GAMEDAY 43: Paint Can Streaking

PITTSBURGH (26-11-5) VS WASHINGTON (29-9-5)

THE PAINT CAN. PITTSBURGH, PA.

7:00 PM EST. NBCSN

Tonight the Penguins welcome the streaking Capitals into The Paint Can with the same level of excitement that you welcome that one aunt to Thanksgiving dinner. The Capitals won their 9th game in a row last night after handling the Flyers 5-0, and in their last four games they have beat Montreal, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philly by a combined score of 20-3. The Penguins on the other hand, are suffering their first three game losing streak in the Mike Sullivan era, dropping games to Washington, Ottawa, and Detroit by a combined score of 15-5. After possibly the most lackluster game of recent memory to Detroit, Sullivan was quoted saying he felt the team isn’t trying to outplay the opponents and is instead only trying to outscore them. Penguins fans that thought the Stanley Cup was decided in November took to Twitter with their complaints, making MM take a break from whatever it is he does to put in his 2 cents:

When Mark Madden is a level headed voice on Twitter you know that fans are over reacting. Naturally however, this could only last for one hour before he had to make a snide remark in between bites of chicken tenders:

Beginning to think Madden doesn’t know what a blog is. Regardless, if there are blogs out there complaining about the Penguins current three game losing streak then it is most likely time to enroll in some get a life courses. As we stated in the beginning of the season, the Penguins are currently in the championship window area, and a 3 game skid is nothing to complain about 7 months after lifting something the Capitals players all doodle on their locker stalls. If a losing streak does have you all kinds of pissed you may not want to watch tonight. I’m not saying the Pens will lose, but I am saying that NBCSN will remind you that the Pens have been losing, and knowing the crew they will also do something retarded, bringing me to my next point:

In their last meeting, Alex Ovechkin notched his 1,000th career point with a goal a few seconds into the game, he went on to add another goal later as the Caps wiped the Pens 5-2. In a post game interview, Mr. Douchebag himself asked Ovechkin why he thinks he hasn’t won a cup like Crosby… Now look, I bleed black and gold through and through, but this is EXACTLY why NBCSN does not deserve to have the rights to broadcast NHL games. A player hits a respectable milestone in a short amount of time, how can we make this player seem inferior to a nationally televised audience? McQuire and the rest of the NBCSN crew are a disgrace to the game.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS:

The Capitals ran with Grubauer in net against the Flyers leaving the greatest goalie in the world Holtby for the Pens tonight. The rest of the Capitals lineup is most likely set in stone since they appear to have no injuries and everything is going as expected for them. Orpik on the third pairing at 5.5 mil is kinda funny, though. As for the Pens… Sullivan has rolled with a completely ineffective Sheary-Crosby-Rust line for the last 3 games, apparently being incapable of realizing that the line doesn’t work, like at all. When Crosby was on his tear (see: the entire season until Hornqvist was switched with Rust) the line I have in the image was the line that did the damage. Fehr has been scratched in favor of Kuhnhackl the last two games so I assume Fehr either starts tonight or is out of Pittsburgh. As for the defense… Kris Letang went down after playing 3 shifts in Detroit appearing to hurt his left leg/knee/whatever. The Penguins, as usual, didn’t issue any news after the game or on Sunday, so don’t get too excited to see Letang in the lineup that is already missing Brian Dumoulin. This all results in a defense operated by Justin Schultz, Trevor Daley, Olli Maatta and Ian Cole, good God. No reason Matt Murray doesn’t get the start tonight, or the next few games in a row for that matter now that he is healthy.

WHO TO WATCH:

FOR WASHINGTON:          EVGENY KUZNETSOV

Kuznetsov gives defenders fits with his speed and excellent vision of the ice. Since he is on the second line he usually draws a match up with Olli Maatta. Unless you’ve been under a rock you know that speed against Olli Maatta is essentially AIDs, slowly wearing Olli down over the course of the game until he eventually succumbs to the illness. If Letang is in fact out, it will be interesting to see who draws the Ovechkin match-up and this may give the Kuznetsov line a chance against Olesky or Ruhwedel, which also spells trouble for the Pens.

FOR PITTSBURGH:          MIKE SULLIVAN

If you’re going to call your team out for not playing to your game plan it is your job to get the team back to playing to your game plan. In his short adventure with the Pens we have witnessed Sullivan have effortless control over the team, so his comments after the last game were a little interesting. He is now faced with the dilemma of replacing top defenders and figuring out a match-up against the Capitals first line, not to mention their powerplay, which lit the Pens up twice in the last meeting. When the team struggles, 3 people get looked at, the captain, the goalie, and the coach. Tonight all eyes are on Sullivan.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Is January a little too early to be worrying about losing three games? Yes. Will it suck to lose a fourth game in a row to the Capitals? Yes. Would it be the first time ever the Capitals have won 10 games in a row in the regular season? No. Would it be the first time ever the Capitals get the best of everyone in the regular season? No. Would you pick the Capitals in a 7 game series against the Penguins when both teams are healthy? No. Tonight is more about adjusting to the things that haven’t been there the last few games, and getting back to playing the system the team used throughout most of the year. Even with a depleted defensive group the Penguins can easily hang with Washington, the Capitals don’t have a strong defense themselves when it comes to stopping what the Penguins offense can dish out. The Pens just need to get to their game again. Bold prediction: Sheary gets 2 tonight.

LET’S GO PENS