Penguins vs. Rangers
Madison Square Garden | The Big Apple
Saturday, January 30 | 7:00 PM Eastern
MSG | AT&TSN-PT
Welcome back to weekend gameday, the gameday that would never quit on you mid-season.
The first month of the NHL season is winding to a close. The Pens haven’t been so much bad, as much as alarming. Their -6 goal differential is the worst in the division, they’ve trailed in every game I think, and sometimes the hockey looks pretty boring.
We don’t know that this team is bad just yet. The only thing we know for sure is a lot of them are hurt and the whole team is gonna get covid.
i told @G_Off817 before the season that every single nhl player is gonna get covid and he thought i was being hyperbolic but i was not
every. single. player https://t.co/oQLNQmyGAp
— El JUEZ (Formerly REZ:Blocked by F1 Mobile Racing) (@ReZhockeytweets) January 29, 2021
There are reasons to be optimistic though. The underlying numbers aren’t terrible, their corsi and fenwick are pretty solidly in the middle of the league (h/t natural stat trick) and 6 of the next 8 games are against either the Rangers or the Devils. They could get the ship going back the right direction….maybe.
I would be remiss if I went this long without eulogizing former general manager Jim Rutherford. It is honestly aspirational that he did his job well for two years and then absolutely pile drove this team into the ground and so many people are falling over themselves to praise him. It’s like if you started a hedge fund and it made everyone a lot of money for two years and then a bunch of nerds bankrupted you and all of your investors.
Sports is a “what have you done for me lately” business. Rutherford’s grandstanding bullshit was tired years ago. He acted with tremendous hubris because he won cups on the backs of a generationally talented core and then spurned that ethos in favor of his conceived genius all the while playing the local media like a cheap jukebox at a local dive.
He leaves quitting on the team in mid-season over some pissbaby fight with management. He seemed like a true asshole and I won’t miss him.
I’ll stay thanking 87,71,58,81, et al for the cups.
Lines
Not great 2021 roster stuff file 42069
Yannick Weber must have impressed Penguins management with his 48 hours on the taxi squad.
He was promoted to the NHL roster this morning.https://t.co/kKSDIXAW5M
— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) January 30, 2021
Dumo is out weeks. Matheson on IR. Erod still out. Pettersson down weeks. Barf emoji.
Forwards
Guentzel – Crosby – Rust
Zucker – Malkin – Kapanen
McCann – Blueger – Tanev
O’Connor – Jankowski – Sceviour
Defensemen
Joseph – Letang
Marino – Ceci
Weber – Ruhwedel
In Net
Jarry
I’m guessing on Weber and Jarry. No official word just yet.
Rangers:
Forwards
Lafreniere – Zibanejad – Kreider
Panarin – Strome – Buchnevich
Di Guiseppe – Chytil – Kaako
Lemieux – Howden – Gauthier
Defensemen
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Johnson – DeAngelo
In Net
Georgiev
Really hope the Pens win tonight. Would be good imo.
Go Pens
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