Welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame show. Tonight, our Penguins are home for a Friday night showdown with former Penguin Deryk Engelland and the upstart Calgary Flames. The puck drops at 7:00pm, but the Pregame starts right now.....
Tonight's gameday song comes from one of the up-and-coming bands of the indie persuasion. This song has a catchy tune to it and has become one of my favorite songs of 2014! Off of their self-titled album, their hit song "Ghosts" from The Head and the Heart. Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
Despite the loss, the Pens got a point out of the game and looked forward to the rest of the week. Wednesday was a rest day, but the Pens looked to fix some things on Tuesday and Thursday. The best news from the week was on the injury front, as it sounds that we will be getting Letang and Hornqvist back as early as tonight. Olli Maatta missed Monday's game and his status remains uncertain while both Beau Bennett and Chris Kunitz are progressing in their return. The Pens may be coming off a loss, but they are definitely trending upward in the health department.
Tonight, the Penguins will host the first of back-to-back games. Calgary is in town tonight while the Pens will travel to neighboring Ohio to play the Blue Jackets Saturday night. For tonight, let's focus on the guys in town, Deryk Engelland and the Calgary Flames.
This Team is on FIRE!!!
With all of those moves, the Flames have shown the hockey world they are a solid team. Defenseman Mark Giordano is on his way to another career year. He currently leads the team with 29 points on the year. Fowards Jiri Hudler and Johnny Gaudreau have been firing on all cylinders as well. Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo have been solid in net. The Flames played last night in Buffalo falling to the Sabres 4 to 3. They did not earned a point and remain in 3rd place in the Pacific.
Here is what you need to know about the Flames:
- Calgary is 17-11- 2 overall, good for 36 points and 3rd in the Pacific division.
- The Flames have cooled off of late, losing three in a row going 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.
- Their away record is not nearly as solid as their home record. The Flames are 8-4-2 at home while only posting a 9-7-0 record on the road.
The Pens and Flames Matchup:
- The Pens swept the season series last year, outscoring the Flames six to four.
- Though they swept, the Pens struggled on the power play going 0-for-6 in the two games.
- The Pens have won seven consecutive games against the Flames dating back to 2007, and are 2-0 against them at Consol Energy Center.
- Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is 5-1 in his career against the Flames. His only loss coming in December 2005.
Calgary Scoring Leaders:
- D Mark Giordano - 30pts (8G-22A)
- C Jiri Hudler - 27pts (11G-16A)
- D TJ Brodie - 22pts (6G-16A)
- LW Johnny Gaudreau - 21pts (5G-16A)
- LW Curtis Glencross - 20pts (5G-15A)
- C Sean Monahan - 20pts (11G-9A)
Injury Report:
- C Mikael Backland (abdominal) is OUT tonight. He had an abdominal procedure at the beginning of November and is still working his way back.
- C Sam Bennett (shoulder) is OUT tonight. The young center required surgery on his injured shoulder and is hoping to resume skating sometime in January.
Projected Lines:
- Joe Colborne - Sean Monahan - Paul Byron
- Johnny Gaudreau - Josh Jooris - Jiri Hudler
- Curtis Glencross - Markus Granlund - David Jones
- Brandon Bollig - Matt Stajan - Mason Raymond
Projected D-Pairs:
- Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie
- Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman
- Ladislav Smid - Deryk Engelland
Jonas Hiller will get the start in net for the Flames tonight. He is 9-7-1 on the season with a 2.47 GAA.
News & Notes From the Pens
The Penguins have a bunch of injury news and finally some of it is going in the right direction. Here is the injury update:
- Defenseman Kris Letang (groin) has participated fully in practice the last few days and is expected to play tonight. Letang has been out of the lineup since the game in Carolina to end November.
- Like Letang, winger Patric Hornqvist (upper-body) is expected to return to the lineup tonight. Hornqvist has been out of the lineup since the contest against the Canucks where he was whacked at center ice. He was not formally diagnosed with a concussion, but that was the unofficial diagonosis.
- Defenseman Olli Maatta skipped the trip to Madison Square Garden and will miss the weekend as well. He has not officially been diagnosed, but he will NOT play tonight v. Calgary or tomorrow in Columbus.
- Captain Sidney Crosby missed practice on Thursday with illness but did skate this morning. However, Sid is now being held out of the next two games for precautionary reason. His face was swollen, but not diagnosed with mumps.
- Winger Chris Kunitz (broken foot) reportedly attempted to skate this week but isn't quite ready to return to practice. He was given a 2-3 week timeframe last week.
- Winger Beau Bennett (knee) skated yesterday and today before practice. He did not wear pads but it was the first time testing the leg since the injury in Boston.
Though he won't return, it was also reported that Pascal Dupuis skated at Consol again today. Always good to hear Duper is working out while he recovers from the blood clots.
Today's morning skate appeared to be somewhat optional, as Malkin, Scuderi, Martin and Ehrhoff did not participate. They are expected to play tonight. Dumoulin stayed on the ice for extra work, so it appears he will be the Press Box Hero tonight.
Winger Blake Comeau recorded his 100th career assist Monday night in the loss to the Rangers.
Also on the news docket, the Baby Penguins have extended head coach John Hynes and his longtime assistant Alain Nasreddine to multi-year extensions. A great move by the organization as both are superb coaches.
Projected Lines & Pairs
Patric Hornqvist is expected to return, which should change the lines up tonight. Here are the projected lines:
- Evgeni Malkin - Brandon Sutter - Blake Comeau
- Nick Spaling - Jayson Megna - Patric Hornqvist
- Rob Klinkhammer - Marcel Goc - Steve Downie
- Zach Sill - Andrew Ebbett - Craig Adams
The defensive corps will get closer to the ideal top six tonight with the return of Kris Letang. The pairs should be:
- Kris Letang - Paul Martin
- Christian Ehrhoff - Robert Bortuzzo
- Rob Scuderi - Simon Despres
Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in the net for Pittsburgh.
My Keys to the Game
1. Replacing the Captain: tough news late that we will be without Sid the next two nights. Pens will need to find a way to adjust and make up as much as they can for his absence.
2. The Power Play: The Pens haven't had a ton of opportunities on the man-advantage. Despite that, they aren't taking advantage of the ones they are getting. I think that is mostly because Kris Letang wasn't in the lineup and nor was Hornqvist. But both are back, and they should both add some energy and flow to the one lethal power play.
3. Bottom Six: The bottom six is far from ideal, but it's what we have right now. That being said, the Pens need to get something out of their bottom six. Whether its the newly acquired Klinkhammer or Downie, there needs to be some scoring from those six players.
My 3 Players to Watch
1. Evgeni Malkin: needs to keep playing at the high level he has been without Sid now. Malkin needs to keep bangin home as many goals as possible to help this team. Done well thus far, needs to keep it up.
2. Kris Letang: I think it's clear to see the impact Kris Letang has on the lineup. Over the last two weeks without 58, the Pens haven't been nearly as good and the power play was locked in a box and hidden in the attic. With Letang back in the lineup, I expect the Pens to score a little more, especially on the power play.
3. Patric Hornqvist: The Pens are missing goal scoring talent so Horny coming back is big. He will give the Pens two solid lines now and hopefully will jumpstart the slumping Captain. I don't expect a hat trick from him, but if he plays his usual game he will have a positive impact on this slumping team.
What You Need to KNow If You're Watching or Attending
- Doors open at 5:30pm for a 7:00pm game.
- The Penguins will wear their traditional black jersey.
- Pens Gear "Gameday Special" is $20 dollars off any purchase of $100 or more at Pens Gear.
- Remember, if you arrive within the first 30 minutes of the doors opening you will receive a 50% off concession voucher. So be sure to get their early to take advantage of that.
- The 2015 Pens & Paws calendars are still available at Pens Gear and on the concourses tonight. If you love puppies, dogs, cats, etc and the Penguins, be sure to pick it up.
What you need to know if you are WATCHING the outside of Consol tonight:
- ROOT Sports has the game coverage starting at 7:00pm with Steigy and Bob Errey on the call. Dan Potash will handle interviews.
- ROOT Sports will have the Pregame starting at 6:30pm and follow the game action with the Post Game.
- Pens Radio Net and 105.9 The X will have the radio coverage. Bob Grove will have the Pregame starting at 6:00pm and follow the game action with Penguins Hot Line. Hall of Famer Mike Lange and Phil Bourque will have the game call.
There are plenty of Pens Points available tonight! Here is how you can earn them:
- 50pts - Attending the Game
- 10pts - Concession Purchase
- 10pts - Merchandise Purchase
- 5pts - ROOT Sports Pregame Keyword
- 5pts - ROOT Sports Post Game Keyword
- 5pts - Pens Radio Net Keyword
- 25pts - Miller Lite Night at Jergei's Rhythm Grille in Warrendale
- 25pts - TJs Sports Bar in New Stanton
Thanks for tuning in everyone. I will most likely tweet my post game thoughts tomorrow night but who knows, I may do a "View From Where I Sat." I will do some tweeting during the game, but I'll be in the house at Consol so I won't tweet a ton during the game.
Everyone enjoy the game and the weekend. LETS GO PENS!
Cheers!