The Penguins are hitting the meaty part of their March schedule this week. They will play five times in seven days. The first two are back to back against the Bruins and then it will be three straight against the New Jersey Devils. This is hard no matter what teams you are playing and how talented you are.
Rust on having 5 games in 7 days: "You got trust your offseason training and what you’ve done up to this point with rest and nutrition and trying to keep your body right. Lean on the strength and conditioning staff and training staff to help you get through stretches like this."
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) March 15, 2021
While Bryan Rust is correct in what he is saying I believe a lot of the responsibility will fall on the head coach. It will be on Mike Sullivan to spread the ice around to the entire team. The fourth line is going to have to play more minutes whether they are up to it or not. I don’t think driving the older stars into the ground is a wise strategy and I don’t think Sullivan will do it.
The Penguins will be down both Jared McCann and John Marino. They skated today, but will not be available to play.
The last time the Penguins played the Bruins they caught a huge break. They will not catch the same break this time. David Pastrnak is back in the lineup and he is playing great this year. At 5v5 David Pastrnak has 1.82 goals per 60 which is second best in the league to Joel Farabee. In all situations his goals per 60 is 2.12 which is tied with Auston Matthews. Considering how amazing Matthews has been this year it should tell you all you need to know about Pastrnak’s ability to fill the net.
Yeah so this will be a challenge. Personally, I would lean into the ZAR-Blueger-Tanev line to take the task of playing against Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak. I think freeing up the Crosby line for offensive opportunities makes the most sense, at least to start the game. If you have a lead late and want to change the deployment go for it.
Here is a quick snapshot of the teams offensively, defensively, and ability to drive play:
The Penguins have played two more games than Boston and have a three point lead on them in the standings. Best case scenario the Penguins can get out of the back to back with a seven point lead in the standings which would be tremendous over a team like Boston. Other side of the coin is trailing Boston by one point with Boston still having two games in hand. It will likely fall somewhere in the middle.
Thanks for reading!