Happy Friday Penguins fans and welcome to the latest edition of Big Daves Pens Pregame! Tonight, the Penguins continue the Eastern Conference Finals in Tampa as they take on the Lightning once again.
Puck drops on Pens/Bolts at 8:00pm tonight, but the Pregame is live now...
@pensfan2259 continues the "Big Daves Gameday Jam" selection tonight and he goes 90s metal. He has selected the legendary Pantera and their song, "Walk." Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
That is the word to describe the Penguins play in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals. Pittsburgh entered the night riding high on the momentum of an OT game-winning goal by captain Sidney Crosby in Game Two. Tampa played well over the first two games, easily capable of winning both of them. On Wednesday, they hoped to take the series lead. Instead, the Pens dominated from opening puck drop to the final horn.
The first period of Game Three was a draw. Both teams exchanged chances throughout, but no one was able to break through. As they had done the majority of the regular season, the Penguins came out and had their way in the second period. They outshot the Lightning 21 to 6 in the period, and got the first goal of the game with just ten seconds left in the period. That goal was monumental, as it kept the fire alive and led to another huge period in the third. Phil Kessel continued his hot ways, scoring his seventh goal of the playoffs before Sidney Crosby scored a power play goal mid-way through the third. Chris Kunitz added a fourth goal at the 13:12 mark and the Penguins shut the door to earn a dominate 4-2 win over the Lightning in Game Three.
Tonight, the Penguins look to take a commanding series lead once again in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In each of the first two series, the Penguins split the opening two games before sweeping Games Three and Four. They hope to continue the trend tonight, and could accomplish the task with a few things happening.
Firstly, the HBK line needs to keep going the way they are. In Game Three, the trio of Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel had a huge night. Hagelin and Kessel each scored a goal, and all three of them had an assist. They combined for 16 shots on goal on the night and seemed to pressure the Tampa defensemen and netminder with every shift. If they have that same level of success tonight, the Penguins should prosper.
Next, Sidney Crosby needs to keep up his current play. Goals in back to back games for the captain, and he has certainly looked like a man on a mission these last two games. Lookout Tampa and lookout whoever comes out of the West, because Sidney Crosby has entered the arena.
Finally, the Penguins need Geno to score a few goals, especially on the power play. Geno added an assist on Crosby's PP tally in Game Three, but the Russian dynamo needs to start putting pucks in the net on his own accord. He certainly has the talent and the effort, but he just needs that lucky bounce to get him going. Like Sid, if he gets on a sustained run, look out!
Pens and Lightning in Game Four tonight. Arrrrrrrrre youuuuuuu readyyyyyyyyyy?????
Scouting the ENemy: Tampa Bay Lightning
The Penguins came out with a fury, riding high on the momentum of their Game Two OT win. The Lightning, earning a split in Pittsburgh, had high hopes of retaking the lead in Game Three, at home, in front of their fans. Instead, the Penguins trounced them and the Lightning are left to pick up the pieces.
The Lightning were dominated in Game Three. There is no other way to describe it. The Penguins outshot them, out worked them and ultimately took the game they greatly deserved.
Now, Tampa Bay hopes to earn a split before the series shifts back to Pittsburgh on Sunday night. The Lightning probably will have to continue playing without their two best players as well. Steven Stamkos continues to skate and practice with the team, but blood clots and use of blood thinners will likely keep him on the shelf again tonight. Same goes for Ben Bishop, who practiced fully with the team on Thursday, but as the third goalie. He's getting closer, but I'd expect Andrei Vasilevsky in there again tonight.
Tampa needs to win tonight. It is a simple as that.
Lightning Playoff Scoring Leaders:
- C Tyler Johnson - 14pts (5G-9A)
- RW Nikita Kucherov - 14pts (9G-5A)
- D Victor Hedman - 11pts (4G-7A)
- LW Jonathan Drouin - 11pts (3G-8A)
- C Alex Killorn - 10pts (4G-6A)
Injury Report:
- G Ben Bishop (lower-body) will be OUT tonight. Bishop reportedly has not structural damage to the knee according to the team and has skated the last few days. However, he will not play tonight.
- C Steven Stamkos (blood clots) will be a OUT tonight. Stamkos had surgery to remove a blood clot from his arm near the end of March and was given a 1-3 month timetable. He has been skating with the team, even shedding the no-contact jersey of late, but only time will tell.
Projected Lines:
- Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
- Alex Killorn - Valtteri Filppula - Jonathan Drouin
- Cedric Paquette - Brian Boyle - Ryan Callahan
- JT Brown - Vladislav Namestnikov - Jonathan Marchessault
Projected Pairs:
- Victor Hedman - Anton Stalman
- Jason Garrison - Andrej Sustr
- Matt Carle - Braydon Coburn
Andrei Vasilevsky will start in net for the Bolts tonight.
News & Notes From Around the Penguins
- RW Patric Hornqvist is being evaluated after taking a shot off the hand late in Game Three, but HCMS believes Horny will be ready to go tonight.
Organizational Notes:
- Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was named a finalist for the General Manager of the Year Award at this year's NHL Awards.
- The Penguins have recalled eight players from the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, whose season ended on Sunday night in Hershey. The players called up were:
- Goalies: Tristan Jarry
- Defensemen: Tim Erixon and Steve Oleksy
- Forwards: Daniel Sprong, Josh Archibald, Kael Mouillerat, Dominik Simon and J-S Dea.
Penguins Playoff Scoring Leaders:
- RW Phil Kessel - 16pts (7G-9A)
- C Sidney Crosby - 13pts (5G-8A)
- C Nick Bonino - 12pts (2G-10A)
- C Evgeni Malkin - 10pts (3G-7A)
- RW Patric Hornqvist - 9pts (6G-3A)
- D Kris Letang - 9pts (1G-8A)
Miscellaneous Notes:
- The Penguins have won 12 of their last 15 road games entering tonight.
- The Pens have gotten production up-and-down the lineup, as 19 of 21 skaters in the playoffs have scored a point.
- G Matt Murray's 9 playoff wins are 4th in franchise history.
- The "HBK Line" has contributed 39 points in the playoffs thus far. The three other lines have combined for 89 points.
- RW Phil Kessel enters this game riding a five-game point streak.
- D Justin Schultz scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff point on Wednesday night. Funnily enough, it is one more point than the entire Edmonton Oilers franchise has scored in the playoffs since 2007. (Not my joke, saw it on reddit and had to include it).
#AskBigDave
Great question Alex. Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have had an impact on the Eastern Conference Finals to this point. Personally, I think they will have a bigger impact to come as well.
Lets look at the numbers for each. Through three game in this series, Sid has two goals, three points, 14 shots on net and has won nearly 50% of his faceoffs. Sid, probably has had the bigger impact of the two, simply because he's scored two goals, and both proved to be game-winners. I think Sid is going again now, and I doubt he will disappear like he did against Washington again.
As for Geno, he has been alright so far. He had seven shots in Game One, but has only combined for five shots over the last two games. Personally, I like when Geno shoots more often. He had an assist in Game Three, but that is his only point to date, and he has now gone eight games without a goal. One plus for Malkin, he has won nearly 70% of his draws over the first three games, which is impressive. He usually isn't that good on the faceoffs.
As for what they can do better, for Geno it is very simple, score. Malkin is too good to have just three points over his last nine games. Even if his linemates aren't up to snuff, there is no reason why he shouldn't be cashing in on the power play with regularity. Malkin needs to find a way to create quality scoring chances, and get a few bounces that result in numbers in the goals department.
As for Sid, I'd like to see him continue what he's done the last two games. Sid has two goals over those games, and he is always at his best when he is creating his own shot. I'd like to see that continue. Sid needs to look to score goals himself first, which will open up the ice for his line to create scoring chances later. If Sid does that with consistency, that line, and he, will score.
From LetsTalkPens on the Tweety: "If GMJR doesn't win GM of the Year, it's fixed right?"
That is one way to look at it for sure. To be honest, I think he is a shoe-in to win this award. The other two GMs he is up against are already out of the playoffs. Washington made little in the way of moves besides Oshie, Williams and Winnik, and in the end, it didn't even matter. Same for Dallas. They traded for Patrick Sharp and they had a good year, but I don't think Jim Nill is a serious candidate.
As for Rutherford, he is definitely the best man for the award, and that isn't just because I am biased. He had to deal with a coaching change, injuries, underperforming players and made deals that really made this team go from good to great. He pulled off the Kessel deal in the offseason, along with the Bonino deal. Both are slam dunks now. He traded Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley, which many believe makes him the winner for that alone. JR acquired a controllable asset in Carl Hagelin for a pending UFA in David Perron, which has worked out immensely. The Wilkes-Barre call ups have been good, and the signing of Matt Cullen for 800k may have been his best move over the course of the whole season. And, lest we forget, he fired a complete dud in Mike Johnston and hired what looks like a complete stud in Mike Sullivan.
Just give him the award NHL, it's too easy a situation even for you to screw up.
Hope that answers your question guys.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
- Conor Sheary - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
- Eric Fehr - Matt Cullen - Tom Kuhnhackl
Pairs:
- Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
- Trevor Daley - Ben Lovejoy
- Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
Matt Murray will likely be the starter in net.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Power Play: WE FINALLY GOT ONE!!! Now, go and get another one... and another one for good measure. Malkin needs to be the catalyst on this unit and get it done.
3. Prevent the Odd-Man Rushes: The Pens have given up quite a few odd-man rushes in this series. Granted, that will happen when the Pens defenseman ignite the rush and pinch to sustain offensive zone pressure, but they need to pick their spots a little better. The Lightning aren't going on the attack against Pittsburgh, just waiting to take advantage of a mistake. Pens need to be smart and try to avoid those chances as much as possible.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Ben Lovejoy: He doesn't get the credit he deserves, but Benny has played his best hockey in the Playoffs this year. He is really being a shutdown defenseman, regardless of who he is paired with. I expect him to continue that tonight, likely against the Palat-Filppula-Drouin line.
3. Nick Bonino: The center of the dynamic HBK line, Bonino is doing exactly what he needs to do to make that line work. Take the puck in the defensive zone, spring the break and make the pass to a streaking winger. He keeps it up, the Pens will continue to roll.
- The game is NATIONALLY televised on NBCSN at 8:00pm tonight.
- Coverage should begin at 7:00pm on NBCSN with pregame coverage.
Here is what you need to know if you're LISTENING to tonight's game:
- 105.9 The X, the Penguins app, the Penguins website and iHeart Radio app are all places you can pick up the game tonight.
- Mike Lange and Phil Bourque will have the game call beginning at 8:00pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 7:00pm. Josh Getzoff will host.
- Penguins Hot Line will follow the game action.
Pens Points:
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts