The Pittsburgh Penguins are in Boston and are set to take on their second consecutive Original 6 team with their matchup tonight against the Bruins. Currently the Bruins are the only team in the Eastern Conference that has more points in the standings than the Penguins 30 points (Bruins 32 pts, have a game in hand).
The Penguins and Bruins skated to a one goal game earlier this season when the Penguins escaped with a 3-2 victory. Jarome Iginla scored a late goal to make things really interesting down the stretch.
The last time these two teams played the Penguins roster was a little bit different. James Neal was still out with his injury and Dustin Jeffrey and Jayson Megna were in the lineup. Now James Neal is back in the lineup, Dustin Jeffrey was lost on a waiver claim, and Megnatron is back down in WB/S.
Some things remain the same. Beau Bennett was recently injured and will not be available to play. Beau Bennett has been placed on IR with an undisclosed injury. My gut feeling tells me that he is going to be out for a while, could be a broken wrist or something of that nature.
Rob Scuderi is still out with this broken ankle and Chuck Kobasew has remained out the lineup.
Given the current injury landscape, which now includes Tanner Glass, roster moves were made to help out the roster. Tanner Glass was injured blocking PK Subban slapshots on Saturday night. The Penguins response to those injuries has been to call up Zach Sill and Andrew Ebbett.
Personally I don’t understand why Jayson Megna has not received the call to come back up to the Penguins. He played well during his call up and provided the Penguins with size, speed, and skill. He was able to utilize those traits while playing a simplistic game, something that some of the regulars tend to forget at times.
Losing Bennett for an extended period of time will again test the Penguins forward depth and not allow the coaching staff to balance their lines the way they want to. Chuck Kobasew appears closer to a return but the Penguins don’t have any options than can replace the puck skill they lost when Bennett went down.
The key for the Penguins against the Bruins is what it is always is, winning the neutral zone battle. The Penguins need to find a way to carry the puck through the neutral zone with speed in order to have zone entries with possession. The chip and chase method of hockey plays right into the Bruins hands. That is what they want the opposition to do. The Penguins defensemen will have a ton of the responsibility to making that happen.
Puck skills on the back end are probably the biggest variable in how a team can find success through the neutral zone. Kris Letang is going to have to play a very smart and effective game, these are the type of matchups where his top end skill needs to be paired up with top end decision making.
Line Combos
For Pittsburgh
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Jokinen-Malkin-Neal
Gibbons-Sutter-D'Agostini
Sill-Vitale-Adams
The Penguins current bottom 6 doesn't leave much to be desired.
For Boston:
Lucic-Krejci-Iginla
Marchand-Bergeron-Eriksson
Söderberg-Kelly-Smith
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Chara-Hamilton
Bartkowski-Boychuk
Miller-Krug
Injuries
Beau Bennett has been placed on IR. No other update about his injury is available at this time.
Power Play
Penguins power play is 6th overall at 22.4%. Penguins rank 10th overall with 85 PP opportunities.
Bruins power play is ranked 18th at 18.0%. Bruins rank dead last with only 61 PP opportunities.
Penalty Kill
The Penguins are 2nd overall in the NHL on the penalty kill at 87.1%
The Bruins are ranked 5th overall at 85.7%.
Penguins and Bruins are both tied for 3rd in the amount of times they have been shorthanded with 70 times each.
Fenclose%
The Penguins are 4th overall at 55.2%
The Bruins are currently 12th overall at 51.7%
Even Strength Save %
The Penguins are still near the bottom of the league ranked 24th overall at .915%. Marc Andre Fleury is at .920%
The Bruins are the best team in hockey in EVSV%. They are currently checking in at an impressive .952%. Tuukka Rask is leading the way as his percentage is the same as the team .952%
Trends
Penguins are 5-2 in their last 7 Monday games
Bruins are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. Metropolitan
Bruins are 5-1 in their last 6 home games
Penguins are 6-2 in the last 8 meetings in Boston
Stats courtesy of Covers.com
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Here are some random news and notes courtesy of Forbes Magazine:
Sidney Crosby has topped the list of the NHL’s highest paid players for 2013-2014 in total he will earn 16.5M, he will earn 12M of that on the ice and 4.5M off the ice.
Shea Weber comes in 2nd with 14.1M, only 100k of that 14.1M comes away from the rink. Alex Ovechkin is 4th overall with 12.5M and he is the only other player in the same neighborhood as Crosby with earning away from the rink. Ovechkin makes 3.5M in non hockey revenue.
Forbes also released their valuations on each NHL franchise. The Toronto Maple Leafs are estimated to be worth 1.15B and they are the most valuable NHL franchise.
The Penguins ranked 8th overall with an estimated value of 480M .
Penguins have come a long way since those dark and dreary times in the mid 2000's. The Sidney Crosby lottery ball was very lucky, but that doesn't mean the Penguins faithful have to be apologetic about it. Crosby had to go somewhere, it happened to be Pittsburgh and all Penguin fans are very thankful for that.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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