Tonight is the last chance for the Columbus Blue Jackets to scrape together a victory or their season is over. The Pittsburgh Penguins have the opportunity to sweep their divisional rivals and buy themselves some time to watch Toronto and Washington beat the hell out of each other.
John Tortorella just wants his team to feel nice feelings
Classic John Tortorella quote from pregame this morning pic.twitter.com/h9m5y73E8p
— Jonathan Bombulie (@BombulieTrib) April 18, 2017
Here are the changes he will be making to have his players feel those nice feelings
#CBJ lineup changes for G4, per Tortorella: Quincey, Nutivaara and Calvert are in & Scott Hartnell, Scott Harrington and Werenski are out.
— Josh Getzoff (@PensJG) April 18, 2017
None of these changes will matter unless their goaltender stops playing like crap.
Sergei Bobrovsky is probably going to win the Vezina and in three games he is just as much at fault as any Blue Jacket for why the team is not going to get out of round one.
Pittsburgh will not be making any changes to their lineup. They are up 3-0 and outside of giving Mark Streit a look there really isn't anything for them to do even if they wanted to.
Mike Sullivan did not have any significant updates for the injured players (Hagelin, Kunitz, Murray)
Sid and Geno have been providing the offense. The Penguins fourth line has been doing some nice things as well.
Cullen's line also leads all NHL playoff trios in @CorsicaHockey's expected goals-for % (84.9), and Bonino is 4th at 74.7%. https://t.co/MKNBghUgxH
— Bill West (@BWest_Trib) April 18, 2017
Pittsburgh's high end players have delivered. Columbus doesn't need the Penguins depth players to start driving play.
One thing to watch tonight is if the Penguins can continue to build off of their Game 3 success. Despite it being the game where the Penguins allowed the most goals it was the game where their process was best. To repeat as champs your process has to be good enough to sustain a larger sample of games. Luck and variance isn't likely to carry you to 16 wins. Game 3 was a step in the right direction for the team.
How many runs will the Blue Jackets players take at the Penguins if the game looks like it is handily in Pittsburgh's favor?
Can the Blue Jackets win their first ever playoff game in regulation?
We'll find out soon enough.
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Jonathan Toews hasn't scored in 12 playoff games and only has one goal in his last 17 playoff games. You have to admire his commitment to leadership. By not scoring he is trying to force/elevate his teammates to play better. It is a selfless act and deserves many accolades.
Thanks for reading!