Game 72: Break out the Retro Uniforms!!

Game 72 – Pittsburgh Penguins  vs New Jersey Devils
Date and Time: Saturday March 17, 2012, 1 PM      
Location: Prudential Center
TV: MSG Plus (Devils Pregame at 12:30)    
Radio: WFAN 660 AM

The Matchup: The red hot Pittsburgh Penguins skate into town. This will be the 5^th of 6 total meetings this season, The Devils have won the last 3 meetings. Would you like a stat that is a little worrisome going into this game?

Last 10: Pittsburgh 10-0-0; New Jersey 6-3-1

The Devils have been good but the Penguins have been GREAT. I don’t hesitate to tell you that I honestly believe that if you are an Eastern Conference team and want to appear in the Cup finals, you will HAVE to beat Pittsburgh in order to get there. That’s not saying that Pittsburgh is the team that will get to the finals, although I have them there at the moment, I am just saying I believe them to be the strongest team in the East. If I had to call it right now, I would say we will be seeing a rematch of the 2008 and 2009 Cup Finals.

Keys to the Game: I’ll be honest, the Devils game the other night was a complete snoozefest. I know they got a lot of shots on goal in the second but a 0-0 game going into a shootout doesn’t interest me. I’m not big on games with 2 goalies dominating the scoring opportunities. History says Jeff Friesen would have beaten Giggy…isn’t that right Jeff??

With the Penguins, it’s going to be contain Malkin, keep Crosby quiet, and somehow beat Fluery, none of which is an easy task, especially as of late. I expect a tight game as most of them have been but Pitt is on fire at the moment which will make this game even tougher. Hopefully NJ having won the last 3 meetings will have Pittsburgh over thinking this one.

Playoff Picture: NJ is still in 6^th, 5 points ahead of Ottawa and 2 points behind Philly. I’m ok with staying in 6^th because I don’t want to start with Pitt in round 1.

… And Finally: This is the annual Devils put on the Xmas Tree Jersey game. Are you a fan of that jersey? Honestly, when that was the everyday jersey, I don’t remember fans liking it. Anyway, the first time we put those jersey’s on, we played Pittsburgh and wiped them out..let’s hope for a repeat.