Gameday 32: A Brand New Man

PITTSBURGH (20-7-4) VS TORONTO (11-11-7)

AIR CANADA CENTRE, TORONTO, ONTARIO

7:00 EST ROOT Sports

There is a good chance that the Toronto media won’t recognize Phil Kessel tonight, much like Santa Claus and talent, Stanley Cup champions are also things of fairy tales in Toronto. At some point tonight before the game, some Toronto media member is going to ask Kessel a question, and he is going to flash a smile that makes the entire city puke, and that is glorious. If Phil Kessel wore his Stanley Cup ring during the interviews I may have to retire, because there isn’t a better insult. Oh yeah, Toronto doesn’t care about Kessel anymore, they’ll say. We have Auston Matthews, our savior now, they’ll say. We have Babcock and his amazing coaching skills, they’ll say. We have a future plan, they’ll say. Auston Matthews isn’t trying hard enough, they’ll say. Mike Babcock only won in Detroit because he was lucky, they’ll say. We have a future plan, and it is to rebuild by trading away this lazy American Matthews, they’ll say. At the bottom of the league, they’ll stay.

The Penguins defense took a pretty big hit last night when both Trevor Daley and Brian Dumoulin left the game with injuries, though Dumoulin eventually returned is status is not known at the moment. Kris Letang is already out for the next week or so, so the Penguins are possibly without their top 3 defenders in this one. That just about evens out the two defenses squaring off tonight, so it will be up to the offense to settle this one.

With Murray playing last night the Pens will most likely turn to Fleury tonight. I would imagine Olesky and Warsofsky are the two most likely defensive call ups if Daley or Dumoulin cannot play. Soshnikov isn’t a real name. Matt Martin is still a piece of shit, in case you were wondering. I wouldn’t mind seeing Hagelin move down to the third line, switching place with Kunitz. Hags is fast and all, but he just isn’t a top 6 guy, at least I haven’t seen top 6 quality from him, ever. Crosby hasn’t had a goal in like 40 hours so he will probably get on the board tonight. Steigy and Errey are going to be a huge disappointment if they don’t make some kind of popping reference when talking about Hyman.

WHO TO WATCH:

For Toronto:          Mitch Marner

Marner is one of the best talents the Leafs will be giving away within the next 4 years when things don’t work out for them. The kid is skilled, fast, has great hands, and is possibly the only Mitch born this decade.

For Pittsburgh:          Phil Kessel

Look, we all know how we want this game to go. Even though he will say all of the politically correct things during the interviews, every Pittsburgh fan is hoping Phil Kessel pistol whips the entire Maple Queef franchise tonight. The Leafs are paying Kessel $14, 634 to play against them tonight.

FINAL WORDS:

The Pens enter this game with a battered defense, but they also managed to hold off LA in regulation while giving Justin Schultz 27 minutes, so the defense isn’t as bad as it seemed a week ago. With the two defenses essentially out of the equation both teams will turn to their offense, and unless you are a Toronto Homer you have to take the Penguins 12 forwards in that race. A high scoring game isn’t out of the question tonight, so it may come down to…gulp..Fleury. In my gut I feel Kessel and Crosby making Toronto sick tonight.

LET’S GO PENS!