Happy Saturday night and welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame. I hope you all have had a hockey filled day just as I have. Tonight, our Pens complete their third set of back-to-back games in a month's time when they are hosted by Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils in East Rutherford.
The puck drops on Pens/Devils at 7:00pm eastern time, but the Pregame is available for you right now...
Tonight's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" comes from the New Jersey legend himself. How could I pick anyone else for such a much than "the Boss?" This album turned 40 years old over the summer, and though that is almost double my age, Springsteen's music truly is timeless. I am a huge fan of his music, old and new, and here is the title track off that 40-year-old album. Ladies and Gentlemen, Springsteen's "Born to Run." Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
I wrote in the post game Wednesday and the Pregame last night that I though the Pens may have found their turning point after a horrendous start to the season. Now, horrendous may be a strong world, particularly for a team that had won 10 of 12 games entering last night.
Strong it may be, but it's the cold, hard truth. The Penguins have underachieved and done it in an incredibly dull manner.
Dejan Kovacevic wrote last night how he is having a hard time watching not only the Pens, but hockey in general. He is far from wrong. This league is dull and they are frankly not willing to change.
Hockey is a beautiful game, but we are seeing from the Penguins is pretty damn ugly. They have three of the best forwards in the league and they are putting up points almost at .50 points per game. They have one of the leagues best offensive defenseman that is not only struggling, but can't get any luck when he is playing well. It is not a game, or league for that matter, that plays to the stars. It's a league that plays to grinders, defense and goaltending. I don't know about you, but it's boring as all hell to watch the Pens, even on their best nights.
This all stems into the Penguins identity crisis.
The Pens have nearly 30 million dollars tied up in four scoring studs, and the nature of Johnston's system and the NHL are stunting them. Grinders are producing, but not enough to make this team anything special.
I guess what I'm getting at here is the NHL needs to change its ways, otherwise this team will not only lack identity this year, but the rest of the careers of Crosby, Malkin, Kessel or Letang if things don't change. The Pens have an identity crisis. The league has an identity crisis, and the latter is resulting in unskillful teams like the Devils playing contending hockey....
Devil's Advocate: The New Jersey Devils
The Devils entered this season after another sub-par, non-playoff year in East Rutherford. Head Coach Peter DeBoer was let go and long-time general manager Lou Lamoriello left to rebuild the Leafs. The Devils selected Pavel Zacha with the seventh overall selection in the draft and they were expected to be cellar-dwellers this season and be in the running for American phenom Austin Matthews in next summer's draft.
But that hasn't happened.
Instead, the Devils, now led by former Penguins GM Ray Shero and former Baby Pens coach John Hynes, have this team playing respectable hockey. They have started the season 9-6-1 and currently sit fourth in the Metropolitan Division. They are particularly hot of late, going 7-3-0 over their last ten games.
The Devils are changing from their old defensive first front. At least, that is what the numbers are suggesting. They currently sit even in goal differential, thanks to the scoring of several veterans and the good play of netminder Cory Schneider. Schneider is 8-4-1 on the season with a 2.13 goals against average. On the offensive side, Adam Henrique leads the team in goals with 8 while veterans Mike Cammalleri and Kyle Palmieri lead the team with 14 points a piece. And of course, the Devils have played exceptionally since they claimed former Penguin Bobby Farnham off waivers. He posted a goal and assist in his first game with the team.
All Farnham joking aside, the Devils are playing very good hockey under coach John Hynes. He led the Baby Penguins to multiple playoff appearances and made deep runs in a couple of those seasons. He is finally getting the opportunity to lead an NHL club and he's doing well.
I don't know if the Devils can keep this level of play up all season, but they are certainly built for the future and could surprise this year more going forward. They have several young players in Damon Severson, Jon Merrille and Pavel Zacha in the system and the complement of veterans is proving to still have some talent. I'd still be surprise if they make the playoffs, but they could make a push and play spoilers to other teams down the stretch.
What You Need to Know About New Jersey:
- 9-6-1 on the season.
- They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games.
- The Devils currently sit in a tie for fourth place with the Islanders in Metropolitan.
- They have an even goal differential entering tonight.
- New Jersey is better on the road than home, only going 4-4-1 at the Prudential Center.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Mike Cammalleri - 14pts (5G-9A)
- RW Kyle Palmieri - 14pts (6G-8A)
- RW Lee Stempniak - 12pts (3G-9A)
- LW Adam Henrique - 12pts (8G-4A)
- C Travis Zajac - 11pts (6G-5A)
Injury Report:
- RW Tuomo Ruutu (lower-body) will be OUT tonight. Ruutu suffered a fractured foot in mid-October and will be out a few more weeks. Original diagnosis is 4-6 weeks.
- LW Patrik Elias (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The 39-year-old Stanley Cup winner has yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury prior to the season. He has been skating, but there has been no announcement on a return.
Lines:
- Mike Cammalleri - Adam Henrique - Lee Stempniak
- Sergey Kalinin - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
- Stefan Matteau - Jacob Josefson - Jordin Tootoo
- Bobby Farnham - Stephen Gionta - Brian O'Neill
Pairs:
- Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
- John Moore - Damon Severson
- Jon Merrill - David Schlemko
Cory Schneider is expected to start in net.
News & Notes from the Penguins
- The Penguins won 3 of 5 games during the 2014-15 season.
- Pittsburgh won both games at Consol Energy Center while the Devils won two out of three at the Prudential Center.
- Sidney Crosby paced the Pens in scoring, with three goals and four points in 5 games.
- Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang each had three points in four games played v. NJ.
- Marc-Andre Fleury won three of four starts against New Jersey last year.
- Travis Zajac led the Devils in scoring with three points in four games.
Projected Penguin Lines & Pairs
- Pascal Dupuis - Sidney Crosby - Beau Bennett
- David Perron - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel
- Chris Kunitz - Nick Bonino - Patric Hornqvist
- Daniel Sprong - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
Pairs:
- Kris Letang - Olli Maatta
- Ben Lovejoy - Brian Dumoulin
- Rob Scuderi - Ian Cole
Jeff Zatkoff will start in net for the Penguins.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Fight Like Hell: I loved what I saw against the Habs in the third period Wednesday night. That was a fight level we haven't seen in years. I want to see that tonight. If the Pens lose, but play that way, that's fine. But if they don't play that way and win or lose, I'm not impressed. Full effort, fight like hell. Not asking for the world.
3. Protect Big Z: Jeff Zatkoff will be in net tonight and hopefully the Penguins can keep the shots down on the backup netminder. The 53 shots they gave up against Buffalo with him in net was ridiculous, but they were much better v. Edmonton. I'd like to see the defenders get in front of shots and make the night a little easier on Zatkoff.
MY 3 PENGUINS TO WATCH
2. Sidney Crosby: GM Jim Rutherford says Sid is looking better and better each game. That is a fair assessment. He has good numbers against New Jersey and led the Pens against them in scoring last year. Why not continue the trend tonight? Sid has a big game.
3. Jeff Zatkoff: I liked Big Z as the backup two years ago and I feel more confident in him now. He is a talented netminder and has played very well in his two appearances this year. I think he'll have another solid game tonight.
What to Know for Watching/Attending
- ROOT Sports has the coverage for the Penguins tonight. Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey on the call starting at 7:00pm and Dan Potash has the interviews.
- ROOT Sports will host Penguins Pregame starting at 6:30pm and will follow the game action with their post-game show.
- 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 7:00pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 6:00pm. Josh Getzoff will host.
- Penguins Hot Line will follow the game action
Pens Points:
- ROOT Sports Pregame Keyword: 5pts
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts
- ROOT Sports Postgame Keyword: 5pts
- Miller Lite Nite at Duke's Rib House and Grille: 25pts
- Miller Light Nite at BLVD Pub and Kitchen in Canonsberg: 25pts