Penguins: Look to Bounce Back

After TJ Oshie’s hat-trick goal gave the Washington Capitals a 1-0 series lead, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to try to steal game two from them tonight at 8 pm (NBC) at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

When the team held an optional practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex yesterday, they did so without forwards Chris Kunitz, Conor Sheary, Matt Cullen, and Bryan Rust.

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Kunitz was struck by a flying puck and is considered day-to-day, Sheary potentially missed due to taking a knee-on-knee blow from Capitals forward Tom Wilson, and no updates were given on Cullen and Rust.

Assuming that everyone will be good-to-go in game two, here is how the Penguins are expected to look.

Conor Sheary – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist

Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel

Chris Kunitz – Evgeni Malkin – Eric Fehr

Tom Kuhnhackl – Matt Cullen – Bryan Rust

Kris Letang – Olli Maatta

Trevor Daley – Brian Dumoulin

Ian Cole – Ben Lovejoy

Matt Murray

Jeff Zatkoff

For the Capitals, they held an optional practice as well.

They also learned over the day that Wilson was fined the max amount allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for his kneeing transgression against Sheary.

Nonetheless, here is how we should expect to see the Capitals line up today.

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – TJ Oshie

Marcus Johansson – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams

Jason Chimera – Mike Richards – Andre Burakovsky

Daniel Winnik – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson

Brooks Opik – John Carlson

Karl Aznar – Matt Niskanen

Dmitry Orlov – Nate Schmidt

Braden Holtby

Phillip Grubauer

However, defenseman Dmitry Orlov did not record six minutes of ice time and was benched in game one.  If he is replaced, Taylor Chorney or Mike Weber will take over to play alongside Schmidt.

Keys to the game

Crosby line has to be better

The top line, which features Sheary, Crosby, and Hornqvist, was on the ice for all three of Oshie’s goals.  Neutralizing the Capitals’ top trio will be the difference between wins and losses.

Team defense needs to improve

While Washington played far from their best game, the Penguins looked rough on defense.  Maatta, Daley, and Dumoulin did not play well in particular.  If the Penguins look to try to elevate their game, it starts with these three defenders (plus Letang) to pick up their defensive games.

Speed kills

The Penguins will have to utilize their speed to defeat the Capitals.  The game ended up in a very physical contest, with the D.C. locals out hitting Pittsburgh 43-29.  If the Penguins try to match Washington’s physicality, then they are getting away from their game plan and lose games.

Next: Penguins: Storm the Capital(s)

Traffic

Although Pittsburgh fired 45 shots towards Holtby, the latter was able to see a majority of the shots.  Playoffs are won and lost in the dirty areas, and they need to try to score from around the crease.