It will be a rivalry night in Pittsburgh, as the Penguins will host the Boston Bruins in a nationally televised contest at 8:00 p.m.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: This is the second meeting between the Penguins and the Bruins this season. The Penguins won the first matchup 3-2 on an Evgeni Malkin overtime game winner.
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Missing from that matchup was Bruins captain and star defenseman Zdeno Chara. Boston head coach Claude Julien often uses Chara to match up against Sidney Crosby.
“We come into every game with a set way we want to play it as far as our matchups go,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “I’m not a big match guy but if there’s things that I see in the other team, whether it’s a checking center, or a defenseman that’s really hard to play against, we’ll try and break that matchup.”
The Bruins have been struggling as of late, losing three straight and four of their last five. Further troubling for Boston faithful has been that the losses have been to teams currently on the on the outside of the playoff picture such as Carolina and Ottawa.
“Right now, where they are in the standings, I don’t think we’re paying too much attention to that,” said Penguins center Brandon Sutter. “We’re expecting to play one of the best teams around.”
THE 4077: Marcel Goc will be missing from the Penguins lineup tonight. The veteran center has been battling an illness. Andrew Ebbett will replace Goc on the fourth line.
HAPPY RETURNS: The Penguins will welcome back at least one, and probably two familiar faces to their lineup this evening.
Checking forward Zach Sill will be return after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury. The physical forward will slot into his familiar spot on the left wing of the Penguins fourth line, and will also see plenty of time killing penalties, especially with Goc being sidelined.
“Without a guy like Goc in tonight, it’s a good thing we have (Sill) back, because he’s becoming a very good penalty killer,” said Johnston. “He has been one in the minors. We haven’t used him as much at this level, but started to in three weeks before he got injured.”
Defenseman Paul Martin will probably also make his return from injury this evening. Coach Johnston was waiting to talk to his training staff after today’s morning skate before committing to whether Martin will return tonight or wait until Saturday.
“I haven’t talked to them yet, but I plan on it right away,” Johnston said. “He’s close. I would say if he doesn’t play tonight, he’s definitely going to play in Montreal. So he’s going to play in one of these next two games for sure.”
Martin has missed eight games with an undisclosed injury. His loss has had a ripple effect on the Penguins defensive unit because Martin plays a lot of minutes and in all situations.
UP AND DOWN: If Martin and Sill are both activated from the injured reserve, the Penguins will have to make a corresponding move to stay under the NHL 23-man roster limit. Most likely, that means sending either Bobby Farnham or Scott Harrington to Wilkes-Barre.
–Update 4:09 p.m: The Penguins have sent defenseman Scott Harrington down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
MEN IN MASKS: Marc-Andre Fleury will take on Tuuka Rask in a battle between two of the Eastern Conference’s top goaltenders.
It was Rask that completely shut down the Penguins offense in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, allowing only two goals on 137 Penguins shots in the series. Since then, Rask is 0-2 against the Penguins, allowing five goals on 42 shots. 2014-15 has been a down season for the Finnish goaltender. His .911 save percentage would be the worst in his career if it stays true. If the Rask of the 2013 playoffs shows up, the Penguins may be in trouble.
Fleury, on the other hand, is having a career year. He has a .926 save percentage, which would be a career high, to go along with six shutouts, which already is a career high for the 30-year old netminder.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (20-13-4, 1st in AHL East) lost 2-1 to the Norfolk Admirals at home on Tuesday. Jean-Sebastien Dea had the lone goal. Jeff Zatkoff made 21 saves. The two teams meet up again on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
AHL Penguins captain Tom Kostopoulos, who will also be the captain of the Eastern Conference squad at the AHL All-Star Game Jan. 26 in Utica, New York. He will be joined by defenseman Derrick Pouliot and Zatkoff, who also earned all-star honors.
The Wheeling Nailers (14-15, 4th in ECHL North) are finishing their six-game road trip with a 7:35 p.m. faceoff against the Reading Royals this evening. Forwards Zack Torquato and Patrick McGrath and defenseman Clark Seymour were returned from Wilkes-Barre this afternoon.
Nailers forward Riley Brace has been named to the starting roster for the 2015 ECHL All-Star Classic Jan. 21 in Orlando, Florida. Brace has nine goals and 19 assists in 22 games with the Nailers and is currently in the AHL on a tryout with Worcester.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: Robert Morris (#20, 12-4-4, 1st in AHC) starts a four-game homestand Friday night against Bentley at 7:05 p.m. Colonials forward Daniel Leavens was named Atlantic Hockey’s player of the month for December. Leavens had three goals and six assists in six games in December and was named to the Three Rivers Classic all-tournament team.
The Penn State Nittany Lions (9-6-2, 1st in Big Ten) start the second half off with a six straight home games, the first of which is Friday night against Ohio State.
Photo credit: NBC Sports
