- The Penguins can clinch a playoff spot tonight with any combination of gaining 3 potential points on Carolina. (Pens win, Hurricanes lose in regulation or OT, or Pens lose in OT and Hurricanes lose in regulation)
- Mike Comrie will return to the lineup for the first time in 5 months after hip surgery to replace an injured Dustin Jeffrey, who is being examined by doctors today.
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| I serached Mike Comrie and came up with this...who am I to argue? |
- Brent Johnson is still day to day with an upper body injury, and Brad Thiessen remains with the team and will be the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury tonight.
The Penguins (43-23-8, 94 pts, 4th in the East) come back home tonight to host a cooled off New Jersey Devils team (34-35-4, 72 pts, 12th in the East). Two weeks ago, the Devils may have been the most feared team in the NHL as they went 22-3-2 and made a huge run into the playoff race. However, the Devils have now lost 3 of their last 4 and appear to be running out of steam. Zach Parise is expected to return to the team soon, but not this weekend and probably not in time to give them a badly needed boost. With 9 games left, the Devils can max out at 90 points, which does not appear like it will be enough to make the playoffs in the East anymore.
The Penguins meanwhile are coming off of a 2-1 shootout victory over Philadelphia last night (game recap in the previous post). Pittsburgh is 4-1 in their last 5 games and Coach Dan Bylsma has frequently stated that they are still eyeing up the top seed in the conference. They are currently 4 points behind the Flyers for 1st in the conference and division. It doesn't matter quite yet, but odds are the Flyers will hold the tiebreaker because they have more non-shootout wins.
Pittsburgh currently leads the season series with the Devils 2-1-1, with 2 games left to play. The two victories came early in the season and the two losses were once NJ hit their hot streak. In their last meeting, NJ won 2-1 in overtime on a Ilya Kovalchuk powerplay goal.
The Penguins had an optional skate this morning, so here's my best guess at the lines:
Kennedy-Staal-Kunitz
Neal-Comrie-Kovalev
Dupuis-Talbot-Conner
Rupp-Adams-Asham
Letang-Lovejoy
Martin-Michalek
Engelland-Niskanen
Fleury
On the injury front, Letestu, Crosby, Orpik, and Tangradi all skated this morning. Orpik and Letestu appear to be about 2-3 games away. Crosby still has no timetable, nor has one been mentioned for Tangradi.
Thoughts:
- Personally, I was not impressed with Asham last night, as he did not appear to contribute much and then took an unnecessary cross-checking penalty in the 3rd.
- Engelland's diminishing ice time has led to heavy minutes by the other 5 defensemen. It will be interesting to see if fatigue plays a factor in the game tonight.
- I am excited to see Comrie back in the lineup as he may be a potential spark for Kovalev and may provide a better center for Neal. I'm expecting big things out of that line tonight.
Prediction: 3-1 Pens. New Jersey is pretty much out of gas and the Penguins are playing with some confidence right now after wins over Philly and Detroit. It's time to get another win, this time in regulation.
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