Sydor To Return To The Lineup
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
May 27, 06:34 PM | Hype this story!
Pittsburgh Sports Insider is reporting that Darryl Sydor, a healthy scratch in every game of this year’s playoffs, is expected to make his return to the lineup tomorrow night for Game Three.
While there has been no indication as to who will be scratched, PSI speculates that Hal Gill could be the odd-man out due to his nonexistent physical play this series.
PSI also is reporting that another roster move could be made that would involve Evgeni Malkin, who has been invisible for several games.
Faceoff Factor will stay close tot his story and will bring any news as it breaks.
UPDATE: TSN reported on the 6:30 edition of SportsCenter that Kris Letang likely will be the defender who is scratched in favor of Sydor.
Comments
Dabich
May 27, 08:27 PM
Bad move, taking out Letang…Whitney is the one should sit…oh well…
Michael
May 27, 08:32 PM
While Letang has had an awesome rookie season, the Wings have made him look like a rookie. I thought after game 1 that putting Sydor in his place might be a good move, so I’m happy to see it happening now.
Jonathan Farzalo
May 27, 08:58 PM
a move concerning malkin…
....hahaha….sure, he has been invisible, but him not playing well is still better than beech or taffe when they ARE playing well. Stick with malkin, perhaps bump up staal to his wing if you want to mix up some lines and try to generate scoring, but i honestly find the benching of malkin laughable. He needs a wake up call sure, but with the series on the line, I still would want him and sid on the ice, prior games this series withstanding.
Letang out, i get that, I almost figured it was coming after that goal last night and his poor play recently. Not that others havn’t been bad (Gill….).
stoopidful
May 27, 09:54 PM
While I get that something needs to change, it is hard for me to understand why Letang is going to be the goat here. OK, he got beat on one goal. Not like he wasn’t in there trying. Where was his defensive partner? Where was Gonchar when that goal was scored over Orpik? Where have Gill and Scuderi been not just in this series but throughout the playoffs?
As for Michael’s comment of Letang being made to look like a rookie, I just don’t get it. Sure seems to me that Detroit has been avoiding coming down his side or going in his corner.
Malkin, what’s there to say about Malkin? He was hot in the regular season when we needed him. Armchair psych says he does better in the face of adverstity. Hopefully it is now adverse enough for him.
(Disclaimer: These are my opinions after having only watched the games once through at the bar during game night. I haven’t had the heart to replay on the DVR or go looking for lowlights on the web.)
Jonathan Farzalo
May 27, 10:25 PM
While I would say Letang IS being made the goat here, he hasn’t been as good as you’re saying. Yes, earlier in the season, and into the playoffs I would have said he was playing beyond his years, and that he was part of the winning system, but in these 2 games, he has been made to look like a rookie, not just on the goal, but in the corners, along the boards, etc. No, he is not alone, even scuds, gill, gonchar, etc, have been playing poorly, but who do you bench back there? Gonchar is too valuable to the PP, scuds, gill are too valuable to the PK, and to be honest, orpik has played pretty decent, not great but decent. Then there is Whitney, everyone’s whipping boy. With Malkin saying he isn’t comfy on the point, that job is again ryans, and he hasn’t played as bad as some think he has (there again, letang hasn’t either), but if it’s between whitney and letang, unfortunatly, letang is going to lose out, not by being worse or even playing worse, because of the situations they play within the game.
I agree, Letang doesn’t deserve it any more or less then the others, everyone has played poorly, but a change was needed, for nothing else but to try, perhaps provide a spark, who knows…
....rambling over.
Michael
May 27, 11:14 PM
First of all ..
Hello, “Michael” (above, in this thread) .. please; kindly change your account name. I already have that account name here .. so can you (please) differentiate your account from mine .. OK? {{ADMIN: I asked you to attend to this, but you’ve ignored it}}. ========================================
It now appears as if things are imploding under Therrien. And this is what I’ve almost been expecting would happen at some point during these playoffs.
Therrien’s coaching and “management” (along with the inept Yeo) really weren’t significant factors in the first three series this postseason, because the Penguins were clearly superior to those three teams in terms of talent and speed.
But Detroit is more-or-less on the same level talentwise and speedwise as the Penguins, so COACHING becomes a crucial factor in this series. You see the results .. with more of the same probably to follow to close-out this series. (Actually the Penguins are still more talented than the Red Wings).
Unfortunately; Therrien has a “system” which is rigid .. a conservative dump-and-chase strategy, but which at the same time “stretches-out” his own players on the breakouts .. often leaving the Penguins’ D-men far behind the Pens’ wingers on the ice. Against a team like Detroit, this is suicide. Against the Red Wings, the Pens need to have puck-support and come up the ice as a 5-man unit with only small gaps between the Pens’ players .. and they need to make short, crisp passes .. NOT long cross-ice passes. This is just one adjustment that Therrien__MUST__make, but of course he hasn’t .. and probably won’t. This alone is a significant coaching failure .. on just this one basic issue.
This needed adjustment, above, would allow the Penguins to move__as a unit__with speed through the neutral zone .. which is a basic necessity.
The Penguins’ D-men need to move up-and-into the offense .. they need to NOT be afraid to pinch at appropriate times.
The Penguins need to be__offensively aggressive__against Detroit. Trying to beat Detroit at the Red Wings’ own game is not working and is doomed to failure.
But Therrien apparently doesn’t see this.
Therrien is too arrogant and stubborn .. and maybe too “unaware” .. in his apparent inability and/or unwillingness to make the necessary tactical in-game adjustments to counter what Babcock is doing. And Babcock DID make tactical adjustments after the First Period of Game One.
Therrien thinks his “system” is perfect in all possible situations against all teams .. automatically. So he NEVER sees any reason to make meaningful in-game tactical adjustments. This is distorted thinking on Therrien’s part. His “adjustments” consist of haphazard willy-nilly line-changes or shift-changes .. these are NOT tactical adjustments. Therrien then responds to losses by castigating his players for “lack of effort” or “lack of execution” when the real problem is Therrien’s lousy coaching and poor player-management.
So now Malkin is becoming the big scapegoat. The problem with the powerplay involves forcing Malkin to play the left point. That’s just stupid. And if this is because Crosby is demanding a “stacked unit”, you still do not force a world-class forward like Malkin to play left point on the first powerplay unit. No wonder he’s complained about that. He knows it’s stupid and he knows it’s hurting the team. This is not “selfishness” on Malkin’s part. And Malkin also probably doesn’t appreciate being limited to so little (even strength) icetime early in games. Then, too .. Therrien pulls the “stacked” PP unit off the ice after only one minute .. conceding the entire second minute of the PP to an inferior unit.
Malkin is being relegated to playing second fiddle behind Crosby, and this is hurting Malkin’s game .. and thereby hurting the team.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 27, 11:15 PM
Just a quick blanket response:
Dabich, I agree, Whitney should be the one to sit. He’s consistently been the worst defender all season.
Michael, mark it on the calendar, I agree with you.
Jonathan, I severely doubt the roster move involving Malkin has anything to do with replacing him in the lineup — but I would put money on him being taken off the top power play unit.
StoopidFool, I sure hope you’re right about Malkin. He’s not alone in the “lack of effort” department, but the top players need to be top players — Hossa and Crosby included.
Tom, typical Letang-colored glasses. He has been the worst defender this series. Plain and simple. The two goals where he was directly targeted and beat are perfect examples of this. A few weeks ago, Gonchar stopped a shorthanded attempt with a diving effort and you proclaimed that Letang would have done the same without having to dive. Now, against Detroit, he is given his chance to prove you right — not once, but twice — and he does the opposite. While not deserving of a benching based on overall play this season, he has been the worst defender this series.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 27, 11:21 PM
Original “Michael,” there’s nothing the admins can do about people with the same name. This isn’t a typical message board where people register for an account. It’s simply a comments section for people to leave a brief message. Other than simply asking him to change his name, there’s nothing that can be done. Sorry.
Jonathan Farzalo
May 28, 12:03 AM
Matt, I don’t think for a second Malkin isn’t playing, but it would be interesting to see the 2nd unit with Malkin on it, perhaps creating those 2 PP’s that people assumed they would do before the playoffs began…and would make sense, for playing the opposite line of players that is on the ice at the end of the PP. But, that might actually make sense.
Dabich
May 28, 07:39 AM
It’s not hard to differentiate which Michael is which, LOL!
Again, blaming ONE PLAYER for the overall poor performance of this entire team is ridiculous.
Groove
May 28, 09:37 AM
I think everybody needs to calm down and rationalize here for a minute. Lets remember that this Penguins team is very good, especially at home. The Red Wings are without question the best defensive team the Pens have played in quite some time. Having said that, the comforts of home will be crucial tonight. Playing in Detroit for the Stanley Cup is a tremendous task to ask a bunch of kids who grew up in the Red Wings shadow of excellence. I trust Therrien, we have to at this point, and the skill and drive of this team. Sid is still Sid and Geno will play well. This is a team that thrives on playing in front of that crowd as evident by the very first shift in this playoff year. This Red Wing team isn’t the Russian Army, and even if they were, I think this Pens team is a little better than the 80 Olympic team. I think we’ll all be pleasantly surprised tonight.
Dabich
May 28, 09:53 AM
Groove ~ It’s nice to hear a calming voice. And yeah, we may score and maybe even win at home. But I highly doubt we shall bring home the cup. :/
But…I’m still proud of our team, going from worst in the league 2 years ago, to being in the finals now.
Head Coach Michel Therrien
May 28, 10:55 AM
So, I finally ‘ave de time to write to de faceoff of de factor again.
I am sure all of de fan are in de pee in de pants mode now. De are all panic, all depress, all it is coach fault, it is Malkin fault, it is Marc-Andre fault, it is de Mike Yeo’s fault. Where is dis player, where is dat player.
Dis is turn into vomit city.
Our player and de coach__yes__i__mean__ME__“de original” Micheal__have failed up to dis point agains’ a good team dat is getting all de bounce, all de call, and outworking our player.
But tonight can be a new begin. Tonight at de Mellon we can all, coach, player, fan, start someting special.
We can regain de focus.
We can get back de discipline.
We can all make de sacrifice. Alltoe, I will not be giving up de smoke. Some of de player now call me de Joe Camel.
I want de Mellon to rock louder dan it ever has before. I want de bickering, de finger point, de use of__double space holder__for__emphasis__to all END.
‘Ave some pride in de team, your player, your city and bring it. Wear your ‘art on your shoulder tonight, dat is where de player ‘art shall be.
I am making de change now. So, can some of de poster here make any change in der attitude__tell__me__dat? Or is all of de support and fate gone?
De player are ready.
Focus. Discipline. Sacrifice.
Michel
Ashley Gallant
May 28, 01:22 PM
In Michel I trust.
By the way, I’m glad to see that it doesn’t look like you took Mike Milbury’s suggestion of benching Fleury for Conklin.
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