The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to continue their dominance over the Western Conference as the Minnesota Wild makes their only visit to the Steel City this season. The Penguins are 7-2 in their nine games against the west this season, which is the best in the league.
The Wild, meanwhile are in a free fall, having lost five straight games and 11 of their last 13. That, along with this outburst at practice last week, have some calling for Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo to be relieved of his duties. Yeo was the Penguins assistant coach from 2006 to 2010.
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TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: Yeo’s struggling Minnesota squad is something of an enigma. Their record, 18-18-5, is the very definition of average, but in the ultra-competitive Central Division, they’re dead last.
The Wild has good puck-possession numbers, with the sixth-ranked Corsi-for percentage in the league. They’ve been unlucky, but not hugely so, with a 99.1 PDO. They also have the eighth-best penalty kill in the NHL.
The Wild’s problems boil down to two things: the power play and goaltending. The power play is operating at only 14.3% on the season, 26th of the 30 NHL teams. Minnesota doesn’t draw that many penalties, either. As a result, the Wild has only 20 power-play goals on the season.
NET LOSSES: Of the 41 NHL goaltenders that have played in enough games to qualify, Minnesota’s Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom are 35th and 38th in save percentage. That’s just not good enough to get the job done.
With Kuemper on the injured reserve, the Wild has turned to former Penguins netminder John Curry. Curry struggled in his only game this season, giving up four goals on 23 shots for a .826 save percentage.
Backstrom is expected to get the start tonight. In 18 games this season, he is 5-6-3 with a .892 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average. In five career games against the Penguins, he is 3-2 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.77 goals-against average.
FORECAST OF FLUER-RIES: Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to make his fourth consecutive start this evening.
Fleury has had a great season, and was probably worthy of an all-star selection, but he has struggled recently, with a .915 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average in his last three games compared to his season numbers of .926 and 2.16. Is this the beginning of a regression toward Fleury’s career numbers or just a cold streak in the midst of a career year? Only time will tell.
THE 4077: The Penguins injury woes continue, as reports emerged Monday that second-year defenseman Olli Maatta’s season may be finished. He was reportedly rehabbing his shoulder and eyeing a return later this month, but that appears to no longer be the case. Full coverage here.
UP AND DOWN: Rookie defenseman Derrick Pouliot was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday. In his first NHL action, the 20-year old former first-round draft pick played in seven games, scoring one goal and recording two assists and a plus-1 rating.
“The key thing is for Derrick, we want to get him playing,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “If he’s not in our lineup tonight, and he wasn’t in our lineup the other night, then we need to get him playing for sure. A young defenseman like that, we want in the lineup, playing lots of minutes down there with (AHL head coach) John Hynes.”
Pouliot will represent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the AHL All-Star game in Utica on Monday, January 26 along with Tom Kostopoulos, Jeff Zatkoff, and Penguins assistant general manager Bill Guerin.
He was replaced in the Penguins lineup by veteran defenseman Taylor Chorney, who was recalled from the AHL. Chorney has been in Pittsburgh several times this season and played in two games in December without recording a point. In 34 games in Wilkes-Barre, he has two goals, seven assists, 21 penalty minutes, and a plus-14 rating.
“Chorney is an older pro, so bringing him up, he is a guy who has been through the ropes before” said Johnston. “We don’t want (Scott) Harrington or (Brian) Dumoulin or Pouliot sitting here waiting for their opportunity to play.”
MINOR MATTERS: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (20-15-4, 1st AHL East) lost on Saturday, their third straight, by a 4-3 margin in Syracuse. Zatkoff made 25 saves in a losing effort. Jayson Megna scored two goals and Carter Rowney added one late in the game.
The Wheeling Nailers (16-17, 4th ECHL North) beat Elmira 4-2 on Saturday behind two goals and an assist by defenseman Morgan Ellis and three assists by center Zack Torquato. Eric Hartzell made 24 saves for the win.
On Sunday, the Nailers suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the last-place Indy Fuel. They were beaten 3-0 for Indy’s first ECHL road win and first ECHL shutout since the expansion team began play at the beginning of the season. Hartzell stopped 20 shots in the loss. Torquato and Derek Army were each minus-3.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: The Robert Morris Colonials (13-5-4, 1st AHC) lost 1-0 on Saturday to split their weekend series with the Bentley Falcons. Terry Shafer made 34 saves in the loss. For the first time since December 5, the Colonials fell out of the USCHO.com Top 20, finishing as the top team among others getting votes. Sophomore goaltender Dalton Izyk was named Atlantic Hockey’s goaltender of the week for his performance in Friday’s 3-0 shutout victory.
Penn State (12-7, 1st Big Ten) routed Ohio State 4-1 on Saturday afternoon to earn a weekend split with the Buckeyes. For his performance on Saturday, sophomore goaltender Eamon McAdam was named Big Ten hockey’s third star of the week. He stopped 35 of 36 shots and recorded his fourth win of the season.
TOP OF THE CHARTS: The United States Hockey League will play its third-annual NHL Top Prospects Game tonight in Dubuque, Iowa. The game will feature 40 of the top players eligible for June’s NHL entry draft that are playing in the USHL, the top American junior league. A free stream (registration required) will be available through FAST Hockey.
Three Penn State commits will play in the game: forwards Nikita Pavlychev (Des Moines) and Denis Smirnov (Fargo) and defenseman Kris Myllari (Youngstown).
Four other Youngstown Phantoms will be participating: forwards Kyle Connor (committed to Michigan), Chase Pearson and Kevin Conley (University of Denver) and goaltender Chris Birdsall (Boston College).
Connor is expected to be a first-round pick, and is currently projected to be drafted tenth overall by TSN’s Craig Button.
Photo credit: NHL
