Gameday: Pens vs. Devils, 7pm, Versus

Well Pens fans, we have finally arrived at the final regular season game at the Consol Energy Center in its inaugural season.  I just wanted to take a quick look at how it began, and how we have acclimated to our new arena in its first year.  The Penguins began their tenure at Consol with 3 straight losses to the Flyers, Canadiens, and Maple Leafs, with the latter 2 creating the "Tar and Feather Fleury" bandwagon.  The Pens went 3-5-1 at Consol heading into their 12 game winning streak.  Shockingly, a 12 game winning streak fixes everything and the Consol curse was gone forever.  The Penguins were the first team to 20 home wins this season, and go into tonight's game with the 2nd highest home win total in the NHL with 24, and a chance to finish tonight with 25.

We have accepted you for now...don't screw up in the playoffs, Consol.

Tonight, the Penguins (46-25-8, 100 pts, 4th in the East) face off against the New Jersey Devils (36-37-5, 77 pts, doesn't matter where they are).  The Devils have finally been eliminated from the playoff race after a valiant effort over the past 2 months.  In the last meeting between these 2 teams, we waited 60 minutes for a goal...and then an extra 5 minutes...and then the Penguins finally won in a shootout.  Luckily, tonight is fan appreciation night, so fans will have something to keep them awake.  The Penguins are 3-1-1 against the Devils this season and this will be their final meeting.

The Devils are expected to start Johan Hedberg tonight over Martin Brodeur, which is nice for the Penguins as Brodeur is 8-1-1 in his last 10 against Pittsburgh.  Zach Parise will also not be in the lineup tonight for New Jersey.  One of the keys to this game, as always with the Penguins, is whether the powerplay is capable of being competent.  The Penguins are on a 2 for 51 streak, and haven't scored in their last 14 chances against the Devils.  Getting the powerplay to contribute is more important than getting 2 points in my eyes.

However, those 2 points cannot be underestimated.  With 3 games to go, the Penguins have a 1 point lead over 5th place Tampa Bay.  The Penguins are also within 3 points of 1st place Philadelphia.  While chasing the latter is a longshot, the Penguins must keep their lead over Tampa to keep home ice.

The Pens only had an optional practice this morning, so here's my best guess at lines:

Neal-Letestu-Kovalev
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Dupuis-Talbot-Conner
Rupp-Adams-Comrie

Letang-Orpik
Martin-Michalek
Lovejoy-Niskanen

Fleury

Personally, I think Engelland needs to get in the lineup at least one more time before the playoffs start, and tonight would be my pick since the Devils don't exactly wow teams with offensive firepower, but we'll see what Bylsma does.

Keys to the game:
POWERPLAY POWERPLAY POWERPLAY

Prediction:  A boring, yet productive, 2-1 victory for the Pens.  If the powerplay scores, I may streak across the ice for fan appreciation night.  LET'S GO PENS!!!

PS - Congrats to Brent Johnson and Chris Kunitz on their new babies!  (Johnson yesterday, Kunitz today)