Tonight is another must win game in a season finale full of must win games. Pittsburgh will be looking to stay a point or more ahead of the Lightning with a victory against the New Jersey Trappers. New Jersey as we all know likes to get a small lead and play shut down trap the rest of the game. So it will be imperative that the Penguins continue to get out of the trap as they did the last time they faced the Devils, winning in the shootout off of this very beautiful goal by James Neal against Brodeur. You've seen it before but see it again:
Brodeur will not be in net tonight for the Devils and instead the Pens will be pouring the pepper onto the ex 'Guin Johan Hedberg. The "Moose" was one of the more beloved of the Penguins netminders, despite not performing very well in the sweater. He did take the Pens to the playoffs for 18 games in 2001 but fell short of the ultimate goal. He was shipped out in 03' to the Canucks who sent him to the Stars after the lockout, who then sent him to Atlanta after just one season. He played there until this year backing up for the Devils.
The importance of winning this game shouldn't need an explanation, however it is key to holding onto home ice advantage in the playoffs should Tampa win tonight against Buffalo. Focus now is on having control over the situations that don't require any help, and that is winning the 3 remaining games to accumulate as many points as possible and contain home ice. It would be ideal to capture the division championship but that will require Philly to win only one of its remaining games at the most, and Tampa tapering off for the rest of the season.
Here is why this is a difficult thing to ask the hockey gods for. Of the remaining three games for the Pens, they will face off against the Devils tonight, Islanders on 4/8 and the Thrashers on 4/10. Tampa however finishes their season against: Buffalo in Buffalo, Florida at home and the Canes in Carolina. It's possible they'll win all 3, ideally they lose them all but 2-1 is acceptable if the Pens get to 104pts. Philly on the other hand will finish against Ottawa in Ottawa, Buffalo in Buffalo and the Islanders at home. Ideally Philly loses all 3 of these games as well but the fact is, they'll also probably go 2-1, leaving them at 107pts for the year and Atlantic champs. So Philly must go 1-2 for the Pens to have a chance at tying or getting the division lead. Relying too heavily on these less than stellar teams to help the Pens out is not something they can afford to do, but winning out their last 3 games is definitely doable.
The Penguins seem to be very fertile despite the injury bug that riddled the team with more holes than a fine Swiss cheese, Brent Johnson was just the father of a new daughter last night, and now today Chris Kunitz has also had a new daughter of his own brought into his family. Kunitz however will be playing tonight in this very important match up.
The lines for tonights game are probably going to still look like this:
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner - Maxime Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Mike Comrie
Between the Pipes for the Penguins? Marc Andre Fleury!
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