Good afternoon Penguins nation and welcome to the latest edition of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Today, the Penguins head to the Motor City to take on the sputtering Detroit Red Wings, who are on the cusp of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Puck drops on Pens/Wings today at 2:00pm, but my Pregame is live for your enjoyment right now...
My "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" is a rediscovery of one of my favorite songs from the soon to reunite Guns N' Roses. I was listening through their discography on Tuesday and came across one of my favorite songs by them that I hadn't heard in probably close to 7 or 8 years. It comes off their 1991 double album, "Use Your Illusion I." The song is "Bad Apples." Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
Sitting on Twitter during Thursday's game, I couldn't help but read numerous tweets about how damaging the loss to the Devils was, how Fleury wasn't ready for the playoffs, how this team isn't ready for the playoffs. It's quite comical, because the day before everyone in the nation was ready to etch our name onto the Stanley Cup.
The loss to the Devils on Thursday night was disappointing, no arguing that. It was a game against an opponent that the Penguins should have handedly defeated. They didn't, it sucks, but it is what it is. And despite the way they were playing, it really wasn't all that surprising. After really rolling, the blessing and curse for this team was a three day break. It was good to rest the bodies, but it was bad because of the loss intensity.
Now, the Penguins need to start anew, and there is no reason to think they cannot do just that. They will open up a back-to-back weekend with a game in Detroit today, before heading to the Garden tomorrow for an Easter evening showdown with the Rangers. The Pens will follow that with games v. Buffalo (Tuesday) and Nashville (Thursday) at home, before traveling to Brooklyn for a Saturday matinee with the Isles. They will conclude their home schedule the following day when the Flyers come to town.
It is not inconceivable that the Penguins could start another stretch of good games. Buffalo is the only weak team in the bunch, and the other five are all legitimate playoff teams. The Pens seem to play well against those foes, I think they will get back on their run.
So calm down Penguins fans. Just because we lost one game in the mitts of a great run doesn't mean it's time to abandon ship. In fact, I think it will just make this team hungry to make up for it, starting today in the Motor City...
Sputtering at the finish Line: The Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings hold the record for consecutive playoff appearances across the four major sporting leagues in North America. They are looking to add to that historic 24-consecutive-year playoff appearance streak, but it will be difficult if the the current rate of play continues.
The Red Wings were securely in a playoff spot just a few weeks ago. If the season were to end today, they'd be on the outside looking in for the first time since the early 1990s. The Red Wings are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Flyers for the final wild card spot but out by nature of a tie-breaker. And their current rate of play hasn't helped matters much, as Detroit is just 5-5-0 over their last 10 games.
The struggles of late have come on the backend. The Red Wings are just now getting their defensive corps back healthy and looking to rediscover their chemistry. Couple that with the fact that both Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard have done little to help the situation in net. Even with even scoring up-and-down the Wings lineup, if their notoriously staunch defense and goaltending continues to struggle, it will be the end of the Detroit streak.
Luckily, the Wings have their health heading into the final weeks of the season. Oft-injured stars Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are at full health, and pace the team in points with 45 and 44 respectively. Rookie Dylan Larkin is having a Calder-caliber season with 21 goals and 43 points thus far. Young veterans Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist and Riley Sheahan provide one of the most formidable "third lines" in all of hockey, with the trio producing 101 points on the year together. Finally, the defense is chipping in too, paced by offseason signing Mike Green with 30 points.
The Red Wings need to play with desperation, so don't expect them to take it easy on the Penguins today. It will also be a good test for the Pens, as they look to rebound after a disappointing loss to the Devils at home on Thursday night.
The Lowdown on the Red Wings:
- 37-26-11 overall record.
- Currently on the outside looking in on the playoff hunt, as their 85 points currently has them losing the tie-breaker with Philadelphia for the final wild card spot.
- The Wings have struggled of late, going 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.
Scoring Leaders:
- LW Henrik Zetterberg - 45pts (13G-32A)
- C Pavel Datsyuk - 44pts (16G-28A)
- RW Dylan Larkin - 43pts (21G-22A)
- LW Tomas Tatar - 42pts (20G-22A)
- LW Justin Abdelkader - 41pts (18G-23A)
Injury Report:
- LW Drew Miller (Torn ACL) is OUT tonight and the remainder of the season.
Projected Lines:
- Justin Abdelkader - Henrik Zetterberg - Dylan Larkin
- Darren Helm - Pavel Datsyuk - Anthony Mantha
- Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar
- Andreas Athanasiou - Luke Glendening - Brad Richards
Projected Pairs:
- Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
- Danny DeKeyser - Kyle Quincey
- Brendan Smith - Mike Green
Petr Mrazek is expected to start in net for the Wings this afternoon.
News & Notes From Around the Pens
- D Olli Maatta (lower-body) is OUT tonight. The young defenseman was injured in Thursday's loss and HCMS states that it is more of a "week-to-week" injury to the lower body, but wouldn't specify the area. It is a huge blow to the Pens.
- D Ben Lovejoy (lower-body) is expected to return to the lineup tonight. Lovejoy has been ready for over a week, but with the team streaking and defense playing well, Lovejoy was the odd-man out. Now, with Maatta out, expect Lovejoy to be reunited with Brian Dumoulin on the second pair.
- C Nick Bonino will be a game-time decision today. Bonino took a puck in the hand on Friday in practice, and his status is uncertain enough that they recalled the previously demoted Oskar Sundqvist just three hours later.
Pens/Wings Matchup Notes:
- Final game of the regular season series.
- The Penguins have taken the first two games in convincing fashion, winning 5-2 in Detroit and 6-3 in Pittsburgh thus far.
- Patric Hornqvist leads all Penguin scorers with 5 points (1G-4A) over the two games. Kris Letang is second with four.
- The Flower and Jeff Zatkoff each earned a win v. Detroit this year.
- Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist each have two points v. Pittsburgh this season.
- Pittsburgh is 5-1-2 in their last 8 games v. Detroit, and 3-0-2 over their last five in Detroit.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- Sidney Crosby will play in his 700th NHL game tonight, becoming just the sixth player in franchise history to play at least 700 games in a Penguin sweater.
#AskBigDave
Fun question, because it certainly looks more and more like Sin City is going to get a hockey team before too long. I think it is a good thing too, and could be a lot of fun to have a new team or two involved. However, with expansion comes player movement, specifically the expansion draft. The Penguins won't be able to protect everyone which will leave some bigger name guys free to be taken away in the draft.
Now, the problem with this hypothetical is when this expansion takes place. It certainly won't be this summer, meaning it could not be until the summer of 2017 or 2018. If that is the case, certain players, such as Matt Murray and Derrick Pouliot would not be exempt. So it'll be trick. Plus, we don't know what the make up of the Penguins team will be next summer or the one after, so it is tricky to answer this one.
But lets for the sake of argument say it is this summer, 2016, and Murray and Pouliot are still exempt from draft. I can pick 7 forwards, 3 defensemen and a goalie. Here is who I'd pick.
G - Marc-Andre Fleury: Don't think this one will shock you much, especially if Murray is exempt.
D - Kris Letang: Again, not surprising, as he is the current top d-man on the roster.
D - Olli Maatta: The kid is good, though he hasn't been outstanding this year. However, given a summer of training and no surgery, he should be back to peak levels in 2016-17.
D - Brian Dumoulin: I'm definitely protecting this kid. He has been the best defenseman in his own zone all year and he is solid in the offensive zone too. He has emerged as a legitimate top-4 defenseman and I would certainly hold on to him over Daley, Cole or Schultz.
F - Sidney Crosby: No brainer.
F - Evgeni Malkin: Again, no brainer.
F - Patric Hornqvist: I love everything about this guys game. He scores, he's physical, he plays the game in the dirty zones which is key in the playoffs. I don't give up this guy, in fact, I wish we had four more of him.
F - Carl Hagelin: I love his speed and this is a speed league now. He is a great two-way forward who is an absolute animal on the forecheck, back check and on the PK. He has some hands, and I expect him to score more when he gets more comfortable with the likes of Sid and Geno.
F - Phil Kessel: I almost leave him off the list, simply because if taken, he would free up nearly 6 million dollars in cap space. That would be huge moving forward, especially since the Penguins will have to pay Dumoulin, Pouliot and Murray in short order. But at the end of the day, snipers don't grow on trees and I think he will be better next year for this team.
F - Bryan Rust: I absolutely love this kid. I would not allow him to enter the expansion draft because any competent GM would be smart to add him to their top-9. Rust has incredible speed, energy and playmaking skills. When, not if, he polishes off his scoring touch, this kid could be a huge player for the Penguins.
F - Nick Bonino: This one is a toss up, and there are several names I'd toss around here. But the fact of the matter is, Bonino is still young, has a lot of talent at both ends of the ice and has a friendly contract. I'd rather hold on to him, see if he can return to Anaheim form next season and save a couple million dollars over taking a 37-year-old Chris Kunitz, Eric Fehr or Matt Cullen.
This one comes from Matt on Twitter: "What went wrong in the Devils game and how can we fix it?"
Matt, everyone wants to look too deeply into Thursday's loss to the Devils, and as I said in the opening above, I don't think it is necessary.
The Penguins didn't play great hockey in that game, but they didn't play terribly either. They got off to a slow start, which would be expected after three days off from game action and they found themselves in a hole early. I give them credit for fighting back and whipping a ton of shots on a rookie goaltender, but it just wasn't enough.
If I have any criticisms about the loss Thursday, it comes in two areas.
Firstly, they were trying to be too cute early and it continued too deep into the game. There were a lot of blind passes, drop passes, frankly cute bullshit (pardon the term) that I cannot stand watching. Thankfully, that is not something we have seen very often under Mike Sullivan and he sure wasn't happy about it. When the Pens try to be cute, they end up being sloppy with the puck, especially in the offensive zone. We saw that on Thursday often, and because of it, they couldn't generate a ton of zone time early in the game or as often as they wish. I'd simply like to see them clean it up and cut the cute nonsense.
The other is the power play. I know not having Malkin kills, but 3-for-46 without Malkin, with Crosby, Letang and Kessel on the unit is simply abysmal. There is too much talent in those three guys alone to not score more, and add in the likes of Patric Hornqvist and whoever else fills a spot to that list. There is no reason why that unit should struggle that much. Again, I think it comes down to the being "cute" and trying to showoff; passing up quality shots to make a risky, but highlight reel pass if it works. I want to see the Pens simplify, fire pucks on net and collapse on the rebounds. They do that, they should score.
Hope that answers your question Matt.
From Cindy on the Tweety: "Do you think the Pens would try to play the rest of the regular season to get or avoid certain playoff matchups?"
This is a good question Cindy. I think the simple answer is yes, but not necessarily to get a certain matchup. Ultimately, you want to finish as high as possible to get home ice advantage in the opening round. Some feel it makes a huge difference, others don't.
Personally, I don't think it matters a whole hell of a lot. In fact, if you can steal a game or two on the road to open the series then take it home, I think it's much better for your team than if you won the first one or two at home and went on the road. If I'm the Penguins, I am looking for the best matchup to go into the first round of the playoffs.
Now, this has been the talk of sports talk radio a lot of this past week. I personally have no problem with the Penguins playing Washington, though I don't see them falling to the eight seed in the East. I think they could give Washington a lot of trouble and win that series. I also have no problem with the Penguins playing the Rangers, as that stigma that has gotten the Pens the last few years seems to be gone now. Depending on who wins the Atlantic, I'd not be against that matchup either. I'd much rather face the Panthers over any other team in the East in the first round, but their is no guarantee they win the division and if they don't we don't see them regardless. Ultimately, the Islanders would be the team to face if possible. They are without their top goaltender and their star players are having down seasons. They are hanging in there and will make the playoffs, baring a huge collapse the next two weeks, but they are far from a strong contender.
Finally Cindy, I don't see the Penguins playing the rest of the season trying to get a certain matchup. They will play to get the most possible points they can and hope they get a favorable matchup. You never know what could happen over these next few weeks. Injuries could happen and shake the whole foundation of a matchup. So we will just have to wait and see.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Eric Fehr - Phil Kessel
- Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Bryan Rust
- Conor Sheary - Oskar Sundqvist - Beau Bennett
Pairs:
- Trevor Daley - Kris Letang
- Brian Dumoulin - Ben Lovejoy
- Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start in net today.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Cut the Shenanigans: I mentioned in #AskBigDave today that my biggest complaint besides the power play on Thursday was the Pens' sloppy passing and trying to be fancy. Cut the shenanigans and simplify the game. Don't try to be cute with no-look passes, risky cross-ice passes or anything else. Carry the puck, look to shoot and if it isn't their, look to cycle and create that shot. Don't try to force things and be fancy.
3. Power Play: My other big complaint over the last few weeks has been the power play. 3-for-46 without Malkin, but with Crosby, Kessel, Letang and Hornqvist is atrocious and it needs to stop. The Penguins cannot hope to have success if they do not take advantage of the few power plays they are given. They worked extensively on it in practice yesterday, I'd be shocked if they didn't, at the very least, create some quality chances today.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Justin Schultz: Schultz played really well since being inserted into the lineup a few games ago. He has a goal, three points and a plus-5 rating over nine games. That is good, but I think he is capable of more. I want to see more dynamic offensive play from this guy, especially if he is getting power play minutes. He needs to be willing to fire pucks on net if given the chance and be smart as to when he pinches. I'll definitely be watching him closely.
3. Ben Lovejoy: I expect Benny back in the lineup today to replace the injured Olli Maatta. While many don't like his style of play, and would rather see Derrick Pouliot in the lineup, I'd prefer to go with someone that guys are comfortable with. Lovejoy slots right back in alongside Brian Dumoulin; a pairing that had a great deal of success this season. I am completely ok with that decision if it turns out to be the case and I expect Lovejoy to play solid yet again.
What to know For Watching/Listening
- ROOT Sports has the coverage tonight. Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey with the call beginning at 2:00pm. Dan Potash will have the interviews.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage beginning at 1:30pm.
- Penguins Post Game will follow the game action.
- The latest edition of "In The Room" is available on the Penguins website at the link here: https://www.nhl.com/penguins/video/in-the-room-trusting-the-process/t-277781208/c-42589103
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 2:00pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 1:00pm. 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