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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 04.22.22
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Matt Vensel
10:51
Happy Friday, Pens fans. I'm back from a much-needed vacation and I'm excited to chat with you all today. We'll get started at 11 a.m. But you can submit your questions whenever. Talk to you soon.
11:04
All right, let's do this. I'll chat for about a half hour and then I've got to hit the road for Detroit. Underrated road city, I might add. Downtown is on the upswing and Little Caesars Arena is a top-five rink for me.
John in SC
11:05
Love the chats. Thanks Matt. Don’t really understand all the negativism over Casey in goal. I thought he looked pretty darned good last night. Tristan and Casey make a pretty good tandem IMHO. What concerns me more in the playoffs is the defense giving up so many shots on goal. No goalie is going to make 40-50 saves every game. Am I wrong?
Matt Vensel
11:09
John, I've admired Casey for both his attitude and his game since I started covering the team in 2018-19. He was a mess the first few months of this season, perhaps because he was working with a new goalie coach in Andy Chiodo, and now appears to be back on track. He didn't face many "Grade-A" chances in Thursday's win but was incredibly poised, especially with so much traffic in front. Encouraging for sure. All that said, I think it's fair to be skeptical that Casey can string together a few good starts in a row to get the Pens through a first-round series against a really good opponent. That's not to say he can't do it, but it's obviously a big unknown right now.
Jay Daven
11:10
Matt, I am aware that Jarry has a broken foot but am concerned on the time he will be out.
Matt Vensel
11:14
Jay, the Pens have only said that he is out week-to-week and Mike Sullivan has pushed back on the notion that Jarry will definitely miss the start of the playoffs. But our Mike DeFabo reports that Jarry has a broken foot and is expected to miss at least four weeks with that injury. So it looks unlikely we'll see Jarry in the first round.
Sunner in Orlando
11:12
Hi Matt! Thanks for the chats! Any chance the Pens stick with Casey if he continues to play well to start the playoffs even if Jarry is ready by playoff time?
Matt Vensel
11:15
Sunner, we are definitely getting ahead of ourselves here. What I will say that Mike Sullivan has shown in the past that he has an excellent feel for his goalies and is unafraid to make a difficult and perhaps controversial decision if he believes it is the right one.
JCHESQ
11:14
Good morning, Matt.  Curious to hear your impressions from last night's game.  To me, aside from Casey on goal, the next biggest story was how terrible / lost KK looked.  It is hard to see him dressing for game 1 of round 1 if all forwards are healthy.  Also, while it is hard not to love a shutout, the number of shots allowed and subsequent rebounds are not exactly the right ingredients for playoff style hockey.
Matt Vensel
11:17
Sorry, but I don't see how that was the next biggest story, with the Pens finally putting together a pretty complete performance against a playoff team and with Jake Guentzel getting a hat trick to hit the 40-goal mark. For once, there was actually stuff to get excited about! Plus, Jeff Carter left the game with an injury. But your point about Kapanen is well taken and, no, it wouldn't be a surprise if he's the odd man out when the playoffs begin. It's either him or Danton Heinen or Brian Boyle. The specific matchup could be the deciding factor.
Guest
11:18
Which is the best playoff matchup possibility for the Pens? Do they have a prayer of making to the second round?
Matt Vensel
11:21
Honestly, none of them look favorable right now. Florida is the NHL's hottest team and would probably steamroll them if the Pens tried to play run and gun with them. The Rangers are also on a roll and Igor Shesterkin is back to playing at an MVP level. That leaves the Hurricanes, who looked bigger and faster than the Pens in their meetings this season. But they've been sputtering, too, and their All-Star goalie is also out. Maybe the Pens' experience would push them past the Hurricanes. Still, I see them as the clear underdogs in all three series. However, this is the NHL and they still have Sidney Crosby. So they've got more than a prayer.
LN
11:22
Nice to see you got some needed rest just like the pens did !  Did you notice what happened to carter in the game where he might have gotten hurt ?  I didn’t recall seeing anything
Matt Vensel
11:23
LN, I did not see what happened. He initially went to the locker room with one of the equipment managers, so it seemed like it was just an equipment thing. He returned and was spotted stretching his legs over the bench during a stoppage in play. A few minutes later, he went back to the locker room, this time with the head athletic trainer. We should get an update from Sullivan this afternoon.
Guest
11:23
How has the pens attendance been this season ?  Are they getting sellouts ?  It looks fairly full on tv
Matt Vensel
11:27
I believe they have only had one sellout, and that was the season opener. But attendance has picked up in the second half of the season and they've come real close to sellouts on most nights. The fans haven't always brought the fire, perhaps because the Pens have not given them much to cheer about recently. But there have been a few really fun nights, like Sid's 500th goal and the 11-2 drubbing of Detroit.
Guest
11:27
What do you think the issue with Kapanen is?  Lack of confidence or is he just not as good as expected ?
Matt Vensel
11:29
I would say both of those are factors. I have always seen him as a one-trick pony, a guy who got most of his production off the rush. The Pens pumped him up during training camp, perhaps as a motivational ploy, but he still hasn't found ways to round out his game. I still think he's a decent middle-six winger. But he probably needs a change of scenery. He could get one this summer.
Jesse
11:29
Hey Matt! Thanks for doing this, a question about the powerplay: Are the struggles for the powerplay in general a byproduct of the team's recent slide? A lack of scoring goals in general? Malkin being out? Or something else entirely?
Matt Vensel
11:31
Jesse, I wrote about the power play the other day. The goals have not been there but from a process standpoint everything has been pretty good. Their entries have actually improved and they are generating about the same amount of zone time. The only thing that has been missing is shots from the slot and, well, goals. They looked really good on that first-period PP on Thursday and I bet they're on the verge of a breakout, especially with Malkin returning Saturday.
DJ
11:31
In your opinion, does this team play a more playoff type of game when Geno is not in the lineup?
Matt Vensel
11:32
They didn't exactly play that way while he was suspended...
crosswordman
11:32
I'm curious about the reasoning behind the hesitation to bring up WB players.  For every one good play Kapanen makes there are 10 boneheaded ones that make him a healthy scratch candidate- why not give Zohorna or Hallander more chances?  Could playing in the playoffs before they're "ready" really be so damaging to their development as players? Thank you
Matt Vensel
11:33
It's a combination of the salary cap and wanting young players to get the experience of an AHL playoff run.
Hornets fan
11:33
Hello Matt, Rust seems to get lumped in with Letang and Malkin as someone the Pens may not re-sign. Do you agree he could be expendable? Seems like it would be a big hit to the offense.
Matt Vensel
11:34
It's far from guaranteed that he will be back. The Pens obviously value him. But it's a matter of finding the right deal for an older player who has struggled with injuries this season. I, personally, think he's a keeper, especially if they are moving on from Malkin.
Joe
11:34
What’s going on with Brian Dumoulin? He looks like a shell of his former shelf. Is he injured or has he lost a step due to several earlier ankle injuries? He looks like he’s trying to compensate for a lack of skating and is often most of position. What are you hearing?
Matt Vensel
11:37
Joe, that's been a bit of a mystery. It's fair to wonder if age and injuries are taking their toll with him. He had that nasty injury in St. Louis a couple of years back. But you're right, his skating has been a problem, both in transition defense and in getting back to retrieve pucks. Needless to say, they need him to stabilize for the playoffs, if that's possible.
Derrick Plapton
11:37
It's nearly Kentucky Derby time. Which of the Penguins seems most likely to retire to a farm and breed / train horses once their careers are over?
Matt Vensel
11:41
Derrick, I love donating money to racetracks, so this reminder got me excited. Tough question. We were just talking about Dumoulin and I can picture him living on a big plot of land and growing grapes for wine and training horses. Jarry already has a barley farm but I don't know that if is something he would be interested in. Maybe Boyle? Sorry, I don't have a great answer for you today, but this is definitely something I'm going to try to figure out next season, assuming we are allowed back in locker rooms.
Matt Vensel
11:42
And that will do it for today's chat. We will do this again next week. Crazy to think that next Friday is the regular season finale. The last two months have flown by. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. Have a great weekend, everyone!
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