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GAMEDAY! Pens ride nine-game win streak & Sidney Crosby into MSG |
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Pens (42-21-5, 18-13-3 road) at NYR (44-18-7, 24-7-2 home), Madison Square Garden, 7:00 pm EDT
Follow me on Twitter @JohnToperzer
Congratulations to those who had March 15 in the Sidney Crosby comeback date poll – you win! What will you get? Great question.
The Penguins have already won nine straight games without the services of Crosby, or Kris Letang, for that matter.
The season’s last 14 games are about finding the right line chemistry and gaining momentum heading into the postseason. The team doesn’t have a lot of question marks, but adding the NHL’s best player and one of its best blueliners into the mix makes for an interesting final three weeks-plus.
Pittsburgh enters Thursday trailing the New York Rangers by six points in the Eastern Conference standings (95 to 89). The Penguins have a game in hand against New York as they attempt to unseat the top-seed Rangers.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma commented on how his team’s goal is to finish atop the East back in February. Players such as Pascal Dupuis also mentioned how finishing first would be a great achievement. If that’s going to happen, a win in Madison Square Garden on Thursday is necessary.
Factoring Crosby into the lineup is something that Bylsma has had plenty of time to think about. Crosby has only suited up for eight games all season long. The Pens went 5-2-1 in those contests, with one of their two regulation losses coming against the Rangers.
On Nov. 29, New York knocked off Pittsburgh, 4-3, for its seventh straight home win. Crosby collected two assists – one on the power –play – but four second-period goals doomed the Pens’ chances.
The two teams have met four times. The Rangers won the first two games while the Penguins have come out on top the last two times.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said he’ll start Crosby with Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke, shifting him for about 14 or 15 minutes Thursday.
“It’s hard keeping a guy like that on the bench, though, but that’s the number we’re looking at,” Bylsma noted. “If there was another combination or if it was (Chris Kunitz) and (Pascal Dupuis), it would be a lot tougher to keep him at 15 minutes. Last time, when he hopped back in there, he was right back with 14 and 9 and he was right at 19, 20, 21 minutes right in his first couple of games."
Again, wanting to get him back in the mix, but also a little bit more – well, you don’t pace Sidney Crosby – but keeping his minutes a little bit closer to 15 is what we’re looking at. That’s one of the reasons for putting him with 24 and 48. I’ve always told him he could be a Selke winner. He’s going to have his chance here with Cooke and Kennedy.”
It’s kind of surreal to think of Crosby as a third-line center, at least for the start of one game. What makes it funnier is that Bylsma mentioned Crosby and the Selke Award in the same sentence when center Jordan Staal is so highly regarded defensively. Speaking of Staal, he ranks fifth in the NHL with a 19.3 shooting percentage with 22 goals in 48 games.
Bylsma also discussed Crosby’s role on the point for the power play.
“I think Sid, his vision from the point on shooting or a pass, passing to the net, to the side of the net, will be the best that we have on our team,” the Pens coach said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. He hasn’t played there since juniors, being the top guy on the point, but his vision and his ability to shoot the puck, shoot it towards James Neal, his ability to get across the line and go back to Malkin, is unparalleled on our team. There’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment. We’ve been working with Sid the last seven, eight days on that, whether it’s when he’s been out there by himself or whether he’s been out there with the team and now in practice the last couple times for the power play.”
There’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment there, but his ability to have vision from back there and see the passing lanes, shooting lanes and get it back to both Letang, and if it’s Sullivan, Sullivan and Geno for his one-timer there, I think is going to be unique.”
*****
The Rangers took over the mantle as the East’s best team from Boston sometime around the turn of the calendar year and haven’t looked back. Since Pens GM Ray Shero made a proclamation that his team would make the playoffs, Pittsburgh holds a stunning 21-4-1 mark. But the Rangers aren’t far behind over the same stretch, going 17-8-3.
New York leads the NHL in his but will likely play without two of its biggest hitters Thursday. Ryan Callahan (228) and Michael Del Zotto (133) are not expected to play.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has suffered through an illness and his status for Thursday is also questionable. Lundqvist sports a 32-14-5 mark with a 1.88 GAA and .930 save percentage. If he can’t go, then backup Marty Biron figures to get the nod. Biron (12-4-2, 2.23 GAA, .910 save percentage) has served as an excellent insurance policy.
A discussion of the Rangers without mentioning coach John Tortorella would not be complete.
Here’s what “Torts” had to say about the pending Crosby return.
"You're not gonna get me to bite on it because I think it's bull(poop)," according to reporter Louis Jean.
*****
Pens-NYR: By the Numbers
Goals For/Against
Pens: 3.09-2.50 (per game)
NYR: 2.74-2.10
The Pens average the third-highest goal total behind Boston (3.19) and Philadelphia (3.13). Pittsburgh’s numbers have been on the rise while the other two teams have fallen in recent times.
Only the St. Louis Blues allow fewer goals (1.86) than NYR. The Los Angeles Kings also give up 2.10 goals per game.
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio
Pens: 1.10
NYR: 1.26
Pittsburgh has hovered right around 1.00 all season and this number is pretty high right now for the Pens.
The Rangers’ mark of 1.26 is the league’s fourth-highest.
Power Play
Pens: 19.3 percent, 23-for-119 (road)
NYR: 15.6 percent, 19-for-122 (home)
The Penguins have held pretty steady around the 20-percent conversion rate. They have allowed eight short-handed scores, fifth-most.
New York’s power play at Madison Square Garden ranks 22rd among home power-play units. The Rangers have permitted only three shorties, which ties them with five other teams for the third-fewest.
Penalty Kill
Pens: 88.1 percent, 111-of-126 (road)
NYR: 84.8 percent, 84-of-99 (home)
The Pens have the fifth-best road PK unit and their nine short-handed goals scored represent the fourth-highest total.
New York ranks sixth among home PK units and are one of only four teams to have allowed fewer than 100 power-play opportunities at home. The Blue Shirts have netted seven short-handed goals, sixth-most.
Hits-Blocks-Missed Shots-Giveways-Takeaways
Pens: 873 Hits-434 Blocks-426 Missed Shots-218 Giveaways-228 Takeaways (road)
NYR: 1027 Hits-543 Blocks -383 Missed Shots-216 Giveaways-225 Takeaways (home)
Pittsburgh ranks fourth in road hits while NYR ranks first with 1020 – 133 hits more than second-place LA (887). The Pens’ 434 road blocks are the leagues’ second-fewest and their 426 missed shots tie for the fifth-most with Vancouver. Pittsburgh’s in the middle of the pack with 218 giveaways (16th) and rank fifth with 228 takeaways on the road.
NYR has dished out the fifth-most home hits (1027) and the ninth-highest blocked shots total (543). NYR has missed shots 383 times, 23rd fewest while only five teams have turned the puck over less at home (216 times). The Rangers are 18th in home takeaways with 255. Incidentally, Pittsburgh has fewer takeaways at home (127) than any other team – a number that strikes me as kind of strange.
Record When Leading After 1st Period, 2nd Pd/Trailing After 1st Period, 2nd Pd
Pens: 20-4-3, 23-0-2/9-11-1, 8-16-2
NYR: 17-2-3, 27-0-3/6-10-3, 5-12-1
Neither team has lost in regulation when leading after two periods. The Penguins have the best winning percentage (.308) of any team when trailing after two periods. In 2010-11, Pittsburgh failed to win even one game when trailing after two periods, going 0-19-1. The Pens were the only NHL team unable to come back and win at least one game when trailing after 40 minutes.
Record When Scoring First/Trailing First
Pens: 26-7-3/16-14-2
NYR: 31-3-3/13-15-4
The Rangers have the best record when scoring first and the Penguins have the top mark in games they first trail the opponent. Pretty heady stuff by both squads.
Shootouts
Pens: 4-3 on the road (9-3 overall)
NYR: 2-2 at home (3-5 overall)
The mediocre NYR numbers are surprising because of goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s reputation as a strong shootout player.
- The Pens are the only team to play 68 games or fewer in the entire NHL.
- New York center, Brad Richards, is on fire with five goals and eight points in his last four games. Richards has tormented Pittsburgh in the faceoff circle but won just four of 12 draws the last time the teams met (a 2-0 Pittsburgh victory). Richards held a 43-12 faceoff record against the Pens the first three games.
- Sidney Crosby should help Pittsburgh in the circle (an understatement, obviously). Crosby went 93-96 (49.2 percent) in eight games after compiling a 55.6 mark in 2010-11.
- Carl Hagelin is one to watch for the Rangers. The rookie has 13 goals and 33 points in 53 games and is coming off a three-point, plus-4 night (1,2) in a 4-2 win over Carolina on Tuesday.
- Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos won't go away this year and is tied with Evgeni Malkin (remember him?) for the NHL scoring lead. Both players have 84 points. Stamkos has more goals (50 to 38) but has played in more games (69 to 61).
*****
Treasure life & Let's Go Pens!
JT
PS -- Thanks for the personal notes yesterday. I did read them all.
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