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The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on Eastern Conference rival Boston Bruins tonight at the TD Garden.
The Penguins come into tonight’s action with an 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games and have won their last 5 games.
In the past few seasons Dan Bylsma has had the ability to get the Penguins to string together lengthy winning streaks.
Last year the Penguins had a 7 game winning streak as well as an impressive 15 game winning streak.
In 2011-2012 the Penguins had two separate 8 game winning streaks and an 11 game winning streak
In 2010-2011 the team had an 8 game winning streak at the end of the season and had a 12 game winning streak before Crosby went down with his concussion.
The Bruins are the opponent that stands the best chance to end the current Penguins winning streak in December.
The key for the Penguins will be scoring the 1st goal. When the Penguins score 1st their winning percentage is .941%. When they give up the 1st goal it drops all the way to .308%.
It's not out of the question for the Penguins to have the Metropolitan Division all but wrapped up by the New Year if they go on a long winning streak
The Penguins will have to overcome the loss of Evgeni Malkin for a 2nd straight game as he did not make the trip to Boston. Jussi Jokinen will take over the center duties for that 2nd line.
Josh Yohe interviews Jussi Jokinen about the switch to center and how comfortable of a switch it is for him
Dejan Kovacevic looks into Kris Letang’s struggle and maps out strategy for his return to quality play
Rob Rossi examines why Jarome Iginla is a passing though in this rivalry and not a main storyline
Line Combos
Projected lineup for the Penguins:
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Megna-Jokinen-Neal
Conner-Sutter-Kobasew
Sill-Vitale-Adams
Orpik-Engelland
Maatta-Letang
Despres-Niskanen
Bortuzzo
Projected lineup for Bruins:
Lucic-Krejci-Iginla
Marchand-Bergeron-Eriksson
Soderberg-Kelly-Smith
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Chara-Krug
Seidenberg-Hamilton
Bartkowski-Miller
Injuries
Evgeni Malkin will miss his 2nd straight game with an undisclosed lower body injury. He did not make the trip to Boston.
Pascal Dupuis is questionable with a lower body injury, he did make the trip to Boston. There is a chance Dupuis could play.
Adam McQuaid is questionable with a groin injury.
Johnny Boychuk left the Bruins last game on a stretcher because of a back injury. The good news is the injury is not thought to be as serious as it could have been. He does not have a timetable for a return.
Power Play
The Pittsburgh Penguins still have the best power play in the NHL right now and it currently sits at 26.5%.
The Bruins power play is 17th overall at 17.3%.
The Penguins are 10th in the league with 102 power play opportunities
The Bruins are dead last in the league with 76 power play opportunities.
So in back to back games the Penguins went from the team who earns the most power plays (SJ) to the team that draws the least.
Penalty Kill
The Penguins are 4th overall in the NHL on the PK with 86.0%
The Bruins also 4th overall as they are tied with the Penguins at 86.0%.
The Penguins are 4th best in the league with only being shorthanded 86 times
And wouldn’t you know it, the Bruins are tied with the Penguins in this category too.
Fenclose%
The Penguins are 4th overall at 54.9%
The Bruins are 10th overall at 52.3%
Even Strength Save %
The Sharks rank 3rd overall in EVSV% with .942%. Tuukka Rask leads the way with His .937% EVSV%.
The Penguins are ranked 22nd overall with .918%. Marc Andre Fleury is at .921%.
Trends
Penguins are 4-1 in their last 5 after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game
Bruins are 7-0 in their last 7 vs. Metropolitan.
Bruins are 5-1 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a winning road record
Home team is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings
Penguins are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings
Thanks for reading!
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