Happy Thursday Penguins fans and welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Tonight, our Pens conclude their homestand by hosting John Tavares and the New York Islanders! Puck drops on the action from PPG Paints Arena at 7:00pm, but my Pregame starts now...
Tonight's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" is one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. You all know it, you all love it, and if you say you don't you're either crazy or lying to yourself. It is of course Queen's "Bohemian Rhapshody." Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
Tuesday's game v. Florida is as anything but pretty. The Penguins still look lackadaisical until they finally decided their backs are against the wall. They continue to take stupid, lazy penalties. It's not Penguin hockey to be honest. And to think they continue to get away with this throughout the regular season and the playoffs is a risky route that will likely end in disaster.
Yet, the Penguins found a way Tuesday night. It started with the return of Sidney Crosby; whose presence just makes this team better. It took Sid just two shifts to assert he is still the worlds greatest player. And, Sid sparked the comeback that ultimately led to a 3-2 win over the Panthers. Sid notched a power play goal to make it 2-1 Pens en route to three unanswered goals.
Before it was all said and down Tuesday night, Carl Hagelin and Eric Fehr got on the scoresheet. Those goals led to another home win. The Pens look to improve on their 4-0-1 home record tonight when they host their Metropolitan Division rivals Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
Empire State of Mind: The NY Islanders
The Islanders lost several longtime players this past offseason. Kyle Okposo got a big money deal to flank Ryan O'Reilly in Buffalo. Third line center Frans Nielsen left for Detroit, while Matt Martin left arguably hockey's best fourth line for a bigger role in Toronto. On the back end, Brian Strait left after several seasons as the teams seventh defenseman, while Marek Zidlicky was allowed to walk as well. No exit is bigger than the others, but each left a hole that needed to be filled by GM Garth Snow.
Snow started doing that on July 1st when he replaced Okposo with two-time Stanley Cup champion Andrew Ladd. Ladd scored 25 goals between Winnipeg and Chicago last year, and now finds himself flanking John Tavares. Jason Chimera left Washington after an extended tenure, and currently is working on New York's second line. Various youngsters have found a spot in the lineup, including Anthony Beauvillier who has 5 points on the season so far in a 3rd line role. On the back end, Dennis Seidenberg turned a good World Cup showing into a contract and spot on the Isles bottom pair.
The Isles are solid. Are they a cup contender? I certainly don't think so. Are they a playoff team? I think they will be. If they made a few moves, this team could go from a fringe team to a potentially dangerous one. All depends on which way things fall...
The Lowdown on the Isles:
- 3-3-0 entering tonight.
- The Islanders currently rank 6th in the Metropolitan Division
- New York is 0-2-0 on the road thus far.
Scoring Leaders:
- C John Tavares - 5pts
- RW Josh Bailey - 5pts
- C Brock Nelson - 5pts
- LW Anthony Beauvillier - 5pts
- D Johnny Boychuk - 4pts
- RW Cal Clutterbuck - 4pts
- C Ryan Strome - 4pts
Injuries:
- RW Nikolay Kulemin (undisclosed) is a game-time decision tonight. Kulemin was injured on Sunday, but tried to practice Tuesday before being forced to the locker room.
- D Ryan Pulock (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The young defenseman was expected to be a Calder contender, but a lower body issue will keep him out the next 4-6 weeks.
- C Mikhail Grabovski (head) is OUT tonight. Grabovski remains out after suffering a concussion last season.
- C Shane Prince (lower-body) is OUT tonight. Prince was hurt in the preseason and has yet to play this year.
Projected Line:
- Andrew Ladd - John Tavares - Josh Bailey
- Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Jason Chimera
- Anthony Beauvillier - Ryan Strome - Alan Quine
- Nikolay Kulemin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Projected Pairs:
- Nick Leddy - Travis Hamonic
- Thomas Hickey - Johnny Boychuk
- Calvin de Haan - Dennis Seidenberg
Jaroslav Halak is expected to start in net.
News & Notes From Around the Penguins
- D Kris Letang (upper-body) is a game-time decision. Letang practice full yesterday with no limitations and baring a set-back, could be in there tonight.
- D Brian Dumoulin (upper-body) is expected to play. Dumoulin took a puck to the face in the second period Thursday night and was unavailable the rest of the way. He was given a maintenance day yesterday.
- LW Conor Sheary (eye) is still day-to-day.
Notes:
- The Penguins are 4-0-1 at home this year.
- D Brian Dumoulin played in his 100th career NHL game Tuesday night v. Florida.
- C Matt Cullen has a three-game assist streak entering tonight. He has 5 points in his last 5 games.
#AskBigDave
The answer to this is pretty simple and two-fold.
Firstly, the forwards need to do a much better job of covering for defensemen who have joined the rush. Hockey 101 states that you cover for the defenseman who leads the rush in case of a counter attack. The Pens forwards, for the most part, have done a bad job of this. If they do a better job of this, odd-man rushes will certainly be cut down.
Secondly, the is defenseman need to have better positioning and a better first step on the counter-attack. As a defenseman, it is easy to get caught watching the play ahead of you and be off when you need to get involved. I'd like to see better positioning and better anticipation so the first step is a hair quicker. That should help the defense on these problems as well.
Alex on Twitter: How will the Murray extension play a role in the trade deadline?
Tough question to answer. When the news broke, I immediately thought that was the final nail in the coffin for Marc-Andre Fleury. However, the more I think about it, I'm not so convinced that it is Flower that could be on the move.
Looking at the numbers, to me it makes more sense to trade Matt Murray. That is IF you want to move one of them. The reason being is you know what you have in MAF. He still has a few years as an elite netminder and baring injury you're gonna be pleased with what he gives you. There are no guarantees with Murray. Is he the next Ken Dryden or the next Jim Carey? We just dont know. With that in mind, the numbers make more sense to trade him and cash in. Murray is younger, has a bright upside and is cheaper. It would be much easier to find a trade partner for him than for Flower. All that in mind, I honestly don't think they'll trade either one of them this season. I
think they'll run the gauntlet with both of them and try to work a way to keep both heading into the expansion draft.
From LetsTalkPens on Twitter: The emergence of the "HBR" line really doesn't semen to be a bad thing. Are you a fan or do you want to see HBK?
Fun question. Frankly, I am for whatever line combinations lead to the most goals. So whether it is HBK, HBR or HB-Harambe, it doesn't matter as long as pucks are ending up in the net. That being said, I have no issue with the HBR line and Kessel with Malkin.
Bryan Rust has the speed to replace Phil, and he is developing into a legitimate scoring threat. He won't be a Kessel-level sniper, but he'll score. He fits good with Bones and Hags.
As for Phil, I like him with Malkin. He has been able to find his space and utilize his legs to create rushes while skating with Geno, so I'm for it. In the long run, I think HBK will be reunited. For now, I'm completely fine with the current makeup.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Scott Wilson - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel
- Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Bryan Rust
- Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
Pairs:
- Brian Dumoulin - Trevor Daley
- Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
- Olli Maatta - David Warsofsky
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be in net tonight.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Trickle Down: We saw Tuesday night that having Sid in the lineup leads to a trickle down affect. It worked Tuesday when Fehr and Hagelin scored. I want to see more of that balance and trickle down tonight.
3. Contain Tavares: Frankly, the Tavares line is the only one that frightens me from the Isles, though Casey Cizkias usually finds a way to make us miserable. That's said, if the Pens shut down Tavares, beating New York should be easier.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Olli Maatta: Looked much more like the Olli of old v. Florida. For Olli, aggressiveness is key. Mark Madden made this point on his show yesterday that Olli plays better when he doesn't back and wait for the game to come to him. I'd like to see him attack the game tonight.
3. Justin Schultz: I really like how he's played this year. He's definitely comfortable and he is playing very well in all facets of the game. I think he scores one tonight.
What to Know for Attending/Watching/Listening
- Doors open at 6:00pm for an 7:00pm puck drop.
- Every fan in attendance will receive a Penguins Tote Bag courtesy of UPMC.
- It is costume night at the arena! The Penguins encourage fans to wear Halloween costumes to the game tonight, with a few lucky fans winning prizes for best costume.
What to know for WATCHING the game:
- The game will be nationally televised on ROOT Sports.
- Coverage begins with Penguins Pregame at 6:30pm and Penguins Post Game following the action.
- Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey will have the call, with Dan Potash handling the interviews.
What to know for LISTENING to the game:
- Full coverage will be available on 105.9 the X, iHeartRadio and on the Penguins app.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage, starting at 6:00pm with Josh Getzoff.
- Hall of Famer Mike Lange and Phil Bourque will have the game coverage starting at 8:00pm.
- Penguins Hot Line follows the game action with Josh Getzoff.
Pens Points:
- Game Attendance - 50pts
- Concession Purchase - 10pts
- Merchandise Purchase - 10pts
- Radio Keyword - 5pts
- ROOT Pregame Keyword - 5pts
- ROOT Postgame Keyword - 5pts