Pens Finally Get Back To Business
The Pittsburgh Penguins will finally get back to game action tonight at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. Or as we like to call them: Penguins East. That is sort of an exaggeration these days, considering that they are down to 4 former Pens: Jaromir Jagr, Marty Sraka, Darius Kasparaitus and Michael Rozsival.
The Penguins/Rangers rivalry dates back to the late '80s when the two teams were regular playoff opponents. Most recently the Rangers have lit the goal lamp with regularity against some pretty pedestrian Penguin teams, with the Flightless Bird stealing a few periodic wins. This season could be more of the same, as the Rangers have a fairly prolific offense, featuring the aforementioned Jagr, Straka and the newly acquired Brendan Shanahan.
Though the Penguins have been much improved defensively, they have only been able to generate 34 shots in their 2 games, resulting in 4 goals. They will have to pick up the offense tonight to hang in with their former superstar and his mates.
They have gotten spectacular goaltending from 21 year old, Marc Andre Fleury, and he will have to be sharp tonight. This is the third consecutive opponent who placed in the top 1/3 of the league in scoring and had notched 100 pts last season.
Sidney Crosby and Nils Ekman will both suit up after being injured in separate incidents earlier in the week. Crosby will most likely skate with Colby Armstrong and Mark Recchi, while Ekman will take the ice with Ryan Malone and John LeClair. The same line-combos that head Coach Michel Therrien crafted midway through the Detroit game Saturday night.
The Penguins power play has yet to notch a goal, but they have not allowed one either. The team has focused on their power play during the layoff, and hope that it can be the difference tonight.
*******
Predictions for tonight:
Penguins 3New York Rags 2
Goal scorers:
Pittsburgh:
Gonchar, Crosby, and Malone
New York:
Jagr, Shanahan
Pens outshot 39-24
The Penguins/Rangers rivalry dates back to the late '80s when the two teams were regular playoff opponents. Most recently the Rangers have lit the goal lamp with regularity against some pretty pedestrian Penguin teams, with the Flightless Bird stealing a few periodic wins. This season could be more of the same, as the Rangers have a fairly prolific offense, featuring the aforementioned Jagr, Straka and the newly acquired Brendan Shanahan.
Though the Penguins have been much improved defensively, they have only been able to generate 34 shots in their 2 games, resulting in 4 goals. They will have to pick up the offense tonight to hang in with their former superstar and his mates.
They have gotten spectacular goaltending from 21 year old, Marc Andre Fleury, and he will have to be sharp tonight. This is the third consecutive opponent who placed in the top 1/3 of the league in scoring and had notched 100 pts last season.
Sidney Crosby and Nils Ekman will both suit up after being injured in separate incidents earlier in the week. Crosby will most likely skate with Colby Armstrong and Mark Recchi, while Ekman will take the ice with Ryan Malone and John LeClair. The same line-combos that head Coach Michel Therrien crafted midway through the Detroit game Saturday night.
The Penguins power play has yet to notch a goal, but they have not allowed one either. The team has focused on their power play during the layoff, and hope that it can be the difference tonight.
*******
Predictions for tonight:
Penguins 3New York Rags 2
Goal scorers:
Pittsburgh:
Gonchar, Crosby, and Malone
New York:
Jagr, Shanahan
Pens outshot 39-24
posted by Bmetzer66 at 12:21 AM
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