Gameday 35: The Devil Makes Three

PITTSBURGH (21-8-5) VS NEW JERSEY (13-13-7)

THE PAINT CAN, PITTSBURGH, PA.

7:00 PM EST. ROOT Sports

The Penguins are back home at The Paint Can after a season ending loss to the Blue Jackets last night, no word yet on if the Penguins have decided to carry on with the remaining games of the 2016-17 campaign now that they are eliminated from contention. While the team tries to decide it is believed that they will at least go ahead and play one more game in front of the home fans tonight before Christmas. The Devils come in to this game with Ben Lovejoy as one of their top pairing defenders, so that should tell you how well their season is going. The Devils started out hot and everyone started raving about Shero’s ability to build a hockey team again, but they’ve since pulled a Dany Heatley and have crashed to near the basement of the division. I will ask Bob Grove later today, but I am pretty sure this is the first time that Beau Bennett is in the lineup for a game this late in the season. Bennett did miss a few games after getting his leg cut in practice last month, but overall breakabeau is heading into career territory this season as he gets ready to play his 28th game tonight (his career high in one season was 49 games played). Bennett’s one goal and six assists would put him in the press box for this current Penguins roster, so major kudos to Jim Rutherford for getting a pick out of the deal. You probably recall the first meeting between these two this season, when Sidney Crosby tied the game with 12 seconds left before the Pens won in a shootout 4-3. Somehow the Devils don’t play 1 and 2 goals scored games anymore, which may actually make this game tonight bearable. If not, then the NHL schedule makers just gave the city of Pittsburgh an excellent excuse to start early on holiday drinking. If you want to have a fun night get on “hockey twitter” at the beginning of the game, it is always a blast to see people moan the game after a loss. Last night I learned that the Penguins were basically done and not a Stanley Cup team at this point.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS:

The net most likely belongs to Fleury tonight after Murray had an off night last night. There is the chance that Sullivan uses his mind games though and starts Murray again so the kid doesn’t have to mull over his last start during the Christmas break, probably not a bad idea.  Offensively the Penguins won’t substitute in any personnel because they don’t have any extra forwards, but there may be some line changes. Sullivan and co rode HBK again last night, and it once again did not produce, though to be fair the team as a whole underproduced. Defensively who knows what they will do. Scott Hartnell out skated Derrick Pouliot in a foot race last night,  so that puts Pouliot out of my depth chart. Olesky and Ruhwedel in and Pouliot scratched would not surprise me one bit, neither would last night being the last we see of the Pooh.

WHO TO WATCH:

FOR NEW JERSEY:          Kyle Palmieri

Palmieri is one of those guys that always scores against the Penguins. It is always odd to me when some players are just successful against certain organizations, and for Palmieri, the Pens are that organization. Shutting down Palmieri will be a huge step in the right direction for this battered defense.

FOR PITTSBURGH:          The Pittsburgh Penguins

Getting blown out against a division team on the road isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be. The fact is, when this Penguins team loses they lose big, and when they win, they win big. The good news is that they win big more often than they lose. The response after a loss like last night isn’t about making radical adjustments, it is about continuing to play the same game to show that the team believes in the system and it’s players.

FINAL WORDS:

After tonight the league will take it’s Christmas vacation, and the Pens will have 3 full days off, a much needed rest for the Penguins injuries to hopefully heal. The team will be entering Christmas above .500 after winning the Stanley Cup and have looked to be absolutely dominant at times in the first half of the season. At the beginning of the year I was hoping they would be somewhere around 20-15 at the 35 game mark, because that is usually where previous winners are. So far this season the Penguins have given us a lot to look forward to as we approach January, and going in to the Christmas vacation with a  solid win will make everyone a little happier.

LET’S GO PENS

This is my final post until after Christmas, so I wanted to wish all of you that celebrate a Merry Christmas, and to all of you that don’t, a happy holiday season. The world is crazy, so do something nice for someone, even if it is just holding a door or paying it forward at Starbucks. Whatever you do, please don’t drink and drive.  Thank you all for reading, and I send my best wishes to you and your families.