Good evening Penguins fans!
Welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Tonight, our boys will be part of NBCSN's "Wednesday Night Rivalries" as they play host to our mortal enemies, the Philthadelphia Flyers.
Yes, you read that right. If you are looking for non-partisan write up for the Pens-Flyers matchup tonight, you are in the wrong place. I have a deep hatred for the Flyers, like most Pens fans do. When it comes to my Pregame show with Philly, I don't hold back. I will call them "Philthadelphia." You will see #LOLFlyers and #PhuckPhilly. If you don't like it, then you're probably a Flyers fan, but if you are into it, this is going to be a fun trip. So let us begin the latest edition of the Pregame show now.
Check out tonight's game day song from one of my absolute favorite bands. "PS I Hate You" by Reel Big Fish
The State of the Penguins
Saturday night, the Pens got back to their winning ways. They played an incredibly solid game against the Isles. The offense put up over forty shots in the contest and forwards Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist were phenomenal. The Pens special teams was flawless, killing all seven penalties and going 2 for 4 on the power play. The Pens won in solid fashion, 3 to 1.
Both games were big for the Pens. Though they lost to the Stars, it was a good experience for this team to use as a building block to future success. The same for the Islander game. They didn't blow the opponent out and had to play a consistent and solid sixty minutes of hockey to earn that victory. Both games will be important to the success of the team down the road in my opinion.
As for tonight, the Pens welcome to Consol their number one rivals, the Philthadelphia Flyers. The Pens look to reclaim some leverage in this series, starting with the game tonight. So lets get to know the enemy a little bit better.
#LOLFLyers: Philly is in Town
The Flyers are trying to regain some stability, but they didn't do much to make that happen in the offseason. They traded away fan favorite Scott Hartnell for Burgh native RJ Umberger. They brought in Michael Del Zotto to replace Kimmo Timonen who will miss the year with blood clots. They were a mediocre team last year and they lost one of their first liners and their top goon in Steve Downie. As far as I am concerned, the team deserves the #LOLFlyers that is so often associated with the team on Twitter. There are worse teams in the NHL, but the Flyers are a flat out joke.
Despite being a joke, the Flyers have controlled the series between the two teams during the Bylsma years. The Pens are 2-11-1 v. the Flyers at home since Consol opened in 2010-11. They lost four of five games to the Flyers last season, including four in a row and that one win came in Philthadelphia. The Flyers embarrassed us in the 2012 playoffs and frankly, the Pens never got over it with Danny B behind the bench. That ends tonight.
The Pens have a new coach, a new staff and a new philosophy around the team that I feel will change their fortunes against the Flyers. Need more reasons, fine, here is two more.
- Sidney Crosby has 30 career goals against the Flyers. Sid loves to play them. He loves to troll them - just look at his Halloween costume this year. The Flyers are the only team in the league that brings the Matt Cooke out of Sidney Crosby. Finally, Sid HATES these guys and HATES losing to them even more.
- Evgeni Malkin has 58 career points v. the Flyers. He makes a huge difference in these games when he keeps a level head and stays out of the box. Proof in the pudding, 58 points in 43 games.
Here are the news and notes around the Flyers:
- Brayden Coburn will be a game-time decision for the Flyers.
- The Flyers will OFFICIALLY be without defensemen Kimmo Timonen (blood clots), Sam Morin (jaw) and Marc-Andre Bourdon (concussion), and centers Ryan White (chest) and Vinny Lecavalier (foot).
- Flyers are 1-3-2 this season, good for four points and seventh in the Metropolitan.
Projected Lines and Pairs for the Flyers tonight:
- Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek
- Brayden Schenn - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Wayne Simmonds
- RJ Umberger - Sean Couturier - Matt Read
- Zac Rinaldo - Chris VandeVelde - Blair Jones
- Nic Grossman - Andrew MacDonald
- Nick Schultz - Mark Streit
- Michael Del Zotto - Luke Schenn
Steve Mason starting in the net.
The Goons I am watching for tonight:
- Jakub Voracek: I hate this guy, but damn does he have some talent. He usually is good for a least a power play goal against the Penguins. He is a solid player, watch for him tonight.
- Sean Couturier: He is very good at shutting down Evgeni Malkin, and you can bet he will be out there against the Pens second line again tonight. He is capable of scoring as well, but his main job will be to shut down Geno.
- Zac Rinaldo: This guy has about as much hockey talent as I do, but when it comes to douchery he has hall-of-fame credentials. This is the guy the Pens will have to keep an eye on because he will run Sid or Geno if given the chance. However, unlike previous years, he will need to look over his shoulder for Steve Downie this time around with the Pens.
News & Notes From the Pens
- Defensemen Scott Harrington and Center Andrew Ebbett were re-assigned to the Baby Penguins Tuesday morning to play last night. Both were recalled this morning. Ebbett was recalled opening night from Wheeling but never saw game action. Same for Harrington, who was called up for the Toronto game but never played.
- Defenseman Derrick Pouliot was officially re-assigned to the Baby Pens Tuesday. He has been with the team since the second week of training camp, but has been unable to play due to recovery from offseason surgery. Pouliot made his debut for the Baby Pens last night.
- It was announced on Tuesday that Marc-Andre Fleury would get the start in net tonight v. Philthadelphia.
- Thomas Greiss, the backup netminder who has yet to see action, will play either Thursday night in Detroit or Saturday in Nashville it was announced today.
- Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who has missed all four games thus far due to a knee injury, practiced the last two days fully with the team. Bortuzzo skated with the team again today and is incredibly close. He will not play tonight but he should be in the lineup by Saturday in my opinion.
- Beau Bennett is getting closer to return. He is expected back to practice later this week or next week.
Projected LInes, Pairs and Power Play Configurations
Lines:
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Pascal Dupuis - Brandon Sutter - Evgeni Malkin
- Steve Downie - Nick Spaling - Blake Comeau
- Craig Adams - Marcel Goc - Zach Sill
D-Pairs:
- Kris Letang - Olli Maatta
- Paul Martin - Christian Ehrhoff
- Rob Scuderi - Simon Despres
Power Play Units:
- Kris Letang - Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Paul Martin - Christian Ehrhoff, Steve Downie - Brandon Sutter - Pascal Dupuis
Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in the net.
My Keys to the Game
2. Reclaim the Series: The Pens have lost 4 straight to Philly and 13 of 15 at Consol. That needs to end tonight. How? The new system, the new philosophies and guys like Steve Downie. The Pens need to use past failure as fuel and not a crutch, and take the series and the game back to the Flyers!
3. Big Stars: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have big numbers against these goons and it is important that they bring those numbers to the table again tonight. The Pens need the top two lines to make things happen for the series to be more equal than its been in the Bylsma years.
My 3 players to Watch
2. Sidney Crosby: Sid has the numbers and Sid has the hate. Most of the time Crosby is like a Jedi, but the Sith comes out of him when the Flyers are the opponent. The Pens need Crosby to add to that career 30 goal total and end the schnide the Pens are one.
3. Olli Maatta: This kid is really becoming a great player. He currently is 3rd on the Pens defensive roster for short handed minutes and his skating and offensive skills make him invaluable to this team. I think Maatta has a huge game tonight against a heated rival.
What you Need to KNow if You Are Watching/Attending
- Doors open at 7:00pm
- Puck drop is at 8:00pm.
- There is no giveaway tonight.
- The Pens will unveil their new third jerseys for the first time this season.
- There is no announced Pens Gear "Gameday Special," though they do remind you that the new jerseys and other gold gear is now available.
- Pens Gear would also like to remind you that it is officially "Hockey Fights Cancer" month. Be sure to check out all the purple gear. A portion of the proceeds to UPMC Cancer Centers.
Here is what you need to know if you are NOT ATTENDING, but watching elsewhere:
- The game is nationally televised tonight by NBCSN as part of their "Wednesday Night Rivalries." Coverage begins at 7:00pm with NHL Live and will be followed by Doc Emrick and Eddie O on the call. Unfortunately, this means those watching have to deal with the incessant nonsense of Pierre McGuire.
- ROOT Sports has zero coverage for the Pens tonight.
- Pens Radio Net will have the Pregame show starting at 7:00pm, hosted by Bob Grove.
- Mike Lange and the Ol Two-Niner will have the call on Pens Radio Net and 105.9 the X starting at 8pm.
- Penguins Hot Line will follow the game on the Pens Radio Net and the X.
Pens Points for tonight are as follows:
- Attending the Game = 50pts
- Purchase Concessions = 10pts
- Purchase Merchandise = 10pts
- Pens Radio Net Keyword = 5pts
I want to thank everyone for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed the show. I will be at the game tonight so won't be tweeting too much throughout the night. I should have the View From Where I Sat up tonight as well, but it will be later with the game being pushed back an hour.
Everyone enjoy the game! Be sure to tweet throughout the night and use the hashtag #PhuckPhilly. Ill be checking those out throughout the night.
LETS GO PENS!!!