In the first meeting for these two clubs since 2009, where the Penguins won 4-1, the battered and bruised Penguins will square off against an equally short handed Avalanche team. Recent re-acquisition Peter Forsberg, has retired on Monday and will not be part of the line up for the Avalanche, forcing them to call up another member from their AHL team, a strikingly familiar headline seen in Pittsburgh the past month and a half.
These two teams since the lockout are 2-2 with the home team winning each time. The Penguins have not won in Colorado since February of 1999, being on a two game losing streak they're hoping to snap the trend. Colorado is on an 8 game snide and wants desperately to snap their losing streak, but the Penguins must prevent that dream from coming true. How do the 'guins look to do that? More discipline, and better performances from their tenured players. Brooks Orpik recently stated to the media that he felt like the issue was not with the Wilkes-Barre boys being called up to the ranks, but the every day vets making the mistakes. The locker room in general understands they need to step up and stay out of the box, and that getting back to a simpler game is necessary for their rebound.
They've gotten pretty versed at stating that too if you watch any of the press videos after practices or before games. You'll hear the saying "Max Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy, those guys have to be those guys, they can't be Sidney Crosby, Max is Max, Dupuis is Dupuis, and Kennedy is Kennedy." or something along those lines a lot tonight during intermission interviews or pregame interviews.
With injury woes being the primary hot topic recently, one thing slipped under the radar, a number 1 PK unit and number 5 defense in Goals Against, has let up 14 goals in two consecutive games. It is absolutely imperative that the team stay consistent on defense, especially since all 7 of their D'men are healthy. So how was such a high number of goals achieved by these New York teams? Fleury and Johnson are not injured and yet were unable to stop the onslaught, but they cannot achieve success merely by their blockers and gloves alone. Defensively several stops have been made in the crease during games recently, two memorably by Michalek which kept a game against L.A closer than it should of been. Engelland against the Rangers on Sunday also made an exceptional save in the crease to boost Fleury.
Those stops are monumental, however preventing the puck from even being put on net is much more important, pressuring the puck handler and getting the puck out of the offensive zone must be picked up, the defensive unit and special teams units simply need to tighten up and step up. Offensively this team is a mess, with 56% of it's goals produced by players currently on the injury list and with offense being as it is Defense must step up it's game. The Avalanche are hurting, and the Penguins are hurting, both teams are looking to take advantage of that but only one can, and it must be the Penguins.
Based on the past two games and practices recently the probable line ups for this game are:
Pascal Dupuis - Craig Adams - Tyler Kennedy
Brett Sterling - Jordan Staal - Ryan Craig
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Tim Wallace - Joe Vitale - Nick Johnson
Between the pipes for the Penguins Marc Andre Fleury will look to keep from starting his own losing streak.
Meanwhile in Tampa Bay last night, the Flyers picked up another 2 points in a win yesterday, further stretching their lead over the Penguins in the Atlantic Division. Currently the Flyers are 5 points ahead of the Penguins in the standings for first place in the Atlantic, and face the Florida Panthers in Florida tonight at 7:30pm.
Let's Go Pens!
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