Holiday break is over and after celebrating Christmas and Jesus the Penguins will come back to the Devils. Pittsburgh defeated this same New Jersey team by a score of 4-1 right before the break and tonight will look to keep pace with the sizzling Columbus Blue Jackets.
There are some questions about the lineup as we head into tonight's game. Here is what the defense pairings looked like
#Pens D-pairs without Maatta:
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 27, 2016
Dumoulin-Schultz
Cole-Ruhwedel
Pouliot-Oleksy
Forward lines stayed the same.
-MC
So no Olli Maatta tonight. The word is that he was ill and the team left him in Pittsburgh. The forward lines will remain the same which includes HBK staying together and Bryan Rust playing up on the Crosby line.
Slowly but surely some of the other wounded Penguins are making their way back
Letang, Daley and Kuhnhackl are all on the ice for #Pens morning skate wearing yellow no-contact jerseys. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 27, 2016
It will be Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the Penguins. The team plays tomorrow night and the Penguins decided to give Fleury the Devils instead of the Hurricanes probably in part because he did very well against the Devils before the break.
Sixteen years ago tonight was one of my favorite sporting events I have ever watched. The night couldn't have been more perfect. Mario coming back so I could appreciate his greatness in young adulthood was one of the best Christmas presents I could ever get.
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Brand new Hockey Hurts Podcast discusses Jaromir Jagr's greatness and the Mike Sullivan extension. You can find that here
Thanks for reading!