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Pittsburgh Penguins (3-0-0) at Florida Panthers (1-3-0) 7:30 PM at BB&T Center
The Pittsburgh Penguins go into action tonight against the Florida Panthers undefeated after an impressive 3 game home stand. Tonight the Penguins will make their road debut against a Florida Panthers team that not many people are giving a chance this year.
Last night the Florida Panthers had a rough go at it against the Tampa Bay Lightning (Penguins Saturday matchup). The Panthers dropped the game 7-2 and had difficulty containing Steven Stamkos all night long. Stamkos finished the game with a hat trick and an assist. Stamkos was able to score 3 goals 3 different ways, and while it is not quite the Mario 5 in 5, it was still impressive. Stamkos had an even strength, power play, and shorthanded goal.
Whoever has Stamkos in the Penguins Hockeybuzz fantasy league is a really lucky guy...
The shorthanded goal was courtesy of an offensive zone turnover by former Penguin Ryan Whitney. Whitney tossed out a wobbly duck of a saucer pass which skipped over his teammates stick while on the PP. The Lightning rushed up the ice with St. Louis and Stamkos. Whitney gave St. Louis all the room he needed on his zone entry to make a beautiful tip pass to Stamkos.
Here are the highlights from last night’s game that included the Penguins next two opponents:
The Florida Panthers are a team picked by many (including myself) to finish at the bottom of the Atlantic Division this year. Last year was a pretty big letdown for the Panthers after making the playoffs the year before and almost ousting the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Devils.
Their reward for last year’s brutal season was the opportunity to draft second overall. The Panthers selected Finnish/Russian forward Aleksander Barkov. Barkov is immensely talented and the Panthers have not wasted any time in getting him in the lineup. Barkov is one of the leaders on the Panthers in even strength ice time. Between Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jacob Markstrom, and Nick Bjugstad the Panthers have a bright future, but that future isn’t quite ready yet to hang with a team like the Penguins on a regular basis.
To help fill in the gaps in the short term the Panthers made some veteran signings right before the regular season began. The Panthers brought in familiar names such as Brad Boyes, Scott Gomez, Ryan Whitney, and goaltender Tim Thomas. With the addition of these veterans as well as the younger players the Panthers make for a very weird mix of old and young. The effort to bring in the veterans seems like an effort to try and give off the illusion that the team will be competitive but I just don’t see it.
Even though the Panthers are not quite ready for prime time they were also victims of terrible luck last season. The Panthers ranked dead last in PDO for the 2012-2013 season with a rating of 949. PDO is a stat that combines shooting percentage and save percentage. A score of 1000 is the median and over time teams will regress back to the median as history has shown. The Penguins were actually the “luckiest” team in the league last year with a PDO of 1035. If nothing else the Panthers should get more breaks this season and perhaps the Penguins will get fewer breaks.
Since 2010-2011 the Pittsburgh Penguins have a 6-5 road record in the state of Florida. They have gone 4-2 against the Panthers and 2-3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sometimes the fun in the sun during the winter months can be a distraction for the team (most times a welcomed one) but it has the ability to impact the on ice product. Given that the Penguins are leaving Pittsburgh in mid October with the temperatures still in the 70’s I do not feel it will be that much of a distraction this time around.
The Penguins will most likely not be looking to make any changes to the lineup. The results they have gotten from their lineup speak for itself. The only change that will happen is that Jeff Zatkoff will be playing in either the game tonight or in Tampa tomorrow.
I will update the blog throughout the day with any and all news pertaining to this game, including the line combinations.
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EDIT 12:00 PM
Both the Penguins and Panthers had an optional skate this morning. The Penguins had 14 skaters for theirs while the Panthers, who played last night, had much fewer.
Notable news from the morning skate is that Kris Letang joined his teammates for the first time since being injured. This opens the door for a return to game action. We shall see what happens as the day progresses.
Jeff Zatkoff will be making his NHL debut tonight between the pipes for the Penguins.
1:00 PM
Perhaps this is looking too much into the situation but I found this to be a very interesting development on the Maatta front. Did the Penguins give London an inside scoop of their plans?
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6:00 PM
Kris Letang will not be in the lineup tonight. Dan Bylsma spoke to the media today about his situation, the following quotes are courtesy of Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
"He’s progressing, today’s practice won’t be an indication that he’s ready to go or not ready to go.
He's good in that regard, in terms of getting up and down the ice and skating ability.
We’ll probably see how the next three days go, to see how he’s progressing. Whether he’s doing well with that, or whether we’d have to taper his progression."
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