Good afternoon Penguins nation and welcome to the final regular season version of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame. It has been quite a ride this regular season with ups, downs, injuries, fights, surprises, etc. It all culminates today with the final game of the regular season before we begin the next journey. Today, we head into enemy territory to finish the season with the limping Philadelphia Flyers.
Puck drops on the Battle for Pennsylvania at 3:00pm this afternoon, but the Pregame is live now for you to enjoy...
Today's "Big Dave's Gameday Jam" comes from one of my favorite groups as a kid. I remember seeing their "Party All Night Long" song on TRL when I was about 9 or 10 and their "Satellite" album was one of my absolute favorites, still is for that matter. I am talking of course about San Diego based christian rockers P.O.D. This song comes off their "Testify" album in 2006. The song is called "Goodbye For Now," which I felt was appropriate for the closing of the regular season. Also, if you watch and listen closely, at the end you will hear Katy Perry singing and see her in the video. Enjoy!
The State of the Penguins
Anyway, the Penguins continue to roll up and down the NHL. They entered Thursday's matchup with the Capitals at the Verizon Center in need of a win to clinch the home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. After a little bit of a scare and necessary overtime, the Penguins accomplished the goal and earned home ice. They enter today's game in Philly with a clear mind and no worries.
I think it is important at this juncture of the season to take a second and appreciate what we have seen to this point.
There were a ton of questions surrounding this team when we entered the season. Was the defense good enough? Was Johnston the right coach? How many goals will Phil Kessel score? 40? 50? 60? Will we stay healthy? Will we get production from the young guys?
A lot of those questions have come and gone, each answered.
The defense has shown to be relatively solid. The addition of Trevor Daley in December greatly helping the situation out. The Penguins did a decent job of keeping the puck in front of Marc-Andre Fleuy, Matt Murray and Jeff Zatkoff the majority of the year. In fact, as they got more comfortable with Coach Sullivan, the defense has only gotten better.
Next, we found out immediately Mike Johnston was not the right coach for this team. I thought his dismissal came a little later than it should have, but give all the credit in the world to Mike Sullivan. He has taken this team from a boring, New Jersey Devils-style of hockey under Johnston and turned them into a dynamic, scoring machine that is vintage "Penguins Hockey." Mike Sullivan is surely the man for the job, and I cannot wait to see what he does for this team over the next few weeks and next few seasons.
Next, we found out that Phil Kessel wouldn't score 50, 60 goals pretty early on. He didn't set the world on fire for the first 50-60 games of the season. He was inconsistent and had everyone asking, "what's up with Phil?" But over the last 20 games playing alongside Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino, he has been the dynamic guy we knew in Toronto. The Phil has finally arrived.
I think the best thing about this season has been the play of the young guys. If you would have told me that Brian Dumoulin would be a top-4 defenseman and integral part of this team at season's start, I would have said lay off the wacky tobacky. But, once again I have been proven wrong. GMJR was right to hold on to him in the Kessel deal, as Dumoulin has become a legit top-4 guy in our lineup and would be in most. Bryan Rust has really evolved into a great young player. He went from a decent player to a huge part of this team once MIke Sullivan was brought in and his speed was properly utilized. He has created a great line with veteran Matt Cullen and fellow prospect Tom Kuhnhackl. Much like Rust, Kuhnhackl has been impressive. He is a big, solid, two-way forward that has really earned his spot on this roster. Finally, you have the little engines that could in Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson. Once those two got comfortable in the big show and netted a goal, they were off and running. The Penguins could not have gotten this far without the likes of Malkin, Fehr or Bonino if it wasn't for the scoring of this group while the vets were out injured.
The Penguins have come full circle. They went from a high projected to team, to a fringe team, to a team on the outside looking and back to a legitimate contender all over six months. Quite the turnaround.
Limping to the Finish: The Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are finally coming back to earth after a torrid run through February and March. The Flyers looked to be on the outside looking in around the trade deadline, and through up a huge few weeks to get right in the thick of things.
But the high is wearing off, and this team is limping to the finish line. The Flyers lost to Toronto on Thursday night in OT and were taken down by the Penguins just six days ago in Pittsburgh. They are 5-3-2 over the last 10 games, but they have had the chances to take control of their destiny. The teams around them, the Red Wings and Bruins, have been beating up on each other the last few games, the Flyers needed to handle business over the last week and they could handedly be in.
Instead, the enter the final weekend of the regular season in dire need of two wins. They will host us today at Wells Fargo, then head to Brooklyn to close out the regular season against the ailing Islanders on Sunday. The Flyers need wins in at least one of these last two games to have a chance, and they need to hope the Senators could handle the Bruins today as well.
It's dire times for the Eastern PA team. I don't expect goonish play, instead, I expect a team to fight for their lives and play a close checking, playoff style game. They need to get these two points, otherwise it could be over before Sunday's showdown on the Island.
What to Know About Philadelphia:
- 39-27-14 on the season.
- Currently sit one point back of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
- The Flyers are limping to the finish line, going 5-3-2 over their last 10 games.
Scoring Leaders:
- C Claude Giroux - 66pts (22G-44A)
- RW Wayne Simmonds - 58pts (30G-28A)
- C Brayden Schenn - 57pts (26G-31A)
- RW Jakub Voracek - 53pts (11G-42A)
- D Shayne Gostisbehere - 44pts (16G-28A)
Injury Report:
- D Michael Del Zotto (wrist) is OUT for the season. The veteran defenseman will require wrist surgery and miss 3-4 months.
Projected Lines:
- Brayden Schenn - Claude Giroux - Wayne Simmonds
- Michael Raffl - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek
- Matt Read - Nick Cousins - Sam Gagner
- Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Ryan White
Projected Pairs:
- Nick Schultz - Mark Streit
- Brandon Manning - Shayne Gostisbehere
- Yevgeni Medvedev - Radko Gudas
Steve Mason is expected to start in net for the Flyers.
News & NOtes From the Pens
- F Beau Bennett (upper-body) is a game-time decision today, but doubtful. He took the warm up, but missed Thursday's contest with more issues with his shoulder. He skated yesterday, so it's possible he plays but I'm not holding my breath.
- No updates on C Evgeni Malkin, D Olli Maatta, G Marc-Andre Fleury or F Bryan Rust.
Transaction Report:
- Pens have recalled F Kael Mouillierat from Wilkes-Barre.
Pens/Flyers Matchup Notes:
- Final game of four-game regular season series.
- The Penguins hare 3-0-0 in the season series to this point.
- Pittsburgh has outscored Philadelphia 14-6 over the three games.
- If the Penguins win today, it will be the first regular season series sweep of the Flyers since the 2006-07 season.
- Sidney Crosby leads the Pens in points v. Philly with 5 (2G-3A). Patric Hornqvist and Chris Kunitz each have four (1G-3A each).
- Matt Murray won last weekends matchup v. Philly, while Marc-Andre Fleury had the other two wins.
- Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere each have three points in the season series.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- The Penguins enter this game on an eight-game win streak and winners of 13 of their last 14 games.
- Pittsburgh is currently riding an eight-game road win streak, which is a new franchise record.
- Regardless of today's game, the Penguins will finish the regular season with the second most points in the Eastern Conference.
- C Sidney Crosby enters this game on an eight-game point streak.
- D Kris Letang also enters today's game on an eight-game point streak.
#AskBigDave
Matt, I think he should definitely be considered for this award. I looked into the numbers, and Sid has annually finished somewhere between 15 and 19 in the Selke voting over the last three seasons. Over that time, he has consistently emerged into not just a scoring threat, but a legitimate two-way center. You have to give him a ton of credit, he has really strengthened his defensive game over the last three to five years.
Now, take a look at the guys who have won the award over the last three years.
Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins has won it the last two seasons. Over that time, he has 62 and 55 points respectively, been a plus-38 and a plus-2 respectively, won 58 and 60 percent of his faceoffs respectively and finally has more takeaway than giveaways on the season. When you look on Hockey-Reference.com, the winners of the Selke list certain stats, and one is the advanced metric Defensive Point Shares (DPS), which is the amount of points someone's defense creates. Bergeron had 2.8 and 1.7 DPS respectively in the two years he won the award.
The winner before Bergeron was Chicago's Jonathan Toews. In his Selke winning year, he had 48 points, a plust-28 rating, won 57% of his faceoffs, more takeaways than giveaways and had a DPS of 2.0.
These are Sid's numbers through 80 games this year: 85 points, plus-19, a faceoff percentage of 51.7, 4 more giveaways than takeaways and a DPS of 2.4.
As far as I am concerned, Sid's numbers are just as good as these guys numbers. In fact, his numbers far outweigh Bergeron's winning stats from last season. I certainly think Sid should be nominated, maybe even a finalist. I would love to see him win, but I feel like it will go to someone else, like Toews, Kesler, Bergeron or someone of that ilk.
From Sherry K. on the Tweety: "Do you think the Penguins should sit some of their stars today and if so, does that hurt the Penguins?"
This is a great question Sherry. To be quite honest, I am not opposed to Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang sitting this game out. They have logged a lot of minutes down the stretch, and a rest would be very good for them I think. Also, I don't trust the Flyers and each would be a hit away from being lost for the playoffs and our season would be done too. I would much prefer to sit those two in this game today to simply protect them from the wrath of the Flyers.
Now, I don't know if they will actually sit them. If the Penguins are smart, i.e. HCMS and GMJR, I'd sit them. You got to look at the big picture here. This game is meaningless to the Penguins. If they win, lose, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme. If 87 and/or 58 get hurt and they are lost in a meaningless regular season game, I'd be furious. Those two need to take that into account when they make their lineup today.
Overall, I don't think it would hurt this team. It would likely give those guys about a week off between games, which is a long time for most. However, for Sid and Letang, i think they slide right back into the lineup in Game 1 seamlessly. No worries there. As for the rest of the team, it shouldn't affect them much and if they lose, again, who cares. Today's game is meaningless for the Penguins. It's all about going into Wednesday or Thursday healthy.
From Nick B. on Twitter: "What do you think about Rogue One? (The new Star Wars based movie)"
Great question Nick, and one I am definitely glad to answer today.
I am a huge Star Wars fan and I am really excited by what Disney is doing with the franchise. I thought Episode VII was outstanding, right up there with the likes of the original and Empire Strikes Back. It was really well acted, I love the characters and it leaves me excited to see where they are going to go with the whole thing.
Same goes for these anthology movies. While I would much rather see an Obi-Wan Kenobi stand alone movie over Han Solo (Obi-Wan being my favorite character), I am really interested to see what these directors are going to do with these stories and where they are going to take them. I think there is so much pressure to make great movies to live up to the others that it will be really hard to really screw these movies up, unless you include Jar Jar Binks or Hayden Christensen.
For Rogue One specifically, I am really excited. I think this is a really interesting story and I am excited to see how they make it play out. Also, I really think Felicity Jones is a great actress and I like what I see of her character in the trailer released yesterday. (Also, if you missed the trailer, use the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg) I love how Star Wars are creating these strong, female characters in these new movies. It really brings a whole new generation into the fandom and gets girls interested in it more too. I think that is absolutely fantastic. Finally, I am a big fan of Mads Mikkelsen so I am really excited to see who he plays in this movie.
I'm excited Nick. I love Star Wars and it is absolutely great to see a new generation of movies coming out and for the foreseeable future.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
- Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
- Conor Sheary - Oskar Sundqvist - Tom Sestito
Pairs:
- Trevor Daley - Kris Letang
- Brian Dumoulin - Ben Lovejoy
- Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
I figure Jeff Zatkoff plays in this one, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Murray either.
NOTE: If Crosby and Letang sit, which I hope they do, Id expect the following lines/pairs:
- 14-16-72, 62-13-81, 34-7-43, Mouillierat-40-47
- 6-8, 51-12, 28-4
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. For the Love of God, Stay Healthy: Yes, it is honestly that imperative today.
3. Complete The Sweep: How much fun would it be to essentially eliminate the Flyers with a win and season sweep? I tell you, I'd be giddy as hell with that result. The Penguins can still win this game even if 87 and 58 don't play. Just go about your game and work through the game. Wear them down.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Ian Cole: Like Sheary, I see Cole getting a lot more minutes in this game to protect the likes of Letang or Daley from getting run by the Flyers goons. Cole has played alright of late, I wouldn't say he's lit the world on fire, but he has been solid. One aspect I want to watch for, that I heard Mark Madden say on his show yesterday, is his net front play. Him and Justin Schultz have been getting pushed around a little too much in that regard. Definitely something to watch.
3. Tom Sestito: The Penguins only "Thug" went out on Thursday night and made a slick pass on the Conor Sheary goal. Hahaha, no one expected that. Sestito is not completely worthless, as some would like to make him out to be, as he provides a big body and physical presence. While Sestito himself said he isn't a deterrent out there, he is physical which leads to the Pens giving the opponent a little less room to negotiate in the corners and dirty areas.
What to Know for Watching/Listening
- NBC has the coverage today at 3:00pm.
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 3:00pm.
- Penguins Pregame will precede the game coverage at 2:00pm. 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 BLVD Pub and Kitchen in Canonsburg: 25pts