PITTSBURGH VS WASHINGTON
PPG PAINTS ARENA – PITTSBURGH, PA
7:30 PM EST. NBCSN
PITTSBURGH LEADS SERIES 2-0 (No, Seriously)
The series comes back to Pittsburgh and the Paint Can tonight after two games in Washington that can best be described as an utter shitshow.
But look, all that matters in the playoffs is winning. You can talk about luck, PDO, bad bounces all you want, no one is gonna feel sorry for you. The Pens lead the series 2-0 and that’s all that matters. There’s adjustments to be made and things that can be done better, but it’s tough to not feel good about how things are rolling for the time being.
On the other side, panic is setting in.
The Caps held a “players only” meeting after their defeat Saturday night and then gave some very my diaper is full quotes to the media about going home and shit. The Penguins couldn’t be any more entrenched in their heads going into game 3. Even Barry T is pulling his number one goalie so his backup can give up a couple softies late and seal the loss.
Series isn’t over by a long shot but the Pens can get one nail closer to sealing the coffin tonight.
Lines: Sullivan was juggling shit like crazy as the Pens were getting caved in, so who knows what he’ll roll with. Hornqvist left the game after blocking a shot off his foot/ankle. Hainsey took an Ovi slapper off the dome that has now become the fucking zapruder film on twitter and something happened to Kuhnhackl too because Pens-Injuries ~ Sunrises-Sunsets.
You can bet your sweet ass Trotz is gonna try and shake things up and get Alzner back in, which LOL.
(UPDATE: Sullivan says Hornqvist, Hagelin and Dumoulin are all game time decisions. In related news I’m gonna hide under this desk until I hear if they’re playing or not. Please send pizza)
Pittsburgh:
Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist(?)
Rust-Malkin-Kessel
Hagelin-Bonino-Sheary
Kunitz-Cullen-Kuhnhackl(?)
Dumoulin-Hainsey
Cole-Schultz
Maatta-Daley
Fleury-Jarry
Washington:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams
Burakovsky-Eller-Wilson
Winnik-Beagle-Connolly
Schmidt-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Shattenkirk
Holtby-Grubauer
So far games 1 and 2 have followed a remarkably similar script. Pens are buried early but somehow stay level and eventually get a goal against the run of the play. The game evens out and while the Caps are able to score but it’s not enough so they’re
The most interesting part has been how high-danger scoring chances bare that out to this point. In game two the Pens were obliterated in corsi but had 6 high danger scoring chances to the Caps 7. In game 1 that number was 12-5 in favor of the Caps.
While it’s obviously not good to give up all these shot attempts, the Pens are at least keeping this number close. Right now they can afford to do that because they have a luxury other teams don’t – Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Guentzel, and the list goes on.
It might sound stupid or elementary but so far it’s as simple as the Pens are making their shots and Washington isn’t (also it’s been two games of good-Fleury so far). Hopefully this trend continues tonight and throughout the series because if not I might just hide in my closet during the games.
Last thing. As the media fires up the woe is Caps fan bus let’s not forget who we are dealing with here.
Gonna guess she didn’t know Letang or Hagelin were out either.
GO PENS
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