Puck drop is at 8pm, the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame starts right now!
(NOTE: Tonight's gameday song is courtesy of one of the best bands of the 2000s. This one is off their hit debut "Hybrid Theory" from 2001, "Points of Authority" by Linkin Park)
The State of the Penguins
Like their goalie, the special teams has been on a hot run as well. The penalty kill has successfully killed of 26 straight penalties they've taken. That is a run you would love see continue. Like the penalty kill, the power play is surging as well. They struck gold on eight of their eighteen power play opportunities last week and even in the ones they didn't score on they had a lot of chances. You hope to see that continue going into the week.
The Pens will be without Olli Maatta for nearly a month starting this week, but they are getting two players back. Robert Bortuzzo will make his season debut tonight for the Pens after missing the first month of the season with a lower body injury. Like Bortuzzo, Bennett is ready to return too. He was flying high in the preseason before a knee injury put him on the shelf, but he is poised to make his return before the Pens get back to Consol on the 15th.
The stars continue to shine. The bottom six continue to produce. The defense has been rock solid and the Flower has been a brick wall. Let's hope that continues on the road trip that starts tonight in Minnesota.
Runnin' Wild: Minnesota Wild
The Wild made a big splash in the offseason when they brought in prized free agent scorer in Thomas Vanek. The Minnesota native has been hoping to join Parise, Suter and company for several years now and made it happen on July 1st. The Wild had a relatively quiet offseason acquisition-wise besides Vanek. Matt Moulson, Dany Heatley, Clayton Stoner and Cody McCormick were all allowed to walk in the offseason. Vanek, Brett Sutter and Stu Bickel were among the offseason acquisitions.
Here is what you need to know about the Wild:
Minnesota is 7-3-0 on the season and 2nd in the Central Division.
Offseason Acquisitions: LW Thomas Vanek, C Brett Sutter, LW Mike Keranen, D Stu Bickel
Offseason Subtractions: LW Matt Moulson, LW Dany Heatley, D Clayton Stoner, RW Cody McCormick
First of two games against the Wild this season. Minnesota will visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday, January 13th.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Zach Parise: 10pts (4G-6A)
- LW Thomas Vanek: 8pts (1G-7A)
- RW Jason Pominville: 7pts (3G-4A)
- D Ryan Suter: 7pts (1G-6A)
- LW Jason Zucker: 7pts (5G-2A)
Injuries:
- Ryan Carter (lower body): Day to Day
- Jared Spurgeon (Shoulder): IR, OUT tonight
- Matt Cooke (lower body): Day to Day
- Keith Ballard (illness): IR
- Josh Harding (foot): IR, OUT tonight.
Projected Lines:
- Zach Parise - Mikael Grandlund - Jason Pominville
- Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Charlie Coyle
- Thomas Vanek - Kyle Brodziak - Nino Niederreiter
- Ryan Carter - Erik Haula - Justin Fontaine
Projected Pairs:
- Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin
- Marco Scandella - Christian Folin
- Nate Prosser - Mathew Dumba
Darcy Kuemper will get the start in net for the Wild tonight.
News & Notes From Around the Pens
Robert Bortuzzo will return to the lineup tonight. He has missed the first month of the year with a knee injury. He is slated to skate with Christian Ehrhoff.
Jayson Megna was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre.
Beau Bennett was sent to Wilkes-Barre for a conditioning assignment. I figure he will play the week in WBS and maybe make his season debut in Buffalo on Saturday. More likely, he returns next week in New York or in Toronto.
Olli Maatta will undergo treatment this week on his tumor. He WILL NOT have surgery this week according to the team. The doctors will evaluate at the end of the week and decide on surgery. Maatta is expected to miss about one month. The team will give an update on Olli in the next 24hrs.
Thomas Greiss gets the start tonight. Coach Johnston stated he hopes to get him 4-5 starts in November.
Projected Lines and Pairs
The Penguins' lines tonight are the same as they have been. The only changes we will see are on the blue line. Maatta of course is now out of the lineup and Robert Bortuzzo is back in. Here are the lines and pairs.
Lines:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby- Patric Hornqvist
Pascal Dupuis - Evgeni Malkin - Blake Comeau
Nick Spaling - Brandon Sutter - Steve Downie
Zach Sill - Marcel Goc - Craig Adams
Pairs:
Kris Letang - Paul Martin
Rob Scuderi - Simon Despres
Robert Bortuzzo - Christian Ehrhoff
Thomas Greiss gets the start in net tonight.
My Keys to the Game
Special Teams: This side of the Penguins is really rolling right now. The kill has killed off 26 straight and the power play is firing at close to 50% on the season. It will be important that that continues tonight against a solid defensive team in Minnesota.
The Third Line: The line of Spaling-Sutter-Downie has been solid during this four game streak. I think in a game against a solid defensive team like Minnesota it will be important for this line to put up a point or two for the Penguins to win. Sutter and Downie have certainly put some points up, I'd like to see more from the 2.2 million a year Spaling.
My 3 Players To Watch
2. Chris Kunitz: The top line winger is really hot right now and I'd like to see it continue. He had four goals and seven points last week and those are numbers you'd love to see continue week after week. The use of Hornqvist on that line has allowed Kunitz a little more space in front of the net and he is taking advantage. I think that continues tonight.
3. Paul Martin: In my opinion, Martin has not been very good this season. His defensive play has been solid, but his offensive play and his play with the puck has been average at best. I think he will benefit from playing alongside Kris Letang again and should be able to get back to the level we know he is capable of.
What to Know If YOu're Watching
- Puck drop is at 8:00pm Eastern Time.
- ROOT Sports has the coverage tonight. Penguins Pregame starts at 7:30 followed by game coverage at 8. Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey have the call, while Dan Potash handles the interviews. The post game show will follow game coverage.
- Pens Radio Net and 105.9 The X have the call tonight as well. Bob Grove will be on with the Pregame show at 7:00pm. Mike Lange and Phil Bourque will have the call at 8:00pm and Grover will return for Penguins Hot Line after the game.
Thank you all for tuning in. I am sorry for the past few days when the blog was down. Technical difficulties on my part caused the situation. It is fixed and, hopefully, won't happen again.
I will be on after the game with my latest edition of the View From Where I Sat.
LETS GO PENS!!!
Cheers