Good day Penguins fans and welcome to the latest edition of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame show. Tonight, our Pens head to the Nation's Capitol to face the NHL's best team, the Washington Capitals. This game, originally set for January, is the makeup after the cancellation due to Winter Storm Jonas.
Puck drops on this old rivalry tonight at 7:30pm, but you can begin enjoying the Pregame now...
Tonight's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" comes from the way back. Originally released 42 years ago, this song found renewed fame when it was part of 2014's Marvel hit, "Guardians of the Galaxy." It is Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling," and it is completely appropriate after the performance of our big Swede last night. Enjoy! Do dudu dooooo!
The State of the Penguins
The Penguins put the quiet day at the trade table behind them and came out and annihilated the Arizona Coyotes by a final score of 6-0. Everything about the Penguins performance was special. Patric Hornqvist had a huge night, scoring a hat trick before the second period was even over. Sidney Crosby had three assists. Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang each posted a goal and assist. Finally, Marc-Andre Fleury pitched his 5th shutout of the season.
The key, for me, about last night's game was the top six. What we haven't seen much over the past two weeks was the top six taking over the game. They did that last night. Hornqvist, Crosby, Kessel, Malkin, Kunitz all played incredibly well. Each posted a point and the combination including Carl Hagelin had 11 points and 16 shots on net over the 60 minute game. They took over the game, and I want to see that more often. The Penguins need that to happen more often if they hope to make a deep run through the regular season and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tonight, the Penguins continue a stretch of five games in seven days. The got the first two points over Arizona last night, but now must navigate three of the next four games against Metro Division rivals. Tonight, they face the first of those when they take on the NHL's best team, the Washington Capitals in D.C. It will not be an easy task after playing last night...
Presidential Aspirations: The Washington Capitals
The Capitals enter tonight as the NHL's best team. They have only loss 16 games all season and currently lead the NHL with 94 points on the season. Chicago is the closest team to the Caps points-wise, but they sit 11 points back from the top spot in the league.
Washington is doing it with a combination of talent, depth and opportunity.
There is no denying the talent on this roster. They have arguably the best scorer of this generation in Alex Ovechkin. Then there is his center, Nicklas Backstrom, who is one of the most underrated superstars in the NHL. Then there is the young stud, Evgeny Kuznetsov who has really taken a step forward and leads this team with 64 points. On the back end, the Caps of one of the best young defenseman in John Carlson and a steady two-way d-man in former Penguin Matt Niskanen. In net, they have the best goalie in the league this season and one of the best over the past two years in Braden Holtby. Sprinkle in names like Justin Williams, TJ Oshie, Brooks Orpik and Marcus Johansson and you have a really solid team up and down.
Then there is the depth they possess. The Capitals have constructed one of the deepest teams in the NHL and needed to add very little at the trade deadline to make it deeper. Their top six of Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie, Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams is up there with some of the best in the league. In the bottom six, Daniel Winnik was added at the deadline to help the PK, while Marcus Johansson has had a great year centering the 3rd line and Mike Richards has had a bounce back year after being bought out by the Kings. Defensively, they have a great corps of defensmen led by Carlson who is currently out due to injury. Despite that, they have Matty Niskanen, Karl Alzner and Brooks Orpik to anchor the group and youngsters like Taylor Chorney, Dmitri Orlov and Nate Schmidt to add to it. And don't forget Mike Weber, the Pittsburgh native who was acquired by the Caps at the deadline.
Finally, the Capitals are taking advantage of opportunity this year. They built a deep team, but they have had a relatively easy time of it this season. Braden Holtby has been outstanding, and I'd be shocked not to see him win the Vezina at season's end. He has made it look easy most of the year and stole several wins simply on his own. They have had several young players breakout, such as Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson up front. Washingotn has remained relatively healthy all year, only losing one name at a time it feels like. And then you have the fact that the East is weak and the Metro has been so up-and-down all year. The Caps have a 32 wins against the East, 16 against the Metropolitan.
I know most Penguins fans will cringe reading this, but I truly feel the Capitals are the favorites in the East and could win a Stanley Cup this year. In fact, they would be my pick to do both right now. I know Chicago reloaded at the deadline and the Kings, Ducks and Stars are all very good, but this Caps team has something different about it and I really think it is there year. Hate on them, and me for saying it, all you want, but you have to respect what they have done thus far and what they will do the remainder of the year. If the Penguins could get a win tonight, it would be a huge two points.
What to Know About the Capitals:
- 45-12-4 overall record.
- 94 points on the season is good for best in the Metro, the East and the entire NHL entering tonight.
- The Capitals have gone 7-3-0 over their last 10 games, but did lose 3-2 to Chicago on Sunday.
- Washington is a plus-60 goal differential entering tonight.
- The Verizon Center has been very good to the Caps, as they have gone 24-5-2 at home this season.
Scoring Leaders:
- C Evgeny Kuznetsov - 64pts (19G-45A)
- LW Alex Ovechkin - 58pts (40G-18A)
- C Nicklas Backstrom - 57pts (17G-40A)
- RW Justin Williams - 43pts (19G-24A)
- LW Marcus Johansson - 36pts (15G-21A)
Injury Report:
- D Mike Weber (personal) is likely OUT tonight. The newly acquired defenseman has yet to join the team as of Saturday past because of the birth of his child. Because of this, he has remained in Buffalo and will join the team after the birth.
- D John Carlson (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The Caps best defenseman will be out until the end of March after being placed on LTIR on Sunday. He's been dealing with a lower-body injury and the Caps want him to be healthy and ready for a Stanley Cup run, thus have shut him down for the next month. He should return for the end of the regular season and playoffs.
Projected Lines:
- Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - TJ Oshie
- Andre Burakovsky - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Justin Williams
- Jason Chimera - Marcus Johansson - Daniel Winnik
- Jay Beagle - Mike Richards - Tom Wilson
Projected Pairs:
- Karl Alzner - Matty Niskanen
- Brooks Orpik - Dmitri Orlov
- Nate Schmidt - Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby is expected to start in net tonight.
News & Notes From Around the Penguins
- Third of five regular season matchups between the Pens and Caps tonight.
- The Capitals took the last game in Pittsburgh, which was Mike Sullivan's debut as head coach.
- Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel lead the Pens in scoring v. Washington, each has a goal and assist in the season series.
- Marc-Andre Fleury is 1-1-0 v. Washington this year.
- Olympians TJ Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom lead Washington scorers, each has 3 points in the series.
- The Penguins have shutout Alex Ovechkin in both games thus far.
- Braden Holtby is 1-1-0 in the season series.
- The Pens have won 5 of their last 6 games at the Verizon Center.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 in their last 5 road games and 7-1-1 in their last 9 games v. Metro teams.
- RW Patric Hornqvist scored his first career hat trick last night v. Arizona. The big Swede also has 26 points in his last 25 games played.
- G Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 5th shutout of the year last night v. Arizona. That mark is currently tied for 2nd in the NHL.
- D Kris Letang's goal last night matched his career high of 11. His next will naturally break his career best.
- LW Chris Kunitz has played at a point-per-game average over his last 18 games. (7G-11A).
Deadline Winners/Losers
Chicago Blackhawks - Winners: I know everyone hates the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, but you have to give them credit their continuous success and their uncanny ability to make big deals at the deadline. GM Stan Bowman needed to upgrade the backend and add a couple pieces to the forward corps, especially with Marian Hossa set to miss a couple weeks. Bowman did that when he acquired Andrew Ladd, Christian Ehrhoff, Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise. The Hawks gave up a bit in picks and prospect Marko Dano, but if they win their 4th Cup in 7 years no one in the Windy City will complain. Ladd slots in on the top line immediately with Toews while Weise and Fleischmann likely bolster the bottom six. Ehrhoff isn't a stud, but he is serviceable and should add to this team. Chicago were definitely winners.
Florida Panthers - Winners: The Panthers were definitely all-in at this year's deadline and GM Dave Tallon made some really solid moves. The big acquisition was Calgary's Jiri Hudler, who should help out the Panthers' top six. Teddy Purcell, acquired from Edmonton, replaces Brandon Pirri who was sent to Anaheim for a late round pick. Jakub Kindl becomes a bottom pair or depth defenseman for this club. Overall, Tallon's moves really didn't cost the team much. The only real piece moved from this year's draft was their 2nd rounder, while their 3rd and 4th rounders in future drafts were also included. Tallon made this team much deeper and I see them as a possible threat to the Capitals in the playoffs.
Carolina Hurricanes - Winners: They likely won't make the playoffs, but the Canes did exactly what they needed to do, sell their UFAs for the future. Ron Francis did a great job in his acquisitions there. He received two second rounders and a solid prospect from the Rangers for Eric Staal, two picks from the Bruins for J-M Liles and another pick and prospect from the Kings for Kris Versteeg. The Canes already have several solid pieces in place for the future, and they should add greatly to it at this year's draft where they will have 7 picks in the first three rounds. Very good on Ron Francis to do the smart thing and get pieces for the future.
New York Islanders - Losers: I don't think the Islanders are a very good team to be completely honest. They have injuries and underachievement all around this season. Yet, they still find themselves in a playoff spot entering tonight. I really don't think they will be a contender if they make the playoffs, and I wouldn't be surprised if they missed them in the end. Their only acquisition was Shawn Prince from Ottawa, who will likely just slot in their bottom six. Then you have Kyle Okposo, who will be a UFA and could have fetched a good return for the future. I think the Isles are losers, even with the their standing right now.
St. Louis Blues - Losers: This team has been a perennial stud in the regular season and an utter disappointment in the playoffs. I don't expect much different this year. This team still has problems scoring, especially in big games. The plan and rumors for the last two months were that the Blues were going to add a big scorer to their roster for the stretch run and playoffs. They instead did nothing. They didn't get a Jonathan Drouin, Mikkel Boedker, Ryan Johansen, Eric Staal that could have really helped this spring. They did add an extra goalie with the injury situation currently facing them there, but they didn't solve their glaring problem.
Tampa Bay Lightning - Losers: The Jonathan Drouin saga will continue as Steve Yzerman failed to trade off his disgruntled young winger. The offers were reportedly there, but because of his suspensions, teams were worry to make better offers. Instead, Yzerman stood pat and then proceeded to say the team would not reinstate Drouin from suspension. OK, so you want a better return, but won't put the kid in the lineup somewhere. How do you expect that to happen? Yzerman should have cut his losses, taken the best deal he could have gotten, and focused solely on Stamkos come season's end.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Winners: I give GM Jim Rutherford a ton of credit. He was relatively quiet on deadline day and the entire week. The deals for Trevor Daley and Carl Hagelin have played out really well thus far. I hope for more of the same with Justin Schultz. The Pens got a potentially outstanding piece from the Oilers for a mere 3rd round choice. He has the potential to become a really good defenseman, and under the tutelage of Sergei Gonchar and Jacques Martin, it could really pay off for the Penguins. On deadline day, Rutherford was smart, calculated and calm. He didn't make moves simply to make them. He moved Plotnikov for a pick and a prospect and acquired Dustin Jeffrey from Arizona to add to the depth in Wilkes-Barre. He held on to Jeff Zatkoff, who will now serve as the third goalie and was forced to hold on to Ian Cole after David Warsofsky was claimed off waivers. Rutherford was smart to hold steady and not mortgage what little the Penguins have in the system and in the way of picks. This team is solid and can do well with what it has. No deal would have pushed this team over the top.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel
- Tom Kuhnhackl - Nick Bonino - Bryan Rust
- Scott Wilson - Matt Cullen - Kevin Porter
Pairs:
- Olli Maatta - Kris Letang
- Brian Dumoulin - Trevor Daley
- Derrick Pouliot - Ian Cole
Matt Murray is expected to start in net for the Penguins tonight.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Stop Ovi: The Penguins have done an amazing job of keeping Ovechkin off the scoresheet so far this year. The notorious Penguin killer has 0 points through 2 games. The Penguins would be smart to continue that trend. The best way of doing that is taking away his time and space and keeping the Caps off the power play.
3. Bottom Six Scoring: The Pens have gotten points out of their bottom six the past few games. That is huge and always is. Matt Cullen scored for the Penguins last night, while Scott Wilson, Tom Kuhnhackl, Bonino and Rust have added points over the past few games as well. That needs to continue and could be a huge gamechanger against the Caps tonight.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Patric Hornqvist: Coming off a huge game last night, I expect Hornqvist to play really well again tonight. As a friend pointed out, Holtby have trouble right in front of the net with guys in his kitchen. Horny is really good at getting in a goalie's kitchen. I expect him to have another solid night and cause Holtby a lot of problems.
3. Nick Bonino: I just want to see this guy get going. He has the skills and the talent, but we just haven't seen it much yet. I'd love to see Bones have a really good game and maybe break out of the season-long funk he has had. Tonight would be a great night for him to do it.
What to KNow for Watching/Listening
- National coverage only tonight, as NBC is covering the snowed out game. NBCSN has the coverage tonight starting at 7:30pm.
- 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 7:30pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 6:30pm. Josh Getzoff will host.
- Penguins Hot Line will follow the game action.
Pens Points:
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts