Happy Friday Penguins nation and welcome to the latest edition of Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Tonight, our Penguins head across the PA border to face Burgh native Brandon Saad and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Puck drops on the action tonight at 7:00pm, but you can begin enjoying my Pregame now....
I am going heavy tonight for my "Big Dave's Gameday Jam." With the Jackets as the opponents and hatred toward a specific center named Dubinsky, I wanted something heavy for the music, something metal. We got just that with this piece tonight. This song comes from one of my favorite metal bands out there, Lancaster, PA natives August Burns Red. This song, off their "Constellations" album, is my favorite song they've ever recorded. It is called "Crusades." I hope you enjoy it!
The State of the Penguins
The Penguins let another opportunity slip through their fingers Tuesday night in Brooklyn. The Islanders got a late goal in the third period to take the lead for good, though the Pens had several chances to take this game both early and late in this game.
The man with the best opportunity to change this game wears number 81 for the Penguins. Phil Kessel has underwhelmed this year. We talked about it a few weeks ago prior to the Philadelphia game, then again prior to the the Carolina game in February. And here we are talking about it again. Kessel had two Grade A opportunities to bury two goals for the Penguins in Tuesday's game. He wasted a perfect opportunity in the first minute of the game when he failed to score on a perfect set up from Evgeni Malkin. Same can be said when he couldn't raise the puck more than two inches off the ice in the dying moments of the game; a shot that was ultimately blocked by Travis Hamonic.
Kessel needs to be better. He has 43 points sure, maybe his CORSI numbers are good too, I honestly don't care. Kessel doesn't pass my eye test, and he shouldn't pass yours either. He is a one-trick pony who isn't doing his trick. He seems scared to shoot on the power play. He is incapable of shooting a one-timer and he has failed to score in big moments when he's been handed perfect chances. The Penguins go as far as Crosby, Malkin and Fleury carry them, but Kessel could add a hell of a lot to this team if he could consistently find the net more often.
Phil Kessel isn't the main reason the Penguins lost this game. The Islanders simply beat them in the end. Both teams worked hard, played well, but New York got the ever important goal late in the third.
As for the Penguins, it is a disappointing loss. A win brings them within a point of third in the Metro; the loss keeps them currently holding down the first wild card spot. There is still no guarantee the Penguins make the playoffs this year, though other teams around them are falling away as the days past.
That being said, the Penguins cannot simply limp their way into the postseason again. If they want any chance of making a run they need to get hot starting now and take control of their fate now. They have 7 more games against the Metro over the next two weeks. Now is the time to start taking control, starting tonight in Columbus...
The Columbus Tortorellas!... Or the Columbus blue Jackets
That is exactly what the Columbus Blue Jackets are looking to do down the stretch of the 2015-16 NHL season. The Jackets entered the year with a lot of expectations. They made a huge deal to acquire Brandon Saad from Chicago. They had a great young center in Ryan Johansen and several other talented pieces in Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Murray and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Then the floor fell out from below their feet. The Jackets got off to a horrendous start, that would ultimately cost Todd Richards his job before October was out. Enter John Tortorella, the hard-nosed dictator that had success in previous stops. Torts took over and immediately showed he would not play favorites. He benched Johansen, Hartnell, others who did not give him what he wanted. It has been a recipe that hasn't paid off as of yet.
The Blue Jackets are in the basement of the Metropolitan Division when many, myself included, thought they'd be in the thick of the chase this year. They traded Ryan Johansen in early January to Nashville for Seth Jones, hoping the swap would help stabilize the Columbus back end. Other than that, little else could be done. Despite the rumors, Scott Hartnell remains on the roster, despite his dislike for the head coach. Fedor Tyutin, also heavily rumored, couldn't be sold at the deadline, nor could any other player on the roster. Johansen, the team's best player entering the year, was the only casualty so far of Tortorella's reign.
Despite their bad record and firm grasp of the Metro's basement, the Jackets are looking to spoil the playoff hopes of other teams in the East. They beat Detroit in their previous game, along with other playoffs hopefuls such as Florida, New Jersey and Boston over the last three weeks. And lest we forget, they have taken it to the Penguins this year too, winning two of the first three matchups in 2015-16. The Penguins need to make sure the Jackets don't play spoilers to them too.
The Lowdown on Columbus:
- 28-31-8 overall record.
- Their 64 points on the year is worst in the Metro and third worst in the East.
- The Jackets won their last game and enter tonight going 5-3-2 over their last 10 games.
- Nationwide Arena has been friendlier than the road for the Jackets this year, with a 15-12-6 record at home this year.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Scott Hartnell - 43pts (21G-22A)
- RW Cam Atkinson - 43pts (23G-20A)
- C Brandon Dubinsky - 41pts (14G-27A)
- LW Brandon Saad - 41pts (24G-17A)
- C Boone Jenner - 39pts (24G-15A)
Injury Report:
- LW Brandon Saad (upper-body) is a game-time decision tonight. The Pittsburgh native missed the last two games after leaving Friday's game with an upper-body issue. There has been little word on his status, so unless told otherwise, he is likely out tonight.
- D Jack Johnson (upper-body) is OUT tonight. The Jackets veteran defenseman hasn't played since late-February with an upper-body ailment. He was placed on IR on February 27th.
Projected Lines:
- Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
- Scotty Hartnell - Alex Wennberg - Nick Foligno
- Matt Calvert - Williams Karlsson - David Clarkson
- Rene Bourque - Gregory Campbell - Jared Boll
Projected Pairs:
- Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
- Cody Goloubeg - David Savard
- Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net today. He was activated off IR on Wednesday.
NEws & Notes From Around the Penguins
- D Ben Lovejoy (undisclosed) returned to practice yesterday in Cranberry for the first time since his injury last month. He wore a yellow no-contact jersey, but he did skate with his teammates.
- LW Carl Hagelin (upper-body) was a full participant in practice yesterday and will be a game-time decision for tonight in Columbus.
- C Eric Fehr (lower-body) was also a full participant in practice yesterday and will be a game-time decision tonight. Fehr hasn't played since early-February after suffering a lower-body injury.
- F Beau Bennett (body in general) was on the ice yesterday in practice, but was wearing a yellow, no-contact jersey. It is a step back for the oft-injured winger who was a full participant in practice the last few days, making his return status unknown.
Organizational News:
- The NHL announced Wednesday that the Penguins and Flyers 2017 outdoor game would be on February 18, 2017 at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field.
Transaction News:
- Penguins signed F Carter Rowney to a 2-year, 2-way contract worth 1.2 million dollar contract on Wednesday. Rowney has played the entire season in Wilkes-Barre, posting 19 goals and 41 points in 59 games this season. He is expected to remain in WBS as well.
- F Conor Sheary was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre yesterday afternoon. With the return of Eric Fehr and Carl Hagelin today, the young winger would have found himself in the press box. Instead, he will play top minutes for the Baby Pens.
Pens/Jackets Matchup Notes:
- Fourth and final matchup of the 2015-16 season.
- The Penguins have gone 1-1-1 v. Columbus this season.
- Their only win came on December 21st, a night where Matt Murray earned his first NHL win in net and Mike Sullivan his first win as Pens head coach.
- C Evgeni Malkin leads the Pens in scoring v. Columbus this year. He has scored a goal in each of the first three games of the season series.
- Phil Kessel had two goals in the last matchup, which is second on the team behind Malkin along with Patric Hornqvist and Nick Bonino, who each have 2 points so far.
- The Flower is 0-1-1 this season v. Columbus.
- Brandon Saad leads all Columbus scorers with 4 points.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- D Kris Letang set a career high Tuesday night when he scored his 12th goal of the season.
- With a win tonight, Marc-Andre Fleury will earn the 350th victory of his career.
- C Sidney Crosby enters tonight's game on a six-game point streak. He has 3 goals and 10 points over those games.
#AskBigDave
Let me start by saying that "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies. Absolute classic, a must see.
Anyway, on to the actual topic. What has been the good, the bad and the ugly of the Kessel deal? Hmmmm, well, lets see Jonathan...
The Good: The Penguins have gotten 20 goals and 43 points out of their big name, offseason acquisition so far this season. While Kessel has underwhelmed, he is still in the top-5 in team scoring. So he has that going for him. He does shoot the puck a lot, leading the team in shots and shot attempts. That's good too. Probably the biggest "good" in his favor has been his durability. He has played every game, no questions asked.
The Bad: As I mentioned above, Kessel has grossly underperformed. We entered the season with high hopes of 40-50 goals for this serial sniper, instead we'll be lucky to get 25, let alone 30. Kessel has 20 goals and 43 points entering today's game, but he just hasn't overwhelmed me. What bothers me most about him is he is inconsistent. He'll score a goal or two in a game, then go scoreless for five, six games. I know Kessel can't score every game, but what you want to see is him posting points, scoring goals with regularity. Kessel is a 60-80 point per season player, that is not an unreasonable number either, especially alongside Malkin or Crosby.
The Ugly: I think the ugly with Kessel has been the power play. He has done NOTHING as far as PP goal scoring. Sure, he has assisted on several PP goals, but he has only 3 goals on the man-advantage and he could be (and should be) getting more there. The Phil seems completely incapable of taking one-timers, and this inability is slowing the flow and costing him the precious seconds that would result in goals. Whether it's a stick change or whatever, Kessel needs to do much, much more in this area and I think that's been the ugliest part of his game.
I hope that answers your question Jonathan.
Rhonda on the Tweety asks: "Can you explain waivers, who has to pass waivers and who doesn't when called up and sent down to AHL?"
No problem Rhonda, this one is not too complicated to explain. Basically, there are two types of contracts players sign. Every rookie signs an "ELC" or Entry Level Contract. This is a set contract by the league which is 3 years in length, cannot exceed 925k per season and includes a "two-way" clause. If a player has a two-way clause, they can pass back and forth between NHL and AHL without going through the waiver process. Now, a player can sign a contract with a "two-way" clause that isn't a rookie either. Penguins forward Tom Sestito is an example of that and guys like Rust, Wilson and Sheary all have two-way clauses in their contracts. These deals are a more organizational friendly than the other choice.
The other option is a "one-way" clause. If a player has a "one-way" clause in their contract, they must pass through the waivers process before being sent to the AHL. In the waivers process, every team has the chance to put a claim on said player, with the worse team in league having first dibs and the best team in the league having last dibs. If a player is claimed, they go to the claiming team. If the player goes unclaimed, then their current club can assign them to the AHL, ECHL, wherever. Players with "one-way" contracts tend to be veteran players because they don't want to head back to the AHL if they can avoid it. They'd rather move to another team to stay in the NHL than go to the AHL.
Hope that answers your question Rhonda.
From "Lets Talk Pens" on the Tweety: "Where do you see the goalie situation next year? Especially with Tristan Jarry in the mix now?"
Well guys, as we talked about in your round table just a few weeks back, the Penguins will most likely go into next season with Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray as the goaltending duo. I think this is the best way forward. Murray has shown he is NHL capable and his solid play allows Flower to get a night off more often and thus keeping him fresher for the stretch and playoffs. This is the way the Penguins should go about this situation.
Now, you ask about Tristan Jarry. Jarry is a talented player. Selected in the 2nd round just a few years ago and a confident kid who came out and said he would take Flower's job one day. It's admirable, but he is still third behind the Flower and Matt Murray. Jarry is talented. He has shown this year in his first full AHL year that he is a quality goaltender, but he is still a few years away. He needs to be the full starter in Wilkes-Barre and excel before we go putting him in the mix up here, and with the standard that Murray set in WBS, it'll be rather hard to supplant him.
I think Jarry stays in the AHL for at least next season and maybe the one after that. It is also conceivable that he becomes a trade chip for the Penguins down the road. At this present time, I just don't see him as a serious contender in the goaltender mix here. He needs more seasoning and he needs to stay healthy, something he has struggled with a bit this season.
A FACEBOOK QUESTION!!! Don't get nearly enough of these. From Tyler M. on Facebook: "Since we are not likely to catch the islanders and rangers since they get points almost all of the games they play, who would you wanna play first round of the playoffs? Atlantic winner since it's a close race? Or Washington?"
Thank you Tyler for your question, as it is a really good one. The Eastern Conference is getting interesting right now. In the Metro, the Capitals have the top spot locked down for sure, and the Rangers will likely enter the playoffs as the 2nd in the Metro. I think the Isles will get the third seed, as I don't think the Penguins will get hot and go on a huge run to overtake them. In the Atlantic, Tampa and Boston are at the top, with Florida just a couple points behind. All three are at least 6 points clear of anyone else in the division. I think, one way or the other, those three teams are the Atlantic participants.
Now, I see the Penguins making the playoffs as one of the wild card teams. I don't know if they'll hold down this 1st spot, which would have them face off against the Atlantic, or if they will squeak in the playoffs and face the Capitals as the 2nd wild card.
As for my choice of who they play, it would depend greatly on who ends up winning the Atlantic Division. If Boston wins the division, I'd rather play the Capitals. I think the Pens could take their division foes out, but I don't feel the same about the Bruins. Same goes for Tampa. The Penguins struggled mightily against the defending Eastern Conference Champions this season and I don't see things changing in the playoffs. It's another situation of picking 1 or 1A, but I'd rather face the Capitals than Tampa. The only Atlantic Division foe I'd like to see the Penguins play in the first round would be Florida Panthers. The Penguins played them well in the regular season, and while they are definitely stronger with their deadline acquisitions, they scare me far less than Tampa or Boston.
So Tyler, if the Bruins or Lightning win the Atlantic, bring on the Capitals! If the Panthers win it, lets hope we get them.
From Spencer W. on the Tweety: "We have guys returning today. What is your lineup? Do you dress Sestito?"
Good question Spencer. The Penguins do have a bunch of guys returning to the lineup today. Carl Hagelin is expected to return to the Top 6, while Eric Fehr is ready to return to the 3rd line. Beau Bennett won't be back this weekend from the sounds of things, and Ben Lovejoy is skating again which should get him back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
For tonight, I would like to see the following lines:
14-87-72: They have played well together the last few weeks. While Wilson was solid, that line didn't do a ton the last few games. I go with the staple there.
62-71-81: Hagelin and Kessel work really well together. So I wouldn't break them up. Geno is gonna Geno, so he stays with them.
23-7-16: I like the line we saw in practice yesterday. Cullen has been unbelievable this season at both ends of the ice. Greatly outplaying Nick Bonino. I'd give him more minutes because of it. Wilson has the hot hand right now as far as scoring touch, so I'd let him play with Cullen and add Fehr to the line. Cullen and Fehr have good chemistry, so I like those two together.
47-13-17: Spencer, I DO have Sestito in my lineup. He needs to be in there today especially after what has happened in the past with this teams and their comments yesterday. Sestito needs to be in there, to be a deterrent from shenanigans by Dubinsky, Prout, etc. Bonino has been an utter disappointment, so he can center the bottom line. Finally, I have Bryan Rust. Rust has been great over his last 10 games and I think he is the one WBS guy you simply CANNOT remove from the lineup. I would flip flop him and Wilson throughout the game, but for now he can skate with Bonino.
Projected lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel
- Scott Wilson - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
- Tom Sestito - Nick Bonino - Bryan Rust
Pairs:
- Olli Maatta - Kris Letang
- Brian Dumoulin - Trevor Daley
- Justin Schultz - Ian Cole
Marc-Andre Fleury will start in net tonight for the Penguins.
My 3 keys to the Game
2. Deter the Nitwits: The Pens are facing some of their old nemeses in Brandon Dubinsky, Dalton Prout and Scott Hartnell. These guys have taken liberties against the Pens in the past, and they will certainly try again tonight. Enter Tom Sestito, who should be in the lineup for this reason alone tonight. If any of these guys take a run at Sid or Geno, expect Sestito to make them pay dearly and act as a future deterrent.
3. Get to Big Bob: Bobrovsky is playing his first game in quite some time after coming off IR on Wednesday. If I'm the Penguins, I am making life incredibly difficult on him. The Pens need to pepper him with shots, crowd him in the crease and try to get every at every rebound around the paint as they can. If the Penguins can do this, they should get a win.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Tom Sestito: He is here for one reason and one reason only, to make Brandon Dubinsky accountable. If any Jacket makes a run at Sid or Geno, they better be ready for restitution from the Pens 6'5", 230 pound bruiser on the 4th line. I expect Sestito to see decent minutes tonight and throw his body around, especially if anyone makes runs at us.
3. Eric Fehr: Returning after a scary lower-body injury on February 2nd. Fehr is a good player and one that could still really help this team. His flexibility to play both wing and center is huge, and his prowess on the PK is second to none on this team. But don't think he is a one trick pony, this guy can score in any situation as well. He will greatly help the Pens bottom six scoring depth and the PK.
What to Know for Watching/Listening
- 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:
- ROOT Sports Pregame Keyword: 5pts
- ROOT Sports Post Game Keyword: 5pts
- Pens Radio Keyword: 5pts
- Miller Lite Nite at The Draft House Gastropub inside the Days Inn in Butler: 25pts
- Miller Lite Nite at South Paws in Pittsburgh: 25pts
- Miller Lite Nite at The Clubhouse in Gibsonia: 25pts
- Miller Lite Nite at El Dorado in Monogahala: 25pts
A few Final Words
I enter today's game at 990 followers, just 10 away from 1000. I tell yah, I'd love to break the 1000 mark by the end of the regular season. So I must ask a little more of you all, please share, retweet, shoutout, etc with your followers, friends, family, whoever to help me get to 1000 followers. The more people this reaches the more I love doing it. So thank you all again for your constant support.
I thank you all for stopping in and viewing today's pregame. Thanks for that. I hope you all enjoy your weekends and have a safe and fun Parade Day tomorrow for St. Paddy's. Have a great night folks and LETS GO PENS!!!