Good evening, Penguins fans, and welcome to your Game Day Thread. Tonight, from Consol Energy Center, your Pittsburgh Penguins take on the (once) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Actually, since Bruce Boudreau took over the helm, the Ducks have once again been mighty of late. At 15-5-2, they lead the Pacific Division with 32 points, one better than the San Jose Sharks. The Ducks are led by a 1-2 scoring punch of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, each with 23 points on the season thus far. Anaheim's goalie tandem of Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth each have a Save Percentage of less than .900, so they can be scored upon. Their Goals Against Averages are both less than 3, however, so getting shots on goal may be the key.
The Pens are on a slide lately, losing 4 of their last 5 overall although they've won 3 of their last 4 at home. Star Center Evgeni Malkin is currently mired in a 13-game goal scoring slump. In an effort to jump start him and the rest of the offense, Pascal Dupuis will come off the top line to play with Malkin, with Beau Bennett moving up to Sidney Crosby's line tonight. Dustin Jeffrey was picked up on waivers by the Dallas Stars, and Brian Gibbons has come up from Wilkes-Barre to take his place. Gibbons will skate on the 3rd line.
The game is on ROOT Sports in Pittsburgh and NBC Sports Network elsewhere tonight. Game time is 7:30.
We haven't seen the Ducks in awhile, here is your vintage Gordie Howe Hat Trick:
farnham16 wrote:Engelland in the lineup over Bortuzzo again. :face:
Shocker. Martin's injury gave Dan the only excuse he'll ever need to put Engelland in the lineup. Meanwhile the defenseman Shero traded to keep Dan's boy in he lineup will be playing a solid 19 minutes for the other team tonight.