Pens (22-17-4, 11-10-2 Road) at Lightning (17-22-4, 11-6-1 Home), 1:00 pm EDT, TB Times Forum
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When the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning square off against one another Sunday afternoon, one of the teams will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak. Sound familiar? Tampa Bay hasn’t won a game since knocking off the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve.
Fans might think that the Penguins have struggled, and rightly so, but the Lightning can’t strike twice. Tampa Bay is last in the Eastern Conference with 38 points in 43 games while the Pens are ninth with 48 points in 43 contests.
The goaltending situation for bay-side of the Sunshine State leaves much to be desired. Dwayne Roloson looks all of 42 years of age. The only place his 3.68 goals-against average might look good is on the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff. Mathieu Garon has not fared quite as poorly, but to say he’s been an improvement might be misleading. Garon holds a 2.94 GAA and .900 save percentage.
Needless to say, if the Lightning feels like there’s a chance for the postseason then a trade for a goalie would most likely be in the works. Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier make this a dangerous team to play against when motivated.
Ryan Malone has stayed relatively healthy, collecting eight goals and 23 points in 37 games. Steve Downie has managed 17 points (7, 10) in 40 games, but it’s his PIMs total of 107 that stands out. By contrast, Arron Asham leads Pittsburgh with half as many penalty minutes (53).
But enough about the opponent.
The Penguins got a temporary restraining order on all negative vibes Thursday and Friday. Pens GM Ray Shero said the team will make the playoffs and then some, Sidney Crosby skated, and the team snapped a six-game losing streak. Reports of team captaincy littered the social media, but the “C’s” worn at practice stole the headlines – in a good way.
Four different players scored goals in a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday. Steve Sullivan, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and James Neal all lifted the fog that was setting in on a team struggling to find the back of the net.
Interestingly, the Pens have mirrored the goal scoring proficiency of Neal in recent weeks. Since Dec. 10, Pittsburgh has won eight games in which Neal has scored and lost the other six when he hasn’t.
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the following lines for practice Saturday.
Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby/Joe Vitale-James Neal
Pascal Dupuis-Dustin Jeffrey-Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke-Richard Park-Steve Sullivan
Arron Asham-Craig Adams-Eric Tangradi
Malkin was given a maintenance day off. GM Shero noted how badly off the Pens would be without Malkin in his comments a couple days ago.
Crosby skated for the second straight day. The team had no hitting involved and Crosby did not wear a non-contact jersey.
Coach Dan Bylsma really paid tribute to Paul Martin in his media scrum, according to the
Penguins’ Web site.
“I thought his last two games were his best in a while in terms of his battle level, his execution and really defending. He’s also jumping into the play a little bit the last few games. We need our good players to step up, and Paul has certainly done that in the last two games. We’re going to continue to need Paul and those other good players – (Zbynek Michalek) and Brooks Orpik with the way he’s played the last 3-4 games – to step up. And Paul has played really well the last two games.”
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The Pens and Lightning have played one time in 2011-12, with Tampa Bay winning at home, 4-1, on Nov. 17. Roloson made 33 saves, Lecavalier scored twice and former Penguin Adam Hall won 10 of 12 faceoffs.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who is expected to start Sunday afternoon, was beaten three times on 17 shots. Tyler Kennedy managed the Pens’ lone score. Crosby did not play, but Kris Letang and Jordan Staal did.
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Treasure Life! & Let's Go Pens!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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