Following a tough loss in an exciting, back-and-forth game the New Jersey Devils will be looking to rebound tonight against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were smacked around pretty good by the Minnesota Wild on Friday night but don't let that fool you. The Penguins are an excellent team once again and probably deserve better than their record suggests, even though they're a very respectable 12-6-3.
Sidney Crosby has been absolutely dominant from the word go and is playing like a guy who doesn't want to hand over the reigns of the NHL's best player. Evgeni Malkin has been very good, too, and the Penguins as a whole have been fantastic.
At 5 v 5, where most of every game is played, the Penguins are controlling a league-best 58.15% of the scoring chances and 57.34% of the high-danger looks.
When you have star power, good goaltending, and out-chance the opposition on a regular basis you're going to be a very tough team to beat. That's what we're seeing from the Penguins right now.
Keith Kinkaid must be on his game tonight because he's going to be tested.
Here is a look at the lineup the Devils are expected to go with:
Mike Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Nick Lappin P.A. Parenteau - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri Pavel Zacha - Jacob Josefson - Beau Bennett Sergey Kalinin - Vern Fiddler - Devante Smith-Pelly
Andy Greene - Damon Severson Yohann Auvitu - Ben Lovejoy John Moore - Kyle Quincey
Keith Kinkaid
And the expected lines for the Penguins (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Carl Hagelin - Sidney Crosby - Conor Sheary Jake Guentzel - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel Scott Wilson - Nick Bonino - Bryan Rust Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
Olli Maatta - Kris Letang Brian Dumoulin - Trevor Daley Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
Matt Murray
A few notes:
1) Over the last couple games, the Devils have loosened up defensively and traded chances with their opposition. It was worked out OK against Toronto and Detroit -- the Devils have picked up three of a possible four points -- but that won't fly against a team like Pittsburgh. The Devils need to tighten up or they'll be roasted.
2) The Devils have struggled mightily on the PP this year, especially of late, but Pittsburgh ranks near the bottom of the league in penalty killing. Maybe the Devils can get something going tonight.
3) Beau Bennett has been excellent this season -- he leads the Devils in possession and has generated a lot of chances -- and I expect that will be the case again tonight against his former club. I hope he scores.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and ROOT.