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Originally Posted by gargamel
You may be right, but the Malkin-Neal line has never looked worse than it did in the 3rd period last night without Iginla on it. They were scored on twice and didn't create a single scoring chance. With Iginla, they were at least getting chances, though maybe that's not much better since they couldn't convert on any of them anyway.
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Yeah, I thought Iginla played decently, and he came out in the first period with some jump and a nose for the net. However, he bobbled or misplayed more passes and setups from his linemates than he created for them, and his hustle and awareness were pretty bad. Who the heck is he supposed to be checking out there on the Krejci goal? Just brutal. Boston's top line is eating them alive, and that appears to be the matchup Julien wants.
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If Crosby is going to keep playing like he has in games 1 and 2, the Penguins would be better off going with the lineup that had won 9 of 11 before Crosby's return in game 2 against the Islanders. With as much as the whole team defers to Crosby when he's in the lineup, if he's not going to play like the best player in the world that he is or at least like an All Star, they're not going anywhere.
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I think this is all coaching. Bylsma is letting Crosby take shifts that are too long, isn't reeling him in with the refs and seems to be promoting this self-implosion by Crosby by letting him run wild out there. He's completely off his game and the coach keeps throwing him out there and hoping something positive happens.
It's the coaches job to manage Crosby's icetime and he's doing a terrible job of it.