Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the latest edition, and final edition of 2015, of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame show. I hope you all had excellent holidays. I'm sure glad to be back for tonight's game when the Penguins travel to the Motor City and try to close out the calendar year with a victory over the Red Wings.
This New Years Eve game starts at 6:00pm tonight, but you can enjoy the Pregame starting now...
Tonight's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" seems appropriate for the day. We are waiting for the ringing in of the new year and it seems only fitting to do that with some Metallica! So, here is "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from "Ride the Lightning." Enjoy and Happy New Year!!!
The State of the Penguins
The Penguins came out of the Christmas break taking 3 points out of 3 games. Their victory over Minnesota was outstanding. It was the type of hockey we should see from them night in and night out. Against Winnipeg, which was as odd a game as they come, the Penguins didn't play horribly, but they just couldn't find the net. Same can be said for their loss last night in the shootout to Toronto; the chances were there, but couldn't be buried.
In spite of it all, the Penguins are moving in the right direction and for several reasons.
Firstly, Sidney Crosby finally seems to be getting back to being, well, Sidney Crosby. He had a great game against the Wild on Saturday night and followed that up with a goal and assist last night v. Toronto. He now has 2 goals and seven points in his last 5 games. Crosby is the catalyst and while Malkin has been good all year, the Penguins need both to be right if they hope to make a sustained run. The way Sid has played of late, I have high hopes for him.
Then we have the fact that the Pens are getting key guys back. Crosby returned after break after sustaining a lower-body injury v. Carolina. He looks good in returning. Kris Letang returned Saturday v. Minnesota but was knocked out after a vicious hit by Jarrett Stoll. He missed the Winnipeg game, but returned to the lineup last night. While he told DK on Pittsburgh Sports' Josh Yohe that despite clearing protocol on Saturday, he had "hard headaches" and dulled senses after the Stoll hit. Letang is important to this team's success. He needs to be healthy, on the ice and playing to his level. Finally, there is Marc-Andre Fleury. He returned to skating, but no timetable has been released yet. The Penguins need him back in a bad way, but don't discount Matt Murray's play. The kid has been very impressive.
Finally, you have the level of play. The Penguins are finally starting to shape an identity. Mike Sullivan has them doing things they need to do and looking better on a nightly basis. Rome wasn't built in a day, and Mike Sullivan can't turn around a sinking ship after 3 practices. It will take time, but the foundation has been laid and it is evident.
The Pens need to keep the foot on the pedal and try to make up for a terrible scheduling situation the league has gave them tonight in Detroit.
ASsembly Line Hockey: The Detroit Red Wings
The first year in the post-Babcock era has been much of the same for the Red Wings. They have played solid hockey under new coach Jeff Blashill and fine themselves in the playoff race once again. As I said, the assembly line just keeps on rolling in Detroit.
The Wings had a quiet offseason. They bought out center Stephen Weiss and replaced him with veteran Brad Richards. Former Capitals defenseman Mike Green traded red sweaters and joined the Wings on a 3-year, 18million dollar deal. Other than that, the Wings were quiet and continued to oil the machine.
Despite their struggles of late, the Wings find themselves just three points out of first place in the Atlantic Division. They currently sit at 18-12-7 after losing their last two games to Winnipeg and Minnesota.
Scoring-wise, the Wings have a mixed bag of veterans, rookies and young, emerging stars. Veteran Henrik Zetterberg paces the team with 28 points on the season thus far. Rookie Dylan Larkin leads the team with 13 goals and sits 4 points behind Zetterberg with 24 points. Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist have 23 and 21 points respectively while Justin Abdelkader has 20.
In net, Petr Mrazek picked up where he left off coming down the stretch last year. He has gone 11-7-3 on the season with a 2.23 GAA. Veteran Jimmy Howard has gotten plenty of starts, but has gone only 7-5-4 thus far with a 2.66 GAA.
The Wings look to get back on track tonight, and hope to take advantage of the schedule in doing so against the Penguins.
What You Need To Know About Detroit:
- 18-14-7 overall with 43 points.
- The Wings have lost two straight and gone 3-4-3 over their last 10 games.
- Defense has been down in Detroit as they enter the game with a minus-4 goal differential.
- Detroit is 11-7-4 at Joe Louis Arena this season.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Henrik Zetterberg - 28pts (6G-22A)
- C Dylan Larkin - 24pts (13G-11A)
- LW Tomas Tatar - 23pts (11G-12A)
- RW Gustav Nyquist - 21pts (12G-9A)
- LW Justin Abdelkader - 20pts (11G-9A)
- D Niklas Kronwall - 15pts (2G-13A)
Injury Report:
- LW Drew Miller (upper-body) is OUT tonight. The winger is on IR after undergoing surgery to repair a broken jaw. He is expected to miss 6 weeks.
- LW Teemu Pulkkinen (upper-body) is OUT tonight. Pulkknen has struggled this season, but his absence will be felt. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a shoulder issue.
- D Jonathan Ericsson (upper-body) will be a game-time decision tonight. The veteran d-man has missed several games with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
- D Kyle Quincey (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The defenseman resumed skating about two weeks ago after suffering an ankle injury that required surgery in November. He is expected to return in early-January.
- LW Johan Franzen (upper-body) is OUT. The former thorn in the Penguins side has yet to skate this season and sadly his career is likely over due to concussion issues.
Projected Lines:
- Justin Abdelkader - Henrik Zetterberg - Dylan Larkin
- Darren Helm - Pavel Datsyuk - Brad Richards
- Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar
- Tomas Jurco - Joakim Andersson - Tomas Nosek
Projected Pairs:
- Danny DeKeyser - Niklas Kronwall
- Brendan Smith - Mike Green
- Jakub Kindl - Alexey Marchenko
Petr Mrazek is expected to start in net.
News & Notes From the Penguins
- G Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) has resumed skating. The Penguins netminder returned to practice on Tuesday with the team, but not timetable for return has been set.
- F Beau Bennett (upper-body) remains out with no update on return.
Transactions:
- D Adam Clendening has been reassigned to WBS on a conditioning assignment. He will play several games before being recalled.
Pens/Wings Matchup Notes:
- The Penguins went 1-1-1 v. Detroit last season. They won their lone game in Pittsburgh on 2/11/15 by a score of 4-1.
- Patric Hornqvist led returning Pens scorers with a goal and three points v. Detroit last year.
- Marc-Andre Fleury went 1-1-0 last year v. Det.
- Henrik Zetterberg led Wings skaters v. Pittsburgh with 2 goals and 6 points last season.
- Mrazek and Howard each had a win v. Pittsburgh.
Projected LInes and Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Conor Sheary
- David Perron - Evgeni Malkin - Patric Hornqvist
- Scott Wilson - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
- Kevin Porter - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
Projected Pairs:
- Kris Letang - Olli Maatta
- Trevor Daley - Ian Cole
- Brian Dumoulin - Ben Lovejoy
Jeff Zatkoff is expected to start in net tonight.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Power Play: It scored last night, but needs to do more of it. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, all are healthy and on the first unit. Time to see whether it was Johnston's fault, or Tocchet's the PP was terrible in 2015.
3. Physical: The Wings are big and play that way. The Penguins need to match their physicality tonight to add to their chances. They don't have a ton of guys to do it, but they need to at least try.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Kris Letang: Returned to the lineup again last night, after missing several games over the last few weeks. Letang has been bad in his own zone this year and needs to get better. But, if he continues to post points, then that makes up for some of the sins in his own zone. I'd like to see him return to his elite level, as he is still elite.
3. Jeff Zatkoff: Big game for Big Z. If he struggles again, he will give the Penguins a very hard decision on what to do with him and Murray when Fleury returns. If he can get a big win in front of his home state crowd, then it would benefit both him and the team.
What to Know For Watching/Listening
Here is what you need to know if you're watching tonight's game:
- ROOT Sports has the coverage tonight. Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey with the call beginning at 6:00pm. Dan Potash will have the interviews.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage beginning at 5:30pm.
- Penguins Post Game will follow the game action.
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 6:00pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 5:00pm. Josh Getzoff will host.
- Penguins Hot Line will follow the game action.
Pens Points:
- ROOT Sports Pregame Keyword: 5pts
- ROOT Sports Post Game Keyword: 5pts
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts