Morning Skate: Red Wings at Penguins Preview
Game 80
8:00p ET, Consol Energy Center
Pittsburgh, PA
TV: NBCSN, TSN2
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Pens Blog: PensBurgh
One more point. That's all it takes.
One more point and the Red Wings will be officially playoff bound for the 23rd consecutive season.
One more point. The final point is going to be the hardest one to get.
Three games remaining and six possible points on the line. Don't wait. Get the job done tonight. There's still nothing guaranteed. Punch the ticket to the dance as soon as possible and get ready to wreak havoc on the Eastern Conference.
The Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Johan Franzen | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Gustav Nyquist |
| Darren Helm | David Legwand | Daniel Alfredsson |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Brendan Smith |
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brian Lashoff | Jakub Kindl |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Jonas Gustavsson |
Scratches: Todd Bertuzzi & Joakim Andersson
Injuries: Jonathan Ericsson (finger), Daniel Cleary (knee), Stephen Weiss (groin), Henrik Zetterberg (back) & Mikael Samuelsson (who cares)
| PENGUINS | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 50-24-5 (105 pts; 1st in Metro) | Record | 38-27-14 (91 pts; 1st in WC Race) |
| 2.96 (6th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.66 (16th in NHL) |
| 2.47 (8th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.73 (18th) |
| 23.3% (2nd) | Power Play % | 17.9% (17th) |
| 85.7% (2nd) | Penalty Kill % | 83.6% (9th) |
| Sidney Crosby (36 goals) | Goal Leader | Gustav Nyquist (28 goals) |
| Sidney Crosby (102 points) | Points Leader | 2 tied with 48 points |
Opponent Outlook
Player to Fear: Sidney Crosby.
X-Factor: Sidney Crosby.
Familiar Faces: Chris Connor.
Thumbs up (One Thing to Like About Pittsburgh): Still 2008.
Thumbs down (One Thing to Dislike About Pittsburgh): Still 2009.
Bullets of Knowledge
- The Red Wings are 63-59-16-3 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Penguins.
- Last 10 games: Pittsburgh 5-5-0. Detroit 6-3-1./
- Howard is 3-0-1 with a 2.33 GAA, .930 SV% in 5 career apperances against Pittsburgh./
Prediction: Happy feet.