The last time these two met the Penguins raised their third Stanley Cup on Joe Louis Arena ice. Max Talbot had two goals. Things have changed for both teams in some big ways since then. The Penguins host the Red Wings in their only regular season matchup. Barring a threepeat of the finals we won’t see them again any time soon. The game is on (vom) NBC at 12:30 EST Sunday.
Another Afternoon of being treated like a hockey new comer by people who cover 12 games a year.
Detroit has had a roller coaster year that has seen them lose as many as nine starters to injury at the same time. Their injury problems were/are worse than ours were in November and they are finally beginning to get some of their regular skaters back. Couple that with a flat out goalie controversy in Motown. Chris Osgood has struggled all year. He is 7-8-4 in 21 games played and has a 2.94 GAA to go with a .891 Sv%. Jimmy Howard has stepped in for the Red Wings and is the bona fide starter on a nightly basis. Howard is 19-11-5 with a 2.30 GAA and .925 Sv%. Howard is the probable starter.
As for the remaining Red Wings many people have said Pavel Datsyuk has had a disappointing year with only 14G and 29 A. That puts him out of the top 30 league wide. The Red Wings are struggling to score goals across the board as many thought they would after losing Marian Hossa and Mikael Sameulsson and Jiri Hudler in the offseason. Combine that with the injuries that have have hit team and you can see why they are struggling. Henrik Zetterberg (46GP 13G 28A) is behind Datsyuk in team scoring and Captain Nicklas Lidstrom (54GP 6G 26A) had only scored one goal this year at the beginning of January. Next on the scoresheet for Detroit are Todd Bertuzzi (15G 15A) and Dan Cleary (10G 14A).
The Wings are battling for the final playoff spot in a tough Western Conference with 61 points. They are 3-4-3 in their last 10 and beat the Predators 4-2 on Thursday Night. Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom and Andreas Lilja are all on Injured Reserve for Detroit. They are 24th in Goals allowed per game at 2.54 but have a team GAA of 2.59, good for 10th overall. Detroit sit in 18th on the Powerplay (18.0%) and 17th on the PK at 80.8%. With special teams struggling at both end the Wings cannot afford to play a lot of hockey that is not even strength.
Look for Sid to rebound after a typical poor showing against the Senators. Remember to shake hands.
For Pittsburgh I would tell you that Sidney Crosby tends to break out in games after playing the Senators who tend to stymie him. Evgeni Malkin has kept his roll going and Ruslan Fedotenko is turning into an assist man. The demotion of Chris Conner and Nick Johnson back to Wilke-Barre/Scranton either means they will be recalled later today in a salary cap move, or that both Tyler Kennedy and Bill Guerin’s problems are behind them. Unknown is the status of Alex Goligoski who has missed two games with Martin Skoula replacing him .
Saturday’s practice revealed a few things. Both Goligoski and Kennedy along with Guerin took part, but Talbot did not. Head Coach Dan Bylsma said that
“We’re still day-to-day with a couple of players but they’re looking better…There’s a chance we could see a couple of guys tomorrow. Max was not out on the ice. We’re still evaluating where he’s at. This was our last skate before tomorrow’s game. He didn’t skate today and is questionable for tomorrow”
So given the news from practice I’d call Dad, TK, and GoGo probable and Talbot questionable. It’s in the cards to see a late callup if things don’t go well this afternoon as there will be no further opportunity to evaluate anyone going into Sunday’s early morning faceoff. Marc-Andre Fleury is the probable starter for the Penguins though there will likely be no confirmation on that until he takes the pipes Sunday. Flower is still wearing that modified trapper due to his fractured ring finger. In the loss to Ottawa you could see some chances to his style and tentativeness affecting his play. lets hope those problems are resolved. Lets also hope the defense decides to come and play more than the first 7 minutes.
Well there is at least one forward in doubt, likely Talbot, and possibly two. The Penguins have recalled Nick Johnson and Mark Letestu from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Also NBC is pre-empting the game for the 700 Club in some markets. Check that link for ways to contact NBC
Also of note is that Tenks lost the shootout competition at practice and this was mustache day. More information as it becomes available. Penguins news releases are now auto publishing on the main page to make SLBD more of a one stop shop. Oh and Sid, make sure you go across, shake hands with Nick Lidstrom and show him your Stanley Cup ring.
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