Good evening Penguins fans and welcome to the lasted edition of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame show. Tonight, our Pens engage in what could be a potential mad house against the regional rival Columbus Blue Jackets.
The puck drops on the game action at 7:00pm tonight, but you can enjoy the Pregame starting right now...
Tonight's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" is heavy, because tonight's game will be heavy as well. This is one of my favorite metalcore songs of all time. It comes from Indiana band Haste the Day. This song, "Mad Men," comes off their 2009 album "Dreamer." Its got great guitars, sick breakdown and a could combination of singing and screaming. I think you'll like it. Fits the motif for tonight's game. ENNNNNNJOYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
The State of the Penguins
We've all heard that phrase in our lives. Whether it's been in regards to schooling, sports, work, etc., it has played a role in our lives. It is no different in the sport of hockey, and no different with the Penguins right now.
While the Penguins have gone 0-4-0 under new coach Mike Sullivan, the Penguins have shown signs of the good that will come. Dejan Kovacevic of his own website asked Mike Sullivan how much of his system he has been able to put in place with only two practices with this club. Sullivan gave an excellent answer, which I recommend you view here: https://t.co/9pi4md4aUg.
The Penguins schedule has killed any sort of quick start they could have had under Sullivan. They haven't been able to work on the things that have plagued them and they haven't been able to work on the things that will get this team back to where they should be. Tonight could another loss. Hell, next Saturday and Sunday could well be too. What we need to realize is that this transition is not only going to take time, but it is going to take practice.
So before we really lose our minds, give up our tickets and change the channel, we need to be patient. In the dark years, Penguins fans were patient for nearly a decade during the so-called rebuild. We need to allow the Penguins a few weeks to make this transition too.
Lets face it, none of us out there were perfect at something without practice. It's unfair to think the Penguins could be too.
Let the Blood Boil: Columbus Blue Jackets
The last time the Penguins and Blue Jackets met, Brandon Dubinsky man-handled our captain and was not even penalized for it. Crosby left the game for a while and Evgeni Malkin ended up fighting Jack Johnson to stick up for his captain.
Fortunately enough, we won't have to worry about Dubinsky assaulting our captain tonight. The reason, Sidney Crosby likely won't be in the lineup with a lower-body injury. That's both a blessing and a curse for Penguins fans. The blessing, of course, is that Dubinsky won't get to beat him and if he goes after Malkin, he won't get a pleasant retort. The downside, well, Sidney Crosby won't be in the lineup.
Anyway, to the team itself. The Blue Jackets are rolling in here on a two-game winning streak, though they have been less than spectacular in the games preceding them. Over their last 10 games, Columbus has gone 3-4-3. While that is far from great, they are at least earning points via OT loses, which does help.
The coaching change has yet to firmly take hole of Columbus for the better. Tortorella hasn't changed, but the transition isn't going as smoothly as some would have hoped. The team's star center, Ryan Johansen, found himself as a healthy scratch last week and has been benched multiple times by his new coach. While Johansen is taking the high route and saying he "deserved it," he likely is just the most recent dog-housed Tortorella player.
Columbus has some solid pieces, but a combination of underachieving and injury have hurt this team. It'll likely be a lost year for our Ohio neighbors, but don't expect them to be down for the count for the future.
What to Know About Columbus:
- 13-19-3 on the season.
- Currently sitting last in the Metropolitan, last in the East and last in the NHL.
- The Jackets have won 2 straight, but have only gone 3-4-3 over their last 10.
- Columbus is 8-11-0 on the road, including a 2-1 victory in Pittsburgh on November 13th.
- The Jackets have a minus-21 goal differential on the season.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Scott Hartnell - 26pts (13G-13A)
- C Ryan Johansen - 22pts (6G-18A)
- LW Brandon Saad - 22pts (12G-10A)
- RW Cam Atkinson - 21pts (10G-11A)
- LW Nick Foligno - 19pts (5G-14A)
- C Boone Jenner - 19pts (12G-7A)
Injury Report:
- G Sergei Bobrovsky (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The former Vezina winner was placed on IR last week with a groin issue. He is skating again, but is roughly a week or two away from return.
- C Nick Foligno (undisclosed) is a game-time decision for tonight. Foligno reportedly suffered the injury v. Philly on Saturday and missed practice yesterday.
- D David Savard (lower-body) is OUT tonight. Savard is dealing with an ankle injury that will keep him on the shelf for about a month.
- D Jack Johnson (upper-body) is a game-time decision. Johnson missed the last two games with an upper-body issue, but is expected to return tonight.
- F Markus Hannikainen (upper-body) is OUT tonight. The young Fin is out for about 2 months with a should injury.
Projected Lines:
- Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno
- Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
- Scotty Hartnell - Alex Wennberg - Brandon Saad
- Gregory Campbell - William Karlsson - David Clarkson
Pairs:
- Ryan Murray - Jack Johnson
- Fedor Tyutin - Justin Falk
- Kevin Connauton - Dalton Prout
Joonas Korpisalo will likely get the start for the Jackets tonight.r
News & Notes From Around the Penguins
- C Sidney Crosby (lower-body) is a game-time decision tonight. While HCMS didn't directly rule him out for tonight's game, but it wouldn't hurt him to take the game off, especially against Dubinsky.
- D Kris Letang (upper-body) skated yesterday in a non-contact jersey. He will need to progress to contact practice before he can be cleared for game action.
- No updates on Marc-Andre Fleury or Beau Bennett.
Pens/Blue Jackets Notes:
- The Jackets have taken the first two games of the series this season. Both have been 2-1 victories.
The Penguins got one point out of those two so far. - Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist have the only two Pens goals v. Columbus this season.
- Brandon Saad leads Columbus with a goal and three points in the series so far.
- Sergei Bobrovsky won both starts v. Pittsburgh.
#AskBigDave
Great question Reedie. I though Matt Murray played very well in his NHL debut against Carolina. The Staal goal probably should have been stopped, but there was nothing he could do about the Liles goal. After that, he was absolutely outstanding.
Murray is the real deal. He has 37 wins in 57 career games at the AHL level with 16 shutouts. That is an unbelievable number for anyone at any level. I see him as the eventual replacement for Marc-Andre Fleury and a huge part of the Penguins future.
As for tonight, I'd really like to see him in the net. Zatkoff has pretty solid numbers against Columbus, but Murray is the guy we need to see and the guy I think offers us a better chance to win. I won't be shocked if Zatkoff plays, but my vote is for Matt Murray.
From Elizabeth on the Tweety: "Why is Ian Cole still in the line up with a -16?"
Ian Cole has been subjected to a lot of hate of late and even more so since Rob Scuderi has been traded Elizabeth and for solid reasons. Look, there is not discounting that Cole has been bad, especially over the last month.
He is, as you mention, a minus-16. That is not good. He only has 4 points, which is not great either. He does, however, lead the team in blocked shots, which is a big help defensively.
When I look at Cole's season, I honestly see a guy that has been misused and thus has struggled. Much like Ben Lovejoy last year, Cole was cast in the top pair for the first month of the season and playing a huge amount of minutes. Cole is a solid defenseman, but he should never be playing 23+ minutes a night. He's a bottom-4 defenseman and should play in such a role. That is where he will succeed. I think a lot of the goals against for him came with Letang (don't forget, 58 is also a double-digit minus), and on the PK. If he is playing with a steady partner, he should rebound.
Down the road, I see Cole coming out of this funk. Firstly, I see him playing on the bottom pair playing closer to 20 minutes a night than 25 per night. I also want to see him pair with someone who complements him well. He played well with Derrick Pouliot down the stretch last year and I think he will partner well with Trevor Daley once Kris Letang returns.
As for the interim, I still think he is a better option than Warsofsky or Clendening. As a matter of fact, Warsofsky's reckless pinching and being out of position often has put a huge stress on Cole. Same thing happened when he was with Letang. He needs a partner that won't leave him out to dry and have to fend of two attacking players by himself.
I hope that answers your question!
From Mike on the Tweety: "What's your opinion on canceling gameday skate today? I know HCMS doesn't like them."
Good question Mike. Sullivan has stated that he is not a fan of the morning skates. Which is fine. If that's how he wants to run the team, let him do it his way. Normally, I wouldn't care one way or the other whether they skate in the morning or not.
That being said, at the present time, I really don't like it. The Pens have a new coach and are working on introducing a new style, system, whatever. That requires practice. While a 45-minute morning skate may not give a ton of time, it's still better than nothing and would help them moving forward.
I wish they were skating for that reason, but maybe rest would be the best, especially if Sid is banged up too at the moment.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Patric Hornqvist - Evgeni Malkin - Conor Sheary
- Chris Kunitz - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
- David Perron - Matt Cullen - Scott Wilson
- Sergei Plotnikov - Eric Fehr - Kevin Porter
Pairs:
- Ben Lovejoy - Brian Dumoulin
- Olli Maatta - Trevor Daley
- Ian Cole - Adam Clendening
Matt Murray would be my starter tonight, but don't be surprised if Zatkoff gets the start.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Net-Front Presence: The Penguins need to go to the dirty areas, particularly the net. They practiced it extensively on Sunday and I hope to see them do it tonight. It's the only way they are going to score and if they don't start doing it, they will continue to struggle offensively. Expect guys like Sheary, Hornqvist, Perron to be big tonight.
3. Young Influence: I love the Wilkes-Barre guys getting minutes over the last few games. Conor Sheary has been very impressive, Kevin Porter has been solid defensively and Matt Murray was very good in his debut. Tonight, we should get to see either Scott WIlson, who led WBS in goals so far this year, and/or Bryan Rust in the lineup if Sid misses the game. These guys hustle and they have good habit. I have no issues with them playing.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Brian Dumoulin: Dumo is getting more and more comfortable in his role and the confidence is showing. I really like that he is pinching and creating more offensive chances. It will really add to this team once they are firing on all cylinders. I just have a feeling tonight's the night he gets his first goal of the year.
3. Scott WIlson: Wilson will likely make his season debut for the Penguins tonight. Wilson played four games for the Pens last year, including three against the Rangers in the playoffs. Wilson has been great in Wilkes-Barre the last two season. He scored 19 goals last season and is currently leading the team with 15 after 25 games. If he can add some of that here, it would be huge.
What to Know for Attending/Watching/Listening
- The puck drops on Pens/Jackets at 7:00pm. Gates at Consol open at 6:00pm.
- The Penguins will wear their traditional home jerseys tonight.
- The Pens Gear Gameday special is 25% off all sweatshirts
- It's the season of giving! Tonight, all fans in attendance will receive a Penguins "ugly Christmas sweater" knit hat presented by Consol Energy.
- It is also "Ugly Christmas Sweater" night at the arena! So be sure to wear those fabulously sheik sweaters.
- This year's "Pens and Paws" calendar is now available. You can pick one up behind section 120 or 217 tonight or order online. To purchase online, use the following link: http://pittsburghpenguinsfoundation.org
- Also just in time for the holidays, you can purchase a copy of Eric Fehr's children's book "The Bulliest Dozer" at the Pittsburgh Penguins Silent Auction stand behind the First Niagara Club for just $20. You can also purchase the book by using the Foundation’s mobile bidding app at bidpal.net/pens.
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 7:00pm. Dan Potash will have the interviews.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage beginning at 6:30pm.
- 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 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:
- Attending the Game: 50pts
- Concession Purchases: 10pts
- Merchandise Purchases: 10pts
- ROOT Sports Pregame Keyword: 5pts
- ROOT Sports Post Game Keyword: 5pts
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts