The Penguins return home and look to keep that home ice advantage by taking Game 3. There is evidence today that can only be interpreted as good news. Evgeni Malkin and Brian Dumoulin took the morning skate without any restrictions. For Malkin it was expected. For Dumoulin it was a pleasant surprise. If he gets a doctors clearance this afternoon he may have avoided a serious injury from being Tom Wilson’d.
Naturally, the lowest common denominators of fandom have brought up Ryan Reaves. Well, let’s just say the general manager himself doesn’t even believe in that nonsense.
The quote is courtesy of Josh Yohe of The Athletic
It’s great that he came to his senses on this dichotomy, but I would ask why he venture down that road in the first place. It was and still is asinine.
As for Carl Hagelin he remained in a non-contact jersey and stayed on the ice longer with the other extras. Here were the lines:
Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist
Simon-Malkin-Rust
Sheary-Brassard-Kessel
Aston Reese-Sheahan-Kuhnhackl
Better than it was the first two games. It appears Mike Sullivan will be separating the three stars. We shall see if Phil Kessel and Derick Brassard can get on the same page. I wouldn’t be shocked if Phil Kessel was battling through an injury.
According to Mike Sullivan the recently recalled Daniel Sprong is an option to play. He was on the ice for warmups in Game 2. It is one of those things that I’ll believe it when I see it. You have to wonder how long Dominik Simon’s leash is and why Sprong can’t leap him on the depth chart. There probably isn’t a good answer for that.
Regardless of the lineup choices the Penguins cannot spot the Capitals first period goals. They certainly have the fire power to climb back into games. I wouldn’t make a habit of it considering that Braden Holtby is playing some of his best hockey of the year. Pittsburgh showed it can carry the play when they trail. They need to show they can do it when the score is 0-0.
Thanks for reading!
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