Rangers @ Penguins
CONSOL Energy Center, 7:00 p.m. Monday
Rangers record: 9-7-1
Penguins record: 9-8-1
The Rangers are right back at it tomorrow night in Pittsburgh on the heels
of a wild 8-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Certainly the Rangers’ confidence must be running high following two
victories at home without Henrik Lundqvist and with a dominant Marian Gaborik
back in the lineup. But obviously,
taking on Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and the rest of the Penguins is never
an easy task.
Pittsburgh
hasn’t had a great start to the season, but they always seem to be a much
better second half team. Still, the
absence of Jordan Staal and horrible play of Marc-Andre Fleury are cause for
concern. The Penguins have won two in a
row over Tampa Bay
and Atlanta,
but prior to that had won only two of eight games. Fleury was back in net for the last two victories
and gave up only three goals between them, so maybe he’s starting to settle
in. After a tremendous start to the
season, backup goalie Brent Johnson has struggled recently. It seems likely that Johnson will get the
start for Pittsburgh
which will be playing its third game in four days. The Penguins made some interesting roster
decisions this summer that have changed the direction of the franchise. Sergei Gonchar left via free agency but the
Penguins quickly reinvested the money saved from losing Gonchar, and then some,
in signing Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek. The problem for Pittsburgh
is the salary cap. So much money is
invested in Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Martin, Michael, Orpik and Fleury that the
Penguins are unable to surround their ultra-talented centers with any component
wingers. Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis
are the best wingers the Penguins have to offer, meaning if opponents can
contain Crosby and Malkin, a huge if to be
sure, they have a great chance to win. Crosby hasn’t struggled without any wingers, he’s been
good enough on his own to tally 12 goals and 15 assists so far this
season. Malkin, on the other hand,
hasn’t been the same the last couple years and has seven goals and nine
assists. He did have a hat trick
yesterday so the Penguins must be hopeful that he’s returning to form. Pittsburgh’s
retooled defense hasn’t been bad this season, but inconsistent goaltending has
been the team’s downfall. Still the Penguins
rank 13th in goals against and fifth on the penalty kill.
All indications are that Lundqvist will be back in between
the pipes tomorrow for the Blueshirts, and against Crosby and Malkin lord knows
the Rangers will need him. The Rangers
are capable of beating the Penguins, but of course, it starts and ends with containing
Crosby. Pittsburgh
has been bad on the power play thus far, but anyone who has watched the
Penguins in recent years knows just how dangerous the Penguins can be with the
extra-man. It appears the loss of
Gonchar has hindered the team a bit, but the Rangers don’t want to be the team
that lets the Penguins’ power play gets going. The line of Dubinsky/Anisimov/Callahan will likely see a lot of time
against Crosby. Hopefully the tenacious wingers can harass
Sid enough to throw him off his game. Of
course, the Blueshirts will also look to employ their ferocious fore-check to
stop the Penguins from spending too much time in the Rangers zone in the first
place.
The recipe for victory against Pittsburgh is simple. Stay out of the box, contain Crosby, and take advantage of the Penguins’ lack of
depth. The Rangers may be better
equipped for this than in years past because of their considerable depth. But of course, without a strong effort from
Lundqvist this will be a tough match to win. If the Rangers play their game, they could be looking at three wins in a
row.
