Penguins hope for a change in fortune against Boston
By Nate Temple
The Penguins square off against the resurgent Boston Bruins tonight in Boston.
After dropping two straight home games against the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals, the Pittsburgh Penguins are back in action at TD Garden to square off with the Boston Bruins (8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN).
Head Coach Mike Sullivan made his Penguins debut against the Capitals, but it was spoiled by a 4-1 defeat. Although they did not get the result they were looking for, it was not because of a lack of effort.
“I thought we played with energy,” Sullivan said in his press conference following the loss. “I liked our aggression and I thought we were on the puck. Our feet were moving.”
During the game, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford completed a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that sent defenseman Trevor Daley to Pittsburgh and defenseman Rob Scuderi to Chicago.
Daley does not defend particularly well, but he is great at moving the puck and getting involved in the offense which could help solve some of Pittsburgh’s offensive woes.
Oct 30, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman
(6) against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Blackhawks 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
“He can skate and he can move the puck,” Rutherford stated. “It’s something that we talked about trying to improve that and improve our back end where we have more puck movers and [Daley] can certainly do that. ”
Daley will make his Penguins (15-11-3, 5th place in Metropolitan) debut tonight skating alongside Olli Maatta.
On the flip side, Boston has played well of late registering standings points in nine of their last 10 games (6-1-3). They currently sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division (top wild-card holder), one point behind the Ottawa Senators for third place with two games on hand.
The Bruins have caught the nation by surprise after trading away winger Milan Lucic to the Kings and defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames. Most thought that this would be a rebuild year for the Bruins under new GM Doug Sweeney, but they are in the thick of the playoff race.
The Penguins will have to contain Boston’s top line that features two of the team’s best players: Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. Marchand is tied for seventh in the NHL in goals with 15 and Bergeron has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 29 games.
Another thing that has carried the Bruins this year has been their power play. Boston ranks first in the league converting at a 29.6% clip. The Penguins have struggled on the power play with a 15.3% rate (26th in the NHL), but their penalty kill sits at eighth in the league with an 83.8% kill rate.
Jeff Zatkoff will man the crease for the Penguins. Zatkoff sports a 2-1-1 record with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.
Tuukka Rask gets the nod from head coach Claude Julien. Rask has appeared in 21 games, going 11-7-3 with a 2.55 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Here are the projected starting lineups based on the morning skate according to penguins.nhl.com.
#Pens lines: Kunitz-Crosby-Perron, Plotnikov-Malkin-Kessel, Porter-Fehr-Sprong, Sheary-Cullen-Hornqvist. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 16, 2015
#Pens D-pairs: Maatta-Daley and Cole-Warsofsky at one end; Lovejoy-Dumoulin-Clendening all rotated at the other end. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 16, 2015
#Pens 1st PP unit: Malkin at center point. Crosby and Warsofsky on walls. Perron and Kunitz at the net. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 16, 2015
#Pens 2nd PP unit: Daley at center point. Kessel and Maatta on the walls. Hornqvist and Sheary at the net. -MC
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 16, 2015
Injury News:
After Monday night’s loss to the Capitals, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) and forward Beau Bennett (upper-body) have been sidelined for the foreseeable future. Fleury has been ruled out for one-to-two weeks minimum, and Bennett is out four-to-six weeks after hitting the boards awkwardly from a hit by Capitals forward T.J. Oshie.
Forwards Kevin Porter and Conor Sheary, along with goaltender Matt Murray, were recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre. Murray will serve as backup goalie, Porter will play left wing on the third line with Eric Fehr and Daniel Sprong, and Sheary will serve fourth line duties with Matt Cullen and Patric Hornqvist.
Kris Letang (undisclosed) is still about a week and a half away from returning to action. Nick Bonino is not feeling well. He will be a game-time decision.
Next: Pens Injury Update: Fleury Possibly Concussed, Bennett Out
Bruins forward Zac Rinaldo was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and recalled forward Alex Khoklachev from AHL Providence. Forwards David Pastrnak (broken foot) and Joonas Kemppainen (upper-body) are still on injured reserve.