The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to successfully follow up their impressive Game 2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight as the series shifts to Florida.
Pittsburgh controlled the flow of Game 2 and if not for the brilliance of Andrei Vasilevskiy they probably would not have needed overtime in order to advance.
As far as lineups go the Penguins will not be making any personnel changes at this time. Justin Schultz left the ice before Olli Maatta and Matt Murray was the first goaltender off the ice. However, it remains to be seen if Mike Sullivan will continue to mix up his line combinations like he did at the end of Game 2.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will see the return of Ryan Callahan after missing Game 2 with the flu. It is worth noting that Callahan’s replacement, Jonathan Marchessault, was the one who threaded that beautiful pass to Anton Stralman for the first Tampa goal. Over the course of the regular season Jonathan Marchessault had more of a positive impact on tangible offense as he had a 5v5 points per 60 of 1.61 compared to Callahan’s 1.36. Tampa could go with 12 forwards and six defensemen and have both in the lineup if they wanted.
Ben Bishop and Steven Stamkos have been ruled out for Game 3. Jon Cooper left the door open for a Bishop return in the Eastern Conference Finals while that determination has not been made for Stamkos yet.
According to
Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts today
this will be the RFA compensation for this upcoming offseason
Beau Bennett and Justin Schultz are the only two RFA players of consequence for the Penguins.
Other Penguins notes from the 30 thoughts:
17. Matt Murray’s won eight postseason games, which puts him among some interesting company.
Only four goalies with fewer than 10 regular-season wins (Murray has nine) have more victories in one playoff year. They are Ken Dryden (12 in 1971), Mike Vernon (12 in 1986), Steve Penney (nine in 1984) and Johan Hedberg (nine in 2001). Dryden led Montreal to a Stanley Cup, Vernon’s Calgary Flames lost in the Final.
Murray is accomplishing this despite opponents noticing one “tell” in his style. He drops his left knee a little early on occasion, which lowers his glove.
It has certainly been a unique situation with the Penguins goaltenders. Without Fleury’s second concussion Murray would never have been in this spot. To this point he has made the most of his opportunity and the result has been the Penguins first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2013. As far as the “tell” on Murray’s glove? Murray isn’t the first nor the last goalie whose glove hand has been called into question. If memory serves correct that was a talking point with Corey Crawford and his .930 EVSV% from last year’s playoff run. That seemed to end well for Chicago.
18. At 39, Matt Cullen is having a huge impact in Pittsburgh, both off the ice and on.
GM Jim Rutherford is on record as saying he’d like to have Cullen return for 2016-17. Last season, while a member of the Predators, Cullen revealed he was considering retirement. It’s pretty funny, but he admitted with a smile that his agent, Pat Morris, advised him not to make such statements again.
It’s clear Cullen has plenty more to give.
Once again the age of a player doesn’t matter. His effectiveness does. As long as the term on the contract doesn’t stretch longer than the player’s usefulness there is no problem signing older players. I would fully expect a one year deal to be reached in the offseason between Cullen and the Penguins.
It was the Matt Cullen line who had the upperhand on Victor Hedman in Game 2. That matchup allowed Sidney Crosby to play against other pairings which will be beneficial to the Penguins. It will be tougher for Mike Sullivan to get those matchups on the road as the series has shifted to Tampa Bay.
The Penguins have been spoiled with offensive players for much of the past 30 years. Here is more evidence of that. Out of the active players in the NHL who have played at least 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games the Penguins have three out of the four players who are clicking at a point per game.
Not too shabby.
Thanks for reading!
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