Gameday 36: Garden State Parkway

PITTSBURGH (22-8-5) VS NEW JERSEY (13-14-7)

PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK, NJ.

7:00 PM EST. ROOTS Sports

After a three day break the Penguins are back in action tonight against the New Jersey Devils in the shithole of Jersey. These two teams met in the last game before the Christmas break, resulting in a 4-1 win for the Penguins. The Devils started the season on a tear, with many in the media claiming that they were the most surprising team in the East blah blah blah, but they have since fallen to their rightful resting place. Here’s the deal with the Devils, regardless of the moves Ray Shero has made, they aren’t good. Their offense is very weak in depth (what??? Shero leading a team with no depth?) and their defense is… well, Ben Lovejoy is their number 2 defender. The Devils currently have 2 players on their entire roster that are positives in the “pointless” plus/minus category, which is 2 more players than you should even care about. There was a lot of hype about New Jersey after the Taylor Hall trade, but so far the return hasn’t been there after sending away one of their best defenders. The good news for the Devils is that the Penguins historically start reallllllyyyy slow after multiple days rest, so the two teams should be on the same pace for the beginning of this game

Projected Starting Lineups:

This is a complete shot in the dark, because it is way too early to guess who is now healthy after the 3 days off plus the missed games for Letang and Daley. Either way after Ruhwedel and Olesky held down the fort against the Devils in the last meeting, if either Letang or Daley can’t go those will be the top two choices. Derrick Pouliot has tumbled down the depth charts and it would surprise me to see him slotted into the lineup over the other two. Another divisional back-to-back sets up a Murray/Fleury matchup dilemma, Fleury handled the Devils in possibly his best outing as a back-up last game. Murray hasn’t played since getting pulled against Columbus, so in my mind he will be the starter tonight and Fleury will face the Hurricanes tomorrow.

WHO TO WATCH:

FOR NEW JERSEY:       Kyle Palmieri, again

Last game I put Palmieri here saying he always scores against the Pens, and the bastard did it again. For some reason this man will most likely score tonight, so it is up to the Pens defense to contain the rest of the Devils forwards.

FOR PITTSBURGH:          Matt Murray

If he is the starter tonight it marks the first time we get to see Murray after getting absolutely shelled. He had the following night off going in to the holiday break so Murray has had 4 full days to think about his last outing. It is important to remember that even though he carried the team through the playoffs this is the first time he has faced a regular season workload, and the way he responds to a big loss is one of the most important things to watch.

FINAL WORDS:

Games after 3 days rest usually result in a ton of rust. Watching the chemical creation of rust is usually more exciting than Devils games. If you have after Christmas plans with anyone important I would probably opt for that to be honest. Playing the Devils after a break is actually a lucky draw for the Pens, and should be a good way to get back in the swing of the schedule as the team prepares for the next few weeks before the all-star break.

LET’S GO PENS