18-8-0 | 36 Points 17-3-3 | 37 Points
Penguins Report: Game Day vs. Boston
Tuesday, 03.12.2013 / 9:58 AM / Penguins Report
Pittsburgh Penguins
- Verizon Game Day Report
- Malkin skated on his own; more from Coach
- Pens lines/D-pairings
- Pens locker room quotes
- PensTV interviews
- Pens morning skate pics
- Pens-Bruins game preview
- Pens talk Daugavins shootout move
- "Don't you worry child..."
SICK SKILLS
The Bruins and the Senators went to a shootout last night, with Boston eventually coming away with the two points. Ottawa's Kaspars Daugavins tried a crafty move where he turned his blade so he was dragging the puck with the toe and took it in on Tuukka Rask, who had to come up with a brilliant save. Daugavins' attempt had everybody buzzing, and some of the Pens shared their thoughts on the crazy stickhandling.
What do you guys think of the move?
--Michelle Crechiolo
VERIZON GAME DAY REPORT
--Sam Kasan
PENSTV INTERVIEWS
Sidney Crosby
Kris Letang
Paul Martin
Coach Bylsma
--Michelle Crechiolo
THEY SAID IT
Quotes heard around the locker room as the Pens prepare to battle the B's...
--Michelle Crechiolo and Sam Kasan
PENS PICS
Letang with assistant coach Reirden, who works with the defense
Coach Bylsma jumps in a drill
Great photo of Neal in mid-stride
Bennett has a quiet moment by the Gatorade bottles
Glass drops off his sticks before hitting the ice
Despres skated on a pairing with Niskanen during practice. Good sign he's in
Kunitz enters tonight coming off a 5-point performance against the Islanders (3G-2A)
Bylsma has his game face on
--Michelle Crechiolo
LINEUP UPDATES
The update straight from coach Dan Bylsma following morning skate...
"Evgeni Malkin did skate today on his own. Our lineup for the game will be game-time and Marc-Andre Fleury will start in net for our team."
--Michelle Crechiolo
MORNING SKATE INFO
Evgeni Malkin, who's out 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury, is the only player missing from morning skate. Everyone else is on the ice.
Forward lines...
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Bennett-Jeffrey-Neal
Cooke-Sutter-Kennedy
Glass-Vitale-Adam
D-pairings...
Orpik-Martin
Letang-Eaton
Despres-Niskanen
Bortuzzo-Engelland
Note: Looks like there may be a couple adjustments to the power-play units. Bennett practiced on the top unit with Letang, Crosby, Neal and Kunitz. The second unit is made up of Martin, Niskanen, Kennedy, Dupuis and Jeffrey.
--Michelle Crechiolo
GAME PREVIEW
The Bruins are an interesting team when it comes to special teams. They have the NHL’s No. 1-ranked penalty kill that's allowed just seven power-play goals against on 91 chances for an obscene 92.3 percent success rate, with Chara and defense partner Dennis Seidenberg anchoring their top unit. However, their power play has been an anomaly this season, as it’s one of the NHL’s least successful. But it says a lot about their team that they’re winning games despite their struggles there.
Full preview here (with video, players to watch and game notes)...
--Michelle Crechiolo
START THE DAYGood morning everyone! Tonight the Penguins are playing the only team they have not faced yet this season – the Boston Bruins. It will be a big challenge for Pittsburgh, as Boston comes to Pittsburgh today with the best road record in the East (9-1-2) and a 17-3-3 overall record for 37 points – one more than the Penguins with three games in hand.
The Penguins are scheduled to hit the ice at 10:30 a.m. for morning skate. The Bruins will not practice after playing last night in Ottawa.
What to Watch For: Pens vs. Bruins
Monday, 03.11.2013 / 5:04 PM / Features
By Michelle Crechiolo
PENGUINS (18-8-0) vs. BRUINS (17-3-3) WHEN: March 12, 2013 - 7:30 p.m. | WHERE: CONSOL Energy Center WATCH: ROOT SPORTS, NBC Sports Network | LISTEN: Penguins Radio 24/7, 105.9 FM FAN GUIDE VERSUS BOSTON  The Penguins have a big challenge on Tuesday when they host the Boston Bruins for the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Bruins, who come to Pittsburgh with a 17-3-3 record for 37 points (and a conference-best 9-1-2 road record) and three games in hand on the Penguins, are just a tough team to play against. They are committed to a total team effort every night, anchored by solid defense and goaltending. With Tim Thomas sitting out this season and his rights traded to the Islanders, Tuukka Rask has taken over as Boston’s No 1 goalie. The Bruins had been grooming him for this for a while, and the 26-year-old is exceeding all expectations in the role. He’s 13-2-3 this season with a miniscule 1.96 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage after Monday’s shootout win in Ottawa. However, since Rask started against the Senators there’s a very good chance backup Anton Khudobin starts 24 hours later against the Penguins. Khudobin, also 26 years old, has played 12 NHL games since 2009 – five of those coming this season. He’s 4-1 in those starts. Overall, Boston’s defense is one of the strongest in the league. Captain Zdeno Chara is as tough to play against as ever and the 6-foot-9 blueliner matches up against the top players every night, so expect to see him go against Sidney Crosby on Tuesday. While Chara is familiar to the Penguins, rookie Dougie Hamilton is not. Hamilton – the ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft – is doing well in his first NHL season and is seeing decent minutes on the power play. Offensively, it’s been a balanced effort as pesky winger Brad Marchand is the only Bruin to reach double digits in goals (12). However, Tyler Seguin seems to have found his scoring touch with five goals in his last six games after scoring just three in his first 17. Overall, their line with Patrice Bergeron has been the team’s best and has produced the bulk of Boston’s offense. The line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton has been solid as well, with all three players hitting double digits in points – but could be even more consistent. The Bruins are an interesting team when it comes to special teams. They have the NHL’s No. 1-ranked penalty kill that's allowed just seven power-play goals against on 91 chances for an obscene 92.3 percent success rate, with Chara and defense partner Dennis Seidenberg anchoring their top unit. However, their power play has been an anomaly this season, as it’s one of the NHL’s least successful. But it says a lot about their team that they’re winning games despite their struggles there.  Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin Jordan Caron - Chris Kelly - Rich Peverley Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk Dougie Hamilton - Dennis Seidenberg Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid     BRUINS: TYLER SEGUIN After scoring 29 goals last season, Seguin found the back of the net just three times in his first 17 games this season. It’s not that he wasn’t playing well; he was doing everything else right but the puck just wasn’t going in. Now, it is. Seguin, 21 years old and in his third NHL season, has five goals in his last six games entering Monday’s game against the Senators to give him a total of eight through 23 games. He's playing with a lot of confidence and no hesitation in his game, leading the Bruins with 76 shots and has a plus-16 rating. PENGUINS: SIDNEY CROSBY  TUESDAY'S GAME The Bruins are the lone Eastern Conference team that the Penguins have yet to play this season. They will meet again on Sunday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Center. Pittsburgh has won three straight games against Boston. The Penguins are 5-1 in their last six meetings against the Bruins and 8-3 in their past 11. This season, the Penguins are 5-1 against teams from the Northeast Division. ) what-to-watch-for-kunitz-3-10.jpgPERFECT STARTPittsburgh’s five-game overall winning streak has come entirely during the month of March. During this run the Penguins have scored a NHL-best 26 goals (tied with Montreal). The Penguins’ 5.2 goals-per-game average this month also leads the league. Sidney Crosby (3G-11A-14PTS), Chris Kunitz (8G-4A-12PTS) and Kris Letang (0G-11A-11PTS) are the top-three leading scorers in March among all NHL players. Kunitz’s eight goals lead all scorers, while Crosby and Letang are tied for the league lead with 11 assists. HOME STREAKING The Penguins have won four straight home games and seven of their previous nine heading into Tuesday. During that nine-game stretch the Penguins have 38 goals for – an average of 4.2 per game. Several players are carrying hot stretches at home into Tuesday's game: *James Neal has points in eight straight home games (7G-6A-13PTS). *Sidney Crosby has recorded 10 points (3G-7A) while tallying points in three straight home games. *Chris Kunitz has a four-game home point streak (5G-3A-8PTS). *Kris Letang has assists in five straight home games (8 total). POWER UP Pittsburgh’s power play enters Tuesday owning the third-best percentage in the NHL at 25.7%. The Penguins have scored at least once on the power play in 15 of their last 18 games (20-for-70; 28.6%). At home, the Penguins have scored on the man-advantage at least once in seven of the previous eight games (11-for-32; 34.4%). Sidney Crosby leads all NHL players in power-play assists (13) and points (15). They'll be going to battle with the league's top-ranked PK. WHAT A NIGHT Several Penguins had big nights in Sunday’s 6-1 defeat of the New York Islanders. Chris Kunitz became the first NHL player this year to record multiple hat tricks when he notched three goals and two assists for a career-high five points. Kunitz tallied his first hat trick of the year on Feb. 3 at Washington when he scored a career-best four goals. Sidney Crosby picked up five assists against the Islanders – the fifth time in his career that he’s recorded five or more points in a game. It also marked just the second time he’s had five assists in one game, and the first time he’s done so since Dec. 13, 2006 against Philadelphia. Crosby is the only active NHL player with more than one five-assist game on his resume. He also became just the second Penguins player with multiple five-assist games in his career (Mario Lemieux, 8). Sunday was the first time two teammates recorded five points in the same game since Ales Hemsky and Dustin Penner did so for Edmonton on Oct. 22, 2009 against Columbus. Sunday marked the first time that two Penguins recorded five or more points in a game since Crosby and Sergei Gonchar did so against Philadelphia on Dec. 13, 2006. Courtesy: Elias Sports Bureau DOUBLE DIGITS Pittsburgh is the only team in the NHL that boasts four double-digit goal scorers this season: James Neal (17 goals); Chris Kunitz (17); Sidney Crosby (12); and Pascal Dupuis (11).  PENGUINS: C Evgeni Malkin, upper body BRUINS: C Marc Savard, post-concussion symptoms (non-roster player) |
KIPPER'S SONG FOR THE GAME
Going 1977 here with Roxy Roller from Sweeney Todd. Best part of this verison is that it features a 15 year old Bryan Adams on vocals who replaced Nick Gilder in the band. Bryan Adam singing Glam Rock at 15... who'd have thought?
