The NHL’s top power play will take on the best penalty killers in a battle of strength versus strength when the Penguins face the Detroit Red Wings tonight.
Despite being shut out on the power play in Wednesday’ night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins are eight-for-19 on the man advantage, first in the league by a large margin. Captain Sidney Crosby leads the way for the Penguins with three goals and three assists on the power play, and his six power play points is first in the NHL.
The Red Wings, on the other hand, have yet to give up a power play goal in 18 times shorthanded. Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall are the backbone of Detroit’s defensive efforts. Each veteran defenseman averages over a 2:30 of shorthanded ice time per game.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT:
The Red Wings are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime on Tuesday. The Red Wings are 3-1-2, and more impressively, two of their losses have come against the two teams tied at the top of the NHL, Anaheim and Montreal.
Familiar faces lead the Red Wings offensively. Henrik Zetterberg has two goals and five assists through six games. Pavel Datsyuk played in his first game of the season on Tuesday after suffering an injury at the hands of Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi in the preseason.
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The Red Wings success has been buoyed by an impressive 1.5 goals against per game, which is third in the league. Both Jimmy Howard (2-1-2, .937 save percent) and Jonas Gustavsson (1-0, 1.00 save %) have been outstanding in goal.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: Despite losing to the Flyers, the Penguins remain two points back of the three-way tie at the top of the Metropolitan Division between the Rangers, Islanders, and Capitals.
WITH GLOWING HEARTS: The Penguins and their fans honored the victims of the shooting in Ottawa on Wednesday by singing the Canadian national anthem before their game against the Flyers.
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FIRST-TIMERS: Penguins forwards Nick Spaling and Marcel Goc scored their first goals as Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. The only Penguins players yet to register a goal with the team are Christian Ehrhoff, Steve Downie, and Zach Sill.
SCORING CHANGE: After reviewing the video, the NHL has decided that the Penguins’ second goal against Philadelphia will be changed from Pascal Dupuis to Paul Martin. Martin’s shot was deflected in front of the net, apparently off the skate of Flyers’ defenseman Andrew MacDonald. Evgeni Malkin will get the lone assist on the play.
MINOR MATTERS: Goaltender Eric Hartzell was recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL from Wheeling of the ECHL on Wednesday. Hartzell will replace Jeff Zatkoff in the lineup after the latter was injured in a 4-0 loss to Albany on Tuesday. Hartzell, 25, played 25 games for the AHL Penguins last season and had a .902 save percentage. He had yet to play in a game for the Nailers this season.
