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Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger •
Winners of seven in a row, the Penguins are off to the second best start in franchise history and hope to extend it tonight by knocking off the New Jersey Devils. The best start in franchise history, 12-0-2, came back in the 1994-95 season, and this group seems hungry to eclipse that mark.
The Penguins almost let their winning streak slip away last night, as they integrated a couple of new bodies into their line-up. Martin Skoula was making his first start for the team, while Chris Bourque was given another sporadic look. The additional of Skoula worked out fine as the game went on, but there were times when the defense looked confused and out of sync. That is what happens when you take a player like Sergei Gonchar out of the mix. He eats a ton of minutes and does so many different things, that when he is not there, some major adjustments are needed.
During the first two periods, it seemed as if Alex Goligoski was trying to do a little too much out there. He is the guy who will most likely be looked too to fill the offensive void left by Sarge and he was really trying to force passes at times. He made a couple of bad decisions early and had a few communication issues with defense partners and Ruslan Fedotenko on the power play. He did settle down in the third period and began to play his game, making a nice cross ice feed to Sidney Crosby for a goal. He will be fine.
It is worth noting that the entire blue line seemed to settle down as the game wore on and should be more prepared this evening after having worked out the kinks. That is a good thing, as these aren't your pappi's New Jersey Devils. This incarnnation of the Devils boasts a lot more offensive upside than the old trap first score later groups of the mid-1990s. That isn't to say that they can't frustrate another team by stopping them in the neutral zone and inhibiting their ability to create scoring chances... just that having players such as Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac allows them to focus on the offense a bit more than they used too.
Parise, Langenbrunner and Zajac all seem to give the Penguins fits and it isn't surprising to hear all three of their names mentioned often during games against the Devils.
Marty Brodeur is looking to tie the all-time NHL shut out record, but history says that it will not happen tonight. Mellon Arena just hasn't been very friendly to Brodeur in recent history, but he is a driven player who would love nothing more than to stonewall the high flying Penguins offense.
The Penguins line-up for tonight will remain largely the same as the one we say hit frozen H2O last night...though Chris Bourque may slide back into the press box in favor of Eric Godard. Marc Andre Fleury is expected to get the start after he was given the night off against the Panthers.
As usual, I will be live at Mellon Arena bringing you all of the action. Please join me for live updates in the blog and conversation in the comments section...
Game Notes:
The Penguins trail the all-time series against the Devils 82-86-22, but lead on home ice going 46-41-7 at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins won the season series against the Devils last season posting a 3-1-2 mark...2-0-1 on home ice.
Sidney Crosby has posted 32 points (16G-16A) in 26 career games against the Devils, while Evgeni Malkin has posted 28 (11G-17A) points in 22 games against New Jersey.
Crosby posted his first career "home ice" hat trick on November 29, 2008 against the Devils. Crosby added an assist to make it a four point evening.
Evgeni Malkin scored his first career goal against the Devils back on October 18, 2006. He also notched his 100th career goal against the team back on January 30, 2009.
Evgeni Malkin needs two assists to reach 200 in his career.
Bill Guerin and Mike Rupp are both former draft picks of the New Jersey Devils. Guerin went fifth overall back in 1989, while Rupp was taked 76th overall in the 3rd round by the team. Both won Stanley Cups with the Devils, with Rupp scoring the Cup clinching goal against the Anaheim Ducks.
Penguins Youtube of the Day:
Mario Lemieux scores five goals, five different ways against the Devils back on New Year's Eve 1988...
FOLLOW METZER ON TWITTER HERE
VISIT METZER ON FACEBOOK HERE
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PENGUINS HOCKEY BUZZCAST
FOLLOW METZER AND MAY ON FACEBOOK
The Penguins almost let their winning streak slip away last night, as they integrated a couple of new bodies into their line-up. Martin Skoula was making his first start for the team, while Chris Bourque was given another sporadic look. The additional of Skoula worked out fine as the game went on, but there were times when the defense looked confused and out of sync. That is what happens when you take a player like Sergei Gonchar out of the mix. He eats a ton of minutes and does so many different things, that when he is not there, some major adjustments are needed.
During the first two periods, it seemed as if Alex Goligoski was trying to do a little too much out there. He is the guy who will most likely be looked too to fill the offensive void left by Sarge and he was really trying to force passes at times. He made a couple of bad decisions early and had a few communication issues with defense partners and Ruslan Fedotenko on the power play. He did settle down in the third period and began to play his game, making a nice cross ice feed to Sidney Crosby for a goal. He will be fine.
It is worth noting that the entire blue line seemed to settle down as the game wore on and should be more prepared this evening after having worked out the kinks. That is a good thing, as these aren't your pappi's New Jersey Devils. This incarnnation of the Devils boasts a lot more offensive upside than the old trap first score later groups of the mid-1990s. That isn't to say that they can't frustrate another team by stopping them in the neutral zone and inhibiting their ability to create scoring chances... just that having players such as Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac allows them to focus on the offense a bit more than they used too.
Parise, Langenbrunner and Zajac all seem to give the Penguins fits and it isn't surprising to hear all three of their names mentioned often during games against the Devils.
Marty Brodeur is looking to tie the all-time NHL shut out record, but history says that it will not happen tonight. Mellon Arena just hasn't been very friendly to Brodeur in recent history, but he is a driven player who would love nothing more than to stonewall the high flying Penguins offense.
The Penguins line-up for tonight will remain largely the same as the one we say hit frozen H2O last night...though Chris Bourque may slide back into the press box in favor of Eric Godard. Marc Andre Fleury is expected to get the start after he was given the night off against the Panthers.
As usual, I will be live at Mellon Arena bringing you all of the action. Please join me for live updates in the blog and conversation in the comments section...
Game Notes:
The Penguins trail the all-time series against the Devils 82-86-22, but lead on home ice going 46-41-7 at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins won the season series against the Devils last season posting a 3-1-2 mark...2-0-1 on home ice.
Sidney Crosby has posted 32 points (16G-16A) in 26 career games against the Devils, while Evgeni Malkin has posted 28 (11G-17A) points in 22 games against New Jersey.
Crosby posted his first career "home ice" hat trick on November 29, 2008 against the Devils. Crosby added an assist to make it a four point evening.
Evgeni Malkin scored his first career goal against the Devils back on October 18, 2006. He also notched his 100th career goal against the team back on January 30, 2009.
Evgeni Malkin needs two assists to reach 200 in his career.
Bill Guerin and Mike Rupp are both former draft picks of the New Jersey Devils. Guerin went fifth overall back in 1989, while Rupp was taked 76th overall in the 3rd round by the team. Both won Stanley Cups with the Devils, with Rupp scoring the Cup clinching goal against the Anaheim Ducks.
Penguins Youtube of the Day:
Mario Lemieux scores five goals, five different ways against the Devils back on New Year's Eve 1988...
FOLLOW METZER ON TWITTER HERE
VISIT METZER ON FACEBOOK HERE
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PENGUINS HOCKEY BUZZCAST
FOLLOW METZER AND MAY ON FACEBOOK
Join the Discussion:
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