Canes face must-win situation as Penguins look to take 3-0 series lead
Pittsburgh leads series, 2-0 The Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins are going through their early preparations as both teams prepare for game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals Saturday night. The Penguins accomplished what they wanted to in game 2, setting the tempo and playing aggressive in the offensive zone. Pittsburgh managed 42 shots on goal and dictated the play by countering the Hurricanes aggressive forecheck with a quick moving transition game. Canes look to shutdown Crosby, Malkin A major concern for the Hurricanes is finding a way to slow down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Hurricanes do not have the personnel to shutdown Crosby, Malkin and look for them to make some adjustments on defense such as trying
Post-Game Notebook: Fleury answers the bell in Game 1
If game 1 is any indication, the Eastern Conference Finals will be goalie duel between Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc Andre Fleury and Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward. There has been a lot of talk going into the series that the Hurricanes hold a significant advantage in goal as Ward is a former Conn Smythe Trophy winner and has never lost a playoff series. As Fleury showed in last year’s second round series against New York’s Henrik Lundqvist, he is up to the task of matching another marquee goaltender save for save. Fleury made 23 saves in Pittsburgh’s Game 1 win but it was the timely saves that garnered Fleury praise after the game. “Fleury came up with some timely saves early
NHL: Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher emerges as Top Candidate for the Wild’s GM position
Afternoon Buzz The Penguins may be looking for a new assistant general manager this off-season as current Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher went through his second interview with the Minnesota Wild last Thursday and has emerged as the top candidate to replace Doug Risebrough who was fired last month. Fletcher, 41, has over 16 years of experience in the National Hockey League and is highly regarded around NHL circles. He has played a vital part in the Penguins success over the past two seasons. With a strong emphasis on moving away from the Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough era of “trap hockey”, Fletcher is intriguing to Wild owner Craig Leopold as he will look to build a team that will play an
Morning Skate: Gonchar not on the ice
Morning Skate Update The Penguins just took the ice as they prepare to close out the Washington Capitals tonight. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar is not on the ice this morning. Updates appear at the bottom of the page 10:41 a.m. – It appears by the current lines in the skate that
Post-Game Notes: Sykora non-existent in series opener, Adams provides physical presence
The struggles continue for Petr Sykora who only has 6 points in his last 26 games. Analysis on Craig Adams performance, post-game reports and the latest rumblings Sykora a non-factor in series opener Petr Sykora took a hard hit on the right boards in the Penguins defensive zone on his second shift of the game, and I knew at that point, Sykora was going to be non-factor in the series opener. Sykora saw
Game 1 – Morning Skate Update: “Game Time decisions”
Morning Skate Update All seven defensemen alternated in the morning skate. Dan Bylsma just announced after practice that he will make a game-time decision on who sits. Eaton or Boucher will be the odd-man out tonight. Hal Gill is not under consideration to be scratched. Chris Kunitz missed the skate as his wife went into labor but he will play. Game Time decisions on Adams and Godard too but I’m hearing Bylsma is leaning towards playing Godard in game 1. It’s the time of the year where coaches aren’t going to disclose lineups in the morning skate like they do in the regular season. The Flyers just took the ice and they have one lineup change. Rookie Jared Ross will
Penguins, Kings lineup news
LA Kings (30-30-10-70) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (38-26-8-84) Kings Lineup Purcell-Kopitar-Brown Frolov-Stoll-Williams Calder-Handzus-Harrold Ivanans-Armstrong-Simmonds Defensemen O’Donnell-Doughty Quincey-Johnson Greene- Drewiske Jonathan Quick will start in goal Lineup news: The LA Kings will get a much needed boost with the addition of Justin Williams who will play in his first game for the Kings tonight. Williams was traded from Carolina to LA at the trade deadline but has been injured since being dealt on March 4th. Hard hitting defenseman Denis Gauthier did not make the trip to Pittsburgh and will miss tonight’s game with a shoulder injury. Pittsburgh native John Zeiler will not be in the lineup. Pittsburgh forward Craig Adams is
Sunday’s Insider Report
The Penguins showed absolutely no urgency and no fire in Saturday’s third period debacle against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Penguins got out to a early 2-0 but the final 40 minutes of the game was owned by the Leafs. When your five points out of the playoffs and playing a team that is basically playing for a lottery pick, there is no excuses for the performance the Penguins had There needs to be some accountability in the organization and Saturday night showed there are very few untouchables on the Penguins roster as the trade deadline is less than four weeks away. Sergei Gonchar returned to the lineup for the first time this season since having shoulder surgery in October.
Leafs score 6 unanswered goals; rout Penguins 6-2
Three wins in four games, including a 2-1 shootout win against the league’s top team Wednesday night had the Penguins talking about how they were turning corner. All of that talk about turning the corner won’t be heard around the Penguins locker room tomorrow morning after the Penguins surrendered a 2-0 lead Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs (21-25-10) and were thumbed by the lowly Leafs 6-2 at the Air Canada Center. The 6-2 loss is the Penguins third loss of the season against Toronto and the Penguins have been outscored 18-9 in those three losses. The Penguins (27-25-5) are 1-6-1 in their last 8 road games and are five points behind the Florida Panthers (64 points) and Buffalo
NHL: Guerin unwilling to waive NTC to Pittsburgh?
Photo Courtesy of Dan4th Treatment of older veterans could be playing a factor in Guerin being leery about coming to Pittsburgh