Welcome guest blogger Sheldon Smith @Sheldons465 for his Monday preview
Pens (14-8, 5-4 Home) vs Lightning (9-11-1, 3-7 Road), CONSOL Energy Centre, 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports, TSN2, RDS
Monday evening, the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time in nine days. On February 24, the Penguins were 5-3 victors on the heels of a dominant first period, led by Sidney Crosby, who registered two goals. The Penguins chased starter Anders Lindback after the first period when Paul Martin made it a three-goal deficit. The Lightning answered with two quick goals in the second, highlighted by a rocket slap shot courtesy of Steven Stamkos. Pens’ fans will remember that game as the game in which highly touted rookie Beau Bennet recorded his first NHL goal off of a gorgeous feed from Crosby.

Pittsburgh will be looking for a little home-cooking now that their three-game road trip concluded on Saturday evening in Montreal. In case you didn’t see the game, Pittsburgh and Montreal staged one of the most entertaining games of the year, with the Penguins’ coming out on top, 7-6 in overtime. Pittsburgh had a reunion of sorts on the road-trip, as they faced former teammate Jordan Staal, now residing in Carolina, and former coach, Michel Therrien who now coaches the Habs.

The Lightning began the season with a renewed vigor, but have since cooled off considerably, coming out victorious just three times in their past thirteen games. Coming into Pittsburgh, they’ve lost four straight and five of six. The Bolts were blitzed by the New York Rangers on Thursday night, 4-1, with the low-point being the first period, in which they yielded 20 shots and only put up three of their own. "We just look a bit rattled right now and unsure of ourselves and unsure of what we're doing and our responsibilities,” said General Manager, Steve Yzerman. The Lightning did put forth a better effort Saturday afternoon against the Boston Bruins, but couldn’t hold their two goal lead and lost 3-2.

Tampa comes into the game with the top offense in the league, ranking ahead of Pittsburgh with a 3.48 goals per game average. Tampa is led of course by, superstar Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has a nine-game point streak, in which he’s posted eight goals and fifteen points. He was also named the NHL’s First Star of the month for February, and his fifteen goals pace the Rocket Richard trophy race. His 32 points rank second in the league to Crosby, so look for an offensive battle between the two all-world centers.

The Penguins are attempting to shore up their defensive play, as they gave up sixteen goals over the course of their road trip. Marc-Andre Fleury will get the nod in goal, as he was sat on the game Saturday night. Historically, Fleury has posted fantastic numbers in the month of March over his career, with a 51-18-10 record. He will be looking to make amends for not playing Saturday, even though Coach Dan Bylsma said that the coaching staff had Vokoun slotted to play against the Habs for a couple weeks.

Many of the NHL’s highest scorers will be lacing them up Monday evening, including four of the top five scorers in the league: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, and his linemate, Chris Kunitz, while Tampa counters with Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. James Neal is also only two goals behind Stamkos.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has missed the Pens’ past four games, but returned to practicing with his teammates in contact situations, a good step in his recovery from a diagnosed concussion. There is still no timetable for his return, and team doctors are taking all the necessary steps in ensuring ‘Geno’ has a full recovery. Paul Martin has been out of the lineup since suffering a lower-body injury against the Hurricanes last Thursday. That opened the door for former Pen, Mark Eaton to play against the Canadiens. Eaton looked solid in his first game since last year, showing his strong positional play that Pens’ fans saw earlier in his career.

Tampa will be without former Pen and native Pittsburgher, Ryan Malone. They’re also without Benoit Pouliot, while defenseman Sami Salo will be back in the lineup. Malone has missed the Bolts’ past eleven games due to a lower-body injury, but joined his ‘mates Sunday for practice. Pouliot suffered his injury during Saturday’s loss to the Boston Bruins.

Treasure Life!
Sheldon Smith

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