I hate Boston. I hate the team, the players, the fans and I'm not a big fan of the city in general. For those who don't know, I spent last year living there. I hated every second and developed a deeper hate for their sports teams.
Like I said, I have a love/hate relationship with this matchup. I love to watch the Pens play these jagoffs, but I hate it too because we too often find ourselves on the wrong side of results. Heres to hoping tonight is different.
Welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Tonight, our Penguins are in Boston, Massachusetts to play the always aggravating Bruins. Lets get this train rollin....
Tonight's gameday song is from one of the few good things that have come out of Boston. One of my favorite bands of the Irish-Rock persuasion. Off their album, Signed and Sealed in Blood, Dropkick Murphys' "Out of Our Heads." Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
The Penguins are currently facing adversity. They lost Pascal Dupuis for the season. They've dropped their last two games to their division rivals. The likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have not been up to par in recent games. The Penguins are facing adversity and that's a good thing. It is important that the Pens learn to fight through the tough times, something they never did with Dan Bylsma at the helm. Mike Johnston is different, he will mix and match. He will change things up and assistant coach Rick Tocchet will light a fire under the back quarters of some of these guys. They may struggle, but they will be better for it with this staff on hand.
Tonight, the Pens look to right the ship. They will be in Boston hoping to take advantage of the injury plagued Bruins who are struggling to keep the ship afloat. Lets shift gears and take a look at what the Bruins have been up to.
The Battered Bastards of Beantown
The Boston Bruins are resilient, but they are being tested this season. They currently find themselves sitting in 3rd place, which would normally not be good enough to the franchise and their fans. But this season is different. There is a lot of change in Beantown and it has a lot to do with the health of the franchise. Captain Zdeno Chara is still out with a knee injury. Brad Marchand has missed time with injury, as has David Krejci and Chris Kelly. They traded away Johnny Boychuk before the season started and lost offensive catalyst Jarome Iginla to free agency. The B's have struggled to score this year, their defense hasn't been as solid and Tuukka Rask has struggled as well. Yet, the Bruins still sit in 3rd place and are far from out of things.
The Bruins are still led by their Selke winning forward Patrice Bergeron. One of the few Bruins I respect, Bergeron has led this team at both ends of the ice. He currently leads the team in points and has been one of the few steady players in the Bruins lineup. Defenseman Torrey Krug has been the standout on the Bruins blue line. Despite missing a few games due to a grotesque finger injury, Krug has emerged as the future of the Bruins defensive corps. Vezina trophy winner Tuukka Rask has struggled thus far this season, but he is still an elite goaltender. The Bruins are hanging in there and should return to form once healthy.
That being said, the Bruins are still the Bruins. They will bully, goad and be the complete pains in the ass they always are. Lucic has gone to new lows in the recent months in his conduct and the rest of the team, though better than him, is not much better. They will play dirty like always, Pens need to be ready for that and be smart.
Here is what you need to know about the Bruins:
- The Bruins are currently 13-9-0 on the season. Good for 26pts and 3rd in the Atlantic Division.
- Despite losing their previous game, the Bruins are 7-3-0 over their previous ten games.
- The Garden is always an advantage for the Bruins and this year is no different. They are 8-5-0 in Boston this season.
- Defense has been a struggle for the B's, as shown by their minuscule +3 goal differential.
Bruins Scoring Leaders:
- C Patrice Bergeron - 16pts (5G-11A)
- C Carl Soderberg - 14pts (5G-9A)
- RW Loui Eriksson - 11pts (3G-8A)
- LW Brad Marchand - 11pts (5G-6A)
- D Dougie Hamilton - 11pts (4G-7A)
Bruins Injury Report:
- D Zdeno Chara (knee) is now skating again, but he will not play tonight. He is still recovering from an injury to his MCL.
- C Chris Kelly (undisclosed) did not take part in game-day skate and coach Claude Julien stated after Saturday's loss that he is unsure how long Kelly will be out of the lineup.
- LW Brad Marchand (undisclosed) skated this morning on the first line and looks as if he will be in the lineup tonight.
- C David Krejci (undisclosed) is out tonight. He has been in and out of the lineup for several weeks now with an undisclosed injury.
- D Adam McQuaid (thumb) will miss the next six to eight weeks with that broken thumb.
- D David Warsofsky (groin) is on IR with a groin pull. He should be set to return in the next week or two.
Projected Bruins Lines:
- Brad Marchandr - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith
- Milan Lucic - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson
- Simon Gagne - Gregory Campbell - Daniel Paille
- Jordan Caron - Alex Khokhlachev - Matt Fraser
Project Bruins D-Pairs:
- Dennis Seidenberg - Torrey Krug
- Matt Bartkowski - Kevan Miller
- Joe Morrow - Dougie Hamilton
Tuukka Rask will get the start in net tonight against Pittsburgh.
Who I am watching for tonight:
- Patrice Bergeron (C): As I stated earlier, he is one of the very, very few Bruins I respect. He is a solid, two-way forward who can make a huge impact on a game at both ends. He will be the key tonight to a Bruins victory.
- Torrey Krug (D): Krug is one of the up and coming defenseman in the league. He is getting back in stride after injury, but he is te new leader of this blue line corps with Chara out and Boychuk gone. Watch home tonight.
- Milan Lucic (LW): This guy is such a goon and a dumbass. I cannot stand him. I cannot wait to see the likes of Steve Downie respond to any nonsense that he may start with the Penguins tonight.
News & Notes From The Pens
Zach Sill skated in rushes this morning, but he also stayed on the ice for extra work after skate. That usually means that they are not going to be in the linuep tonight, so we will need to see if Megna will get the call over Sill in this contest.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start opposite Tuukka Rask tonight. If he wins this contest, it will be his 300th victory on the season.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Nick Spaling - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Blake Comeau
- Steve Downie - Brandon Sutter - Beau Bennett
- Jayson Megna - Marcel Goc - Craig Adams
Pens defensive pairs are expected to remain the same. They will be:
- Kris Letang - Paul Martin
- Olli Maatta - Christian Ehrhoff
- Rob Scuderi - Simon Despres
Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in net for the Penguins.
My Keys To Tonight
2. Top Six: There are changes in the Penguins top six. Fine, that's just fine. However, the Pens need to fix up some chemistry and fast. Malkin needs to get jump started at even-strength and Crosby needs to get the pilot light lit again. These changes may do it, but they need to find chemistry sooner rather than later.
3. 3rd Lines: The 3rd line has been solid the last few games and it will need to be again tonight. Steve Downie needs to keep a level head and goad the Bruins into penalties. Brandon Sutter needs to continue the Bruin slaying he has started since joining the Penguins and Beau Bennett needs to continue to produce to quiet the disgruntled citizens who think he and Sutter are not worth keeping together.
My 3 Players to Watch
2. Patric Hornqvist: Sid's production tends to dip in November, but it has certainly done so without Horny on his wing. He returns their tonight, so hopefully it will be a catalyst for Crosby to reignite as well. The two play well together and frankly, Sid's production is more vital to the Pens success than Geno's. So give Crosby the pieces in my opinion and Horny is a good start.
3. Steve Downie: Downie is a key piece to this team, especially in games like this. He will need to be smart and composed tonight against the likes of Lucic and the Bruins. He tends to go off the deep end, but he needs to realize that 79 penalty minutes in 19 games is absurd. Tighten up, be smarter, help the team. Do the goading, don't be the goaded.
What YOu Need To Know For Watching
- Puck drop is at 7:00pm tonight.
- The game will be broadcast locally on ROOT Sports. Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald will have the call starting at 7 with Dan Potash handling the interviews.
- ROOT Sports will also have the Pre and Post Game coverage tonight.
- NBCSN will nationally telecast the game tonight.
- Pens Radio Net and 105.9 The X will have the radio broadcast. Mike Lange and Phil Bourque with the call.
- Bob Grove will have the Pregame at 6pm and will follow with Penguins Hot Line.
Final Comments
- I will have the "View From Where I Sat" after tonight's game tonight. Its been a while, I hope I remember how to do it.
- I WILL NOT have a Pre or Post game on Wednesday, Friday or Satruday. I am home for the week and don't have the games. I will be tortured not watching, but I will be busy while here as well. So no Pre or Post game the rest of the week AFTER tonight.
- On either Wednesday or Thursday I am going to have a piece for you about potential moves the Pens could make to improve the team going forward. Not just Top Six trades either.
Be sure to check on the twitter page for live tweeting from me tonight. It will be heated and testy since I hate the Bruins so much. If you love to hate the Bruins too, you will probably enjoy my tweets. They will probably be pretty comical.
Thank you all for tuning in to the latest edition of the Pregame. I appreciate your continued support in the expansion of the blog, twitter and facebook pages. Please continue to share us with your friends to continue the growth and continue to tweet at me! I love chatting with you guys about this team and it means the world you respect my thoughts on this team.
Enjoy the game everyone! LETS GO PENS!!!!
Cheers!