The Pittsburgh Penguins are in Chicago today for a Sunday matinee against the Blackhawks. Winners of two in a row, the Penguins are looking for their first winning streak since December 20.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: The Blackhawks and Penguins are meeting for the second and final time this season. Chicago came away with a 3-2 shootout win on January 21 in Pittsburgh.
[youtube width=”560″ height=”315″ link=”http://youtu.be/wF6YGgvJ1MU”]
The Blackhawks are coming off a 3-1 win against the Devils on Friday night. This will be fourth game of a season-long eight game homestand. They are 1-0-2 through the first three games.
MEN IN MASKS: Since that game, the Blackhawks are 4-5 and the Penguins have gone 6-3. The same two goaltenders, all-stars Corey Crawford and Marc-Andre Fleury are expected to man the creases again this afternoon.
Crawford is 22-12-3 with a one shutout, a .920 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average on the season. In four career games against the Penguins, he is 3-1 with a .933 save percentage and a 1.93 goals-against average.
Fleury leads all NHL goaltenders with eight shutouts amongst his 26-11-5 record. In addition, he has a .922 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average. In 10 career games against Chicago, he is 5-2-3 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average.
THE 4077: Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff skated with the team on Saturday in a non-contact capacity, but he is still not ready to resume full practices.
“The next step is to see how he reacted to that,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “It’s the first time he’s been on the ice with all the guys, and in any of these concussion-like symptoms (cases), they always want to make sure how you react with other guys on the ice.”
Defenseman Paul Martin, who has been banged up with an undisclosed injury, missed practice on Saturday, but is expected to be in the lineup this afternoon.
Steve Downie, who was a healthy scratch on Wednesday, will be back in the lineup at the expense of Zach Sill, who will be a healthy scratch today.
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The New York Islanders beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Saturday, to give them 73 points and a three-point lead over the Penguins in the Metropolitan Divison. The Penguins have played one fewer game.
The New York Rangers beat Arizona 5-1 on Saturday and are now only one point behind the Penguins with 71. The Rangers have played one fewer game than the Penguins. The Rangers and Islanders play each other on Monday.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (28-18-6, 2nd in AHL East) went 1-0-1 over the weekend, beating Portland 3-0 on Friday. It was rookie goaltender Matt Murray’s league-leading sixth shutout of the season. He is also first in the AHL with a 1.79 goals-against average. Rookie winger Scott Wilson had a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and defenseman Brian Dumoulin had three assists.
On Saturday, the Penguins fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Jeff Zatkoff made 35 saves despite taking the loss. Tom Kostopoulos, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, and Bobby Farnham all scored for Wilkes-Barre.
The Wheeling Nailers (23-24, 5th in ECHL North) went 1-1 in their weekend. They beat Reading 3-2 in overtime at home on Friday. Riley Brace scored the overtime game-winner and Jarrett Burton had both goals in regulation while Eric Hartzell made 29 saves so earn the win.
On Saturday, the Nailers traveled to Toledo and were beaten soundly by the Walleye by a final score of 5-2. Frank Palazzese made only 23 saves in the loss, which saw the Walleye score three unanswered goals in the third period. Jean-Sebastien Dea and Morgan Ellis each scored for the Nailers.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: No. 18 Robert Morris (20-5-5, 1st in AHC) is off this weekend, and any chance they had to clinch the conference title was thwarted when Bentley won on Friday night.
No. 19 Penn State (15-9-4, 3rd in Big Ten) dropped both games at Michigan State this weekend. They were shutout for the first time all season on Friday. On Saturday, they fell 3-2 despite outshooting Michigan State 42-29. Michigan State took the season series against the Nittany Lions, 2-1-1. The teams are currently tied for third in the Big Ten standings.
