Good day Penguins fans and welcome to the latest edition of the Big Dave's Pens Pregame. Glad to have you all aboard for another night of Pittsburgh Penguin playoff hockey. Tonight, the Pens continue their first round series with the rival New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Puck drops on the action tonight at 7:00pm, but my Pregame is live now...
Today's "Big Dave's Gameday Jams" comes from one of the best live bands I have ever seen. I have attended proably close to 25 concerts in my young life, and yes, my hearing is pretty atrocious at this point. But I digress, a couple summers ago I went to see Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty live, and Matchbox stole the show. They are excellent live and if you ever get the chance to see them, I highly recommend it. This song, appropriate for this part of the hockey season, is my favorite by them. It is called, "Mad Season." Enjoy!
State of the Penguins
The Pens entered Game Two on the heels of a huge victory in the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center. The home team showed what they were made of as they entered the game without its top two goaltenders (Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray) and its second best forward in Evgeni Malkin. Yet, the Penguins prevailed and in stunning form.
If Game One was a sight to behold, Game Two was a massive disaster.
The Penguins didn't look at all like the team we had seen over the past two months. In fact, they looked more like a team that was coached by Mike Johnston again, not Mike Sullivan. They were lazy, passive and down right disappointing, even with the return of Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin to the lineup. The Rangers took advantage of that hap-hazard showing and trounced the Penguins handedly to even the series.
Tonight, the Penguins head to Madison Square Garden looking to retake command of this series. The status of their top goaltenders remain in shrouded secret, which means Jeff Zatkoff could get the call yet again. Regardless of who is in net, if the Penguins don't pick up their play and intensity, it won't matter if a sumo is in the net, the Rangers will take advantage of the sloppiness.
The Penguins must get back to their identity: speed, tenacity and the Mike Sullivan brand of hockey.
The Enemy: The New York Rangers
While they certainly played much better, aided by the return of Henrik Lundqvist in net after a scary eye injury in Game One. New York played to their strengths, physically wearing down the Penguins and making the most of every opportunity they were given from several lapses in judgement by Pittsburgh. The Rangers evened the series.
Tonight, the Rangers head home on the heels of a big win on the road. They will look to continue their solid play, which saw them dump four goals on the Pens Saturday afternoon. Center Derick Brassard posted a three-point game on Saturday. JT Miller has three points in two games while Rick Nash, Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello have each posted two points. They will hope to continue that play tonight.
New York will have the entire city behind them tonight. They will enter the game on the heels of a big win on the road. This will be a huge game for both sides, but the Rangers will enter with the momentum, and you can expect they won't give it up without a hell of a fight.
Rangers Playoff Stats:
- C Derick Brassard - 3pts (1G-2A)
- C JT Miller - 3pts (3A)
- LW Rick Nash - 2pts (2A)
- C Derek Stepan - 2pts (2G)
- RW Mats Zuccarello - 2pts (1G-1A)
Injury Report:
- D Ryan McDonagh (hand) is likely OUT tonight. McDonagh surprised everyone when he joined the team for practice Monday, but multiple outlets are stating that it is still unlikely he plays with his broken hand.
- D Dan Girardi (undisclosed) is likely OUT tonight as well. Girardi didn't play in Game Two and wasn't on the ice for practice Monday. He isn't expected to play tonight despite the nature of the injury going unspecified.
Transaction Report:
- Rangers have recalled D Raphael Diaz from their AHL affiliate.
Projected Lines:
- Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
- JT Miller - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello
- Eric Staal - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
- Tanner Glass - Dominic Moore - Viktor Stalberg
Projected Pairs:
- Marc Staal - Dan Boyle
- Keith Yandle - Kevin Klein
- Brady Skjei - Dylan McIlrath
Henrik Lundqvist is expected to get the start in net tonight.
News & Notes From Around the Penguins
- G Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) practiced again on Monday, but his status for tonight remains unknown. One would think he could return to the lineup tonight, considering Tristan Jarry didn't practice with the team on Monday.
- G Matt Murray (concussion) practiced Monday, but is OUT tonight. It is encouraging that Murray practiced Monday, but the staff remains silent as a tomb on his status. He will remain day-to-day for the time being.
- F Beau Bennett (upper-body) skated on Monday, but is still likely OUT tonight.
- D Olli Maatta (undisclosed) is likely to be a healthy scratch today. Maatta was far from good in either of the first two games, but particularly bad in Game Two. Maatta returned in Game One after missing the final couple weeks of the season. He was running on fumes entering the injury, and the lower-body nature hasn't helped him. He skated with the extra pair on Monday and I wouldn't be shocked to see him sit tonight.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- The Penguins as a franchise are 23-11 in Game 3's on the road all-time.
- The road team has faired well in the season series between these two sides, with the road team winning four of the six total regular season and playoff matchups.
- The Penguins have won both games at MSG this season, including a 5-3 win on March 13 and 3-2 on March 27th.
- RW Phil Kessel has four goals in his last four playoff games.
- C Evgeni Malkin had four points (1G-3A) in the two games he played against the Rangers this season (regular season and playoffs).
#AskBigDave
Thanks for the questions Lynsey, and I am going to answer these in reverse order.
Firstly, no, Geno should not skate with Kuhnhakl. The lines prior to Geno's return have played too well to break them up. The Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line should remain in tact unless it goes stale. Geno and Sid don't coexist well, so Geno should skate on Sid's left side often with Hornqvist on the right. The line of Kuhnhackl-Cullen-Rust has been the Pens most consistent line since February, so I wouldn't break them up either. I think Geno needs to take what he gets and run with it. Conor Sheary and Eric Fehr are both talented enough to play with Malkin and Malkin is skilled enough to make it work with them. Just has to stop being so fancy and play north-south like everyone else.
On Maatta, i think he is just gassed. He didn't get to train much entering the 2014-15 season, then dealt with the mumps, cancer and another should surgery. He got little time to train and he was just running on fumes down the stretch. Couple that with an injury to his lower-body in March and he is not only running on fumes but on a gimp leg. I simply think he is drained, and not that it is a regression in his play. That being said, even though he is still probably more talented even at half speed, I have no problem with the Penguins running Justin Schultz out there tonight if that be the case.
Finally, is this the Penguins year? I want to say yes, but there are still far too many variables to make that call. Will Fleury be back? Will Malkin assimilate back in? What goes on the Rangers side of things? I think the Penguins can still very much win this series, but they will need to recapture their play of down the stretch and get Murray or Fleury back in net to have a shot at a sustained Cup run.
From Cindy on the Tweety: "Big Game Three coming up, what are your lines for this game?"
My lines are exactly what the Penguins will likely run out their tonight Cindy. I love the top line of Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist, though I'd take Kunitz off it next year if he's still here. The Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line has been phenomenal down the stretch, and to break them up would be nothing short of lunacy. I feel as strongly about the Kuhnhackl-Cullen-Rust line. That line has such good speed, forechecking and backchecking ability that it often makes big plays out of absolutely nothing. That leaves Sheary-Malkin-Fehr. Is it the best line? No, but the other three are far too good to break up to appease Geno. He is talented enough to make things happen with whoever is on his wing, and Fehr and Sheary are capable of making things happen with him.
From Hockey Is Life on Twitter: "How do you counter the Rangers forecheck and pressure that they are putting on the Pens defensemen?"
Use their speed, that is the best way to counter the Rangers forecheck. They did a horrendous job of doing so in Game Two and it cost them the game. The Pens need to get back to their north-south style of run-and-gun hockey they played down the stretch. They also need to be smart and dump-and-chase when necessary. They tried to be too cute Saturday and it didn't work. Use the speed they have and go to the dirty areas is the best way to beat the Rangers forecheck.
As for the pressure on the Penguins defense, the best defense is a good offense. The Pens seem to be playing a little more "conservative" in these two playoff games. I think that is because they are trying to insulate Jeff Zatkoff without Murray or Fleury in net. However, that plays into the Rangers game and strays far from the Pens style of play. The Pens need to keep control of the puck and spend more time working the puck around the offensive zone and 180 feet away from Zatkoff.
From Todd W. on the Tweety: "Are disruptions from adding Malkin inevitable and good to just get out of the way?"
Great question and yes. I think it is best to get the inevitable addition of Malkin back in the lineup sooner rather than later. He was rusty on Saturday, and he played with guys he hasn't played with at all. I expect him to play on one line, with Sheary and Fehr, the majority of the game tonight and be much more cohesive than we saw on Saturday.
As to your question, I think it was much better to get it out of the way earlier in the series, especially after they won Game One. Malkin, once assimilated will help this team. Better to get the "disruptions" out of the way before the series is more dire later on.
Projected Lines & Pairs
- Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
- Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
- Conor Sheary - Evgeni Malkin - Eric Fehr
- Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Bryan Rust
Pairs:
- Trevor Daley - Kris Letang
- Brian Dumoulin - Ben Lovejoy
- Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
Jeff Zatkoff will likely get the start unless HCMS pulls quite the looky-lou and announces Marc-Andre Fleury during the warmup.
My 3 Keys to the Game
2. Don't Insulate The Goalie: The Pens, whether they admit it or not, have tried to insulate Zatkoff to disallow goals. All that has done is allow the Rangers more scoring opportunities. The Pens need to play their game, their aggressive style, to have success against the Rangers. If they can use their speed and avoid falling back to try to stop Zatkoff from getting lit up, they will be fine.
3. Power Play: Pens PP needs to get going. They are the X-Factor in this series in my eyes, as they have had more ups-and-downs all season long than this team as a whole. The key is the right side. Sid needs to stay down low if they have to tie him to the cage and Malkin needs to be on the right half wall. If Sid strays, thus messing up the necessary alignment, the PP will continue to struggle.
My 3 Penguins to Watch
2. Carl Hagelin: I keep talking about speed and that all starts with Carl Hagelin. Hags has the best legs on this team, and is the Pens best two-way forward because of it. I want to see Hagelin use his speed, dump-and-chase and get in behind the Ranger defense and allow for his line to cycle the puck and find scoring chances. If he doesn't do this, it could be another long night for Pittsburgh.
3. Trevor Daley: Was far from good in Game Two, but I expect him to play much better today. He should partner with Kris Letang, with whom he played well down the stretch. I think this pairing will allow the Penguins to play more to their specific style of game and use their speed to join the rush and get back to cover more easily than having someone stay back.
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.
- The game is NATIONALLY televised on the USA Network at 7:00pm tonight.
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