Hold on just a sec…
OMG 2009 REFPUCK LEAGUE COLLUSION GARY BETTMAN SIDNEY CRYBABY GETTING HANDED THE CUP TOO MANY MEN THIRD MAN IN YOU CAN’T PICK UP A BROKEN STICK I HATE THE PENGUINS HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH…
Ok… now that that’s out of the way and it’s obvious to everyone that I do not carry a grudge at all…
The Wings are hosting (I’d say welcoming but, after my above rant, are the Penguins ever really welcome here?) Pittsburgh at LCA tonight in a battle of playoff hopefuls. Larkin & Co have been playing strong thru the first 3 games, with an aggressive forecheck and speed to match causing problems for each team we’ve faced – yes, even for New Jersey. The Pens, who last played on Saturday when they beat the pants off of Calgary, are also 2-1-0 on the season with the ignominious distinction of their 1 loss coming at the hands of the Blackhawks on opening night. Let’s make them eat some points and double up the Pens’ loss number tonight.
Time: 7:30pm at Little Caesar’s Arena
How To Watch: TNT & MAX (HBO), or listen/audio stream on 97.1 FM
Line-ups
DeBrincat-Larkin-Raymond
Rasmussen-Compher-Copp
Perron-Veleno-Sprong
Kostin-Czarnik-Fischer
Walman-Seider
Chiarot-Gostisbehere
Maatta/Holl/Petry
Husso/Reimer/Lyon
It sounds like the Wings might have another shake-up on defense. I really hope they put Määttä and Gostisbehere back together as the 2nd pair after how they performed against Columbus, and whatever experimenting they want to do is limited to the 3rd pair.
No word yet on how the Pens’ lines will look, but I don’t expect a change from Saturday’s line-up (below). As always, we’ll update this space once everything is official.
Keys To The Game
Be. Aggressive. B-E Aggressive! The forecheck is working, no need to take our feet off that particular gas pedal right now. With Pittsburgh being top-heavy in talent, forcing their lower lines to make hurried (or maybe even bad) decisions under pressure is going to pay dividends. Likewise, being able to get behind players like Karlsson should generate some chances against their top lines.
Shoot To Thrill! Hey look, it’s our old friend Alex Nedeljkovic! Between him and Tristan Jarry, we should be throwing absolutely everything at the net tonight.
Keep Cool! From partial finger amputations to judo flips to sucker punches, we know Crosby gets away with a lot of antics to get under his opponents’ skin. We either need to get to him first or just be able to take it and move on with the play – refs will call retaliation more often than initial infractions. Level heads tonight, boys, and stay out of the penalty box…
LGRW
UPDATE: We have rosters courtesy of Ken Kal.
