things that aren't beneficial… Right now, both are ok as the season is young 😁

2. HOW MUCH IS YOUR STOMACH DROPPING, DK? O'Connor is INVISIBLE on the first line. 0 shots on goal 😂. By all means, deflect to another topic like defensemen. I already know I'm in your head

3. THERE IS ONE GUY RESPONSIBLE for this… the GM , but no one has the balls to call out .

4. Hey DK, WHY do they give up these last minute goals, especially last year we had the exact same problem???

5. Sully bullied his gm”s to get this aged squishy soff roster. Fire sully

6. Ryan graves is use less in front of net #2 #3goal doesn't not act to take opponent out watch him in upcoming games

7. Crosby looks like crap,it's the 3rd an 4th line carrying this team

8. It’s weird how the 3rd and 4th line are almost carrying this team rn while the top 2 lines even Crosby is kinda struggling a bit with still the bad D. It’s like the script has totally flipped lol

9. I went to bed after the 2nd. Glad I got the extra sleep.

10. It almost seems like the whole team is composed of all forwards with those on defense not good enough to make the bottom six, which ironically is better than the top six.

11. Thanks DK – this movie is playing on a loop — we win or tie games on great goaltending and we lose games based on everything else

12. Hey DK, I am unable to watch most of these games. I’m stuck watching condense YouTube highlights, but from your perspective are other teams singling out specific defenseman to increase their energy output. And the other question I have. Are teams allowed to change their goalie for overtime and shootouts situations. just thinking, maybe you have a goalie who for some reason or another is much better dealing with those pressure situations. or a strategy of putting in somebody new that the opposing team hasn’t seen the whole game.

13. How does Karlsson go from phenom to pffft?! Is it the Penguin system? Is it the Eastern teams? How does such a good player lose it like he has?

14. Nice and edgy DK

15. Nice assist by Sid coming off the scrum on the boards but something still seems off.

16. Seen this game 800x in the past 5 years. No reason to watch anymore until Sullivan is gone. It's like watching the Pirates, utterly hopeless and most of the team has given up.

    Ned is just slightly better than Jarry. Just need to run Blomquist as 1A.

    Defense is so bad it's hard to even discuss really. Good attempt at it.

17. Why is the GM getting a pass? Did he not sign both Graves and Gryz? And in the case of Gryz, he was coming off a season where he was a healthy scratch with Boston, and he somehow got a $2.75M contract from this GM. At the end of the day, they have too many bad players, especially on defense.

18. maybe it is Sully….idk. Karlsson can't be this past his prime, I don't get it. At least they got a point.
    It's also early, they usually start slow.

19. Maybw should try the lines that gave success

    Brust-Crosby-Beauvillier
    Rakkel-Malkin-Bunting
    Puljujärvi-Eller-O Connor
    Acciarri-Glass-Hayes

    Letang-Grzelcyk
    Peterson-Karlson (Svensson line)
    St Ivani-Graves-Shea

    Djokovic

20. That 3rd period aside from the goals given up was I thought , really good. On the goals given up the pens got hemmed in defensively. Graves lost the puck and couldn't find it backskating. And with the extra attacker couldn't clear without icing the puck, hopefully Letang wasn't trying for the EN.

21. In the shootout Wolf was 3 times gloveside. I believe it was the first 3 attempts ( 2 goals 1 post). Why would anyone after attempt anything else. This team thinks they need to play 3D chess when they can barely handle playing checkers

22. Gotta get rid of rust, he’s too slow too small and doesn’t do anything exceptionally well. need two new wingers on the top line really. Also have to keep DOC with Eller

23. Grzelcyk was brought in to rehab and sell for assets at the deadline. Plain and simple. He's supposed to be someone else's #6 for a 3rd rounder. Time to give up on that opportunity and get Pickering up.

24. I agree DK. More defense. They have to stop breakaways, and go after the puck. Two on one just doesn't work very well. They need to turn this around to their advantage. Thank you DK for another great show.

25. ill once again say that the system has to change. Ive never seen any team give up the 2 on 1 like the Pens do. We have low quality defenseman that are pinching and forcing high quality forwards to cover the point. It makes no sense. 58, 65 should be the only guys pinching right now

26. Maybe if there was some continuity in the lines and they were given some time to gel, the top 2 lines might be more successful and the overall team D would be better. I think the lines coming into the season were pretty much the right ones. The Pens seem to be making all these line changes out of desperation and I dont think that is right.

    Also, something seems wrong w. Crosby…like he is not happy with the goings on out there.

27. Now it’s the defenseman’s fault..?
    Jesus christ dude.

28. The Pens have quite a bit of money invested in Letang, and, in my opinion, he could have been let go and put the money to better use.

29. Mike Sullivan is a good coach. But if there's not some kind of shake up amongst the players to get the defenseman out that are terrible. Then I'm afraid it's going to have to be Sullivan.

30. Hey DK, I was at the game last night at ice level and although entertained found myself both surprised and also rienforced in some things I saw.
    -some truely great players were fine overall but had some VERY sloppy plays in both Sid and EK65 (a couple of egregious passes from both that were not skilled players trying skilled things but checking out on simple details).
    -DOC and surprisingly Cody Glass looked by far the Penguins best players with honourable mention to Rakkel.
    -Graves looked better than I have seen him, although still…
    -Gryzlic should be on waivers or at min press box
    -Beauvillier accomplished as much as I did from the stands but skated a lot faster. He was 4' behind every play with a great motor but had zero impact on the ice. How he can be fed shits with Sid after the pk is beyond me. He played more top line minutes last night (when he was on the 3rd line) than Poulin has had in every preseason game combined. It is a TRAVESTY to waste a spot on this guy doing everything sort of ok when you could take a chance on a young guy that might do a thing really well.
    -support players like JP, Eller, Hayes, st ivey did all that was expected of them and were solid.
    -Rust was his dependable self.
    -you can see Geno being more defensively responsible, it looks almost unnatural but he seems committed to doing it.
    Overall a good effort but with a fringe playoff team those occasional gaffs are all the difference.
    Final note, I had hoped so see bloomqvuist live but ned was solid. I think at this point JB may be the best option for #1A until he shows otherwise

31. Well, this is the first. I never thought I’d be watching your show like I do when it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates.. meaning I don’t watch the games I don’t even care anymore. I just listen to your show to see how bad they are. Keep them coming I guess and if they ever turn the thing around, I’ll start watching them again… But until that point there really isn’t too much of a reason to.

32. Spot on. Bringing in Karlsson was a big mistake. Great player, but too much like Letang. Need tough defensemen who ride the boards and blanket attackers. Grzelcyk was a disaster last night.
    And Sid? He misses Boy Wonder. Sad. 😔

33. Graves has been unplayable at this point. Confidence completely lost and I hope he doesn’t see this. Nothing on him just a liability. D just soft all around no forward group worried to jam against them.