Pittsburgh and New York meet for the fourth time tonight at Madison Square Garden. This will be the game that makes things really interesting heading back to Pittsburgh or puts New York on the brink of an early exit from the postseason.
Not much has changed on the Pittsburgh side of things. Marc-Andre Fleury was not a participant at practice. Matt Murray will get the start. The lineup is looking like there will be no personnel changes. The one change from a line combo standpoint is that Conor Sheary may find his way to the Crosby line while Chris Kunitz gets bumped to the Malkin unit.
On the New York side of things it too appears to be the same heading into Game 4. Dan Girardi will remain out of the lineup.
Ryan McDonagh's return to the New York lineup did not go exactly as planned. He was very bad on the possession front in his series debut. He was at 34.5% possession player. McDonagh is one of New York's better guys on that front so to see him that low was a disappointment for the Rangers. Obviously coming back from an injury and being thrust into the playoffs against a fast opponent is not an ideal situation, but for the Rangers to find success he'll need to find his game quick.
On the topic of defenseman who are coming back from injury Olli Maatta had this to say
#Pens Olli Maatta on his play: "I felt better (in Game 3). I had to bounce back. I didn't play well first 2 games. I feel good now" -SK
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) April 21, 2016
He is correct. Those first two games weren't anything to write home about. In Game 3 he was on the ice for 20 shot attempts for and only 11 against playing just under 20 minutes at even-strength. Olli Maatta returning to form would be a huge boost for Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens in Game 4.
Viktor Stalberg is having none of a Kris Letang apology.
Stalberg says he ‘hasn’t heard’ from Letang, who said yesterday that he apologized for high stick https://t.co/ooFN9dpOYG
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 21, 2016
“No, that’s not (true). I haven’t heard from him. Obviously I couldn’t care less if I did or not.…
Stalberg had to undergo three hours of dental surgery.
Personally I don't think it was on accident and the Penguins are incredibly fortunate to have Letang in the lineup for Game 4. That said the NHL has never shown they care about these kinds of things so perhaps it is less lucky and more business as usual.
Henrik Lundqvist is having a great series. He just isn't at the same level he has been at recently against the Penguins during the postseason
You know you are pretty damn good when you're at a .930 all situations save percentage and it is a significant drop off from your past sample sizes. Just to put things into perspective in the last 15 playoff games for the Penguins they have run up against .938 goaltending from Lundqvist. It is not easy to win games in this league when the other goalie is stopping that much rubber. It was a refreshing change of pace for the Penguins when Antti Raanta filled in during Game 1 when he only stopped 16 of 19 shots for a save percentage of .842.
If Sidney Crosby scores his third goal of the playoffs it will be the most he's had in a postseason since 2012-13.
Most Goals In Penguins Playoffs
— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) April 21, 2016
Mario Lemieux 76
Jaromir Jagr 65
Kevin Stevens 46
Sidney Crosby 45
Evgeni Malkin 42
Jaromir Jagr earned a primary assist in a winning effort. It was his 200th career point. He is one of only five players in NHL history to do so.
.@68Jagr of the @FlaPanthers joined an exclusive crew last night, notching his 200th #StanleyCup Playoffs point! pic.twitter.com/vJ9PKiJM1k
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) April 21, 2016
Thanks for reading!