Much has been made about the Penguins struggles inside the Metropolitan Division this season. Despite a 35-17-9 overall record, the Penguins are just 8-11-4 against Metro opponents. The Penguins will cap off a stretch of four intra-division games out of six when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 5:00 p.m.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Penguins and Blue Jackets last got together 10 days ago, when Columbus handed Pittsburgh a 2-1 loss via a Brandon Dubinsky shorthanded goal in the third period.
In addition to his goal, Dubinsky also found himself in a fight with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. Crosby says not to expect another scrap in tonight’s contest.
“I think every time we play against them, he’s probably going out of his way to make sure he finishes his checks or give me an extra shot, so I don’t expect that to change, but I gotta go out there and create things and find a way to help the team win,” he said. “I think my last fight before that was four or five years ago, so I would probably not bet on seeing another one.”
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Since beating the Penguins, the Blue Jackets have gone into a free fall, losing five straight games. During their three-game homestand that ended last night, they went 0-3 and were outscored 11-4.
Columbus added power forward David Clarkson in a trade with Toronto on Thursday. Clarkson, 30, had 10 goals and five assists to go along with 92 penalty minutes in 58 games with the Maple Leafs. He was held scoreless in his Columbus debut on Saturday.
Dubinsky will miss tonight’s game with an upper body injury. Columbus head coach Todd Richards woulnd’t commit to replacing his role of checking the Penguins’ top line with any one player.
“We’ll see how the game goes,” Richards said. “It’s a matchup that I’m not going to chase, unless I feel like I have to.”
Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was activated from the injured reserve on Saturday and dressed as a backup last night against New Jersey, but will not get the start tonight. Curtis McElhinney will again get the call between the pipes for the Blue Jackets.
“Obviously, if he’s good enough to back up, it means he’s good enough to play,” said Richards. “But, there’s a certain way that we’ll get him back into the games, and he’s using this as far as backing up as preparation to get ready to get into the net.”
FIRST LOOK: Tonight will mark the debut of Daniel Winnik, who was acquired from Toronto on Wednesday. Winnik will wear sweater number 26 with the Penguins and is currently slated to skate on third line with Brandon Sutter and Steve Downie.
“It’ll be good,” said Winnik of his new linemates. “I don’t know what capacity we’ll be used in, but I know we’ll be hard to play against and get under teams’ skin.”
In addition to his even strength duties, Winnik is a noted penalty killer, and will be a primary option for the Penguins when shorthanded.
“I think, once he gets into the swing of things, he’ll help our penalty kill, which is strong already,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston.
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN: Following tonight’s game, the Penguins will embark upon a four-game West Coast road trip to Colorado, Los Angeles and San Jose. It will be almost two weeks before the Penguins play another Eastern Conference opponent.
TRADE WINDS BLOWING: The NHL’s trading deadline is 3:00 p.m. on Monday. The Penguins have already made several deals, but rumors are still red-hot that Columbus forward Cam Atkinson is on the trading block.
Rumors surrounding #CBJ Cam Atkinson have certainly intensified tonight. GM Jarmo Kekalainen burning midnight oil. Nothing official.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) March 1, 2015
Atkinson, a 25 year-old right-winger, has 13 goals and 12 assists through 57 games and the free agent-to-be is reportedly being pursued by several clubs, chiefly the Boston Bruins.
THE 4077: For the first time in seemingly forever, the Penguins are fully healthy. Defenseman Rob Scuderi, who left Wednesday’s 4-3 win over Washington in the third period with a foot injury, practiced fully on Friday and appears to ready to return to action.
“By the way he was practicing, I think he’s going to be fine,” said Johnston. “He’s a tough guy, and it takes a lot to keep him out of the lineup.”
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The Penguins got some help from some unlikely places on Saturday night. The Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers 4-2 and the lowly Carolina Hurricanes upended the division-leading Islanders 5-3. The Penguins are now just five points off the Islanders’ pace with three games in hand. Fourth-place Washington hosts Toronto tonight.
MINOR MATTERS: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-18-6, 2nd in AHL East) beat Hartford 3-2 in overtime on Saturday in the first of a two-game swing through Connecticut. Andrew Ebbett scored the game-winner at 2:27 of overtime. Jeff Zatkoff made 29 saves to hold on for his 14th win of the season. Defenseman Reid McNeill and forward Jayson Megna also scored for the Penguins. They will play in Bridgeport today at 3:00 p.m.
The Wheeling Nailers (25-25-1, 6th in ECHL North) beat the Elmira Jackals 3-2 in a 10-round shootout on Friday. Franky Palazzese made 45 stops to earn the win. Chaz Johnson scored the game-winning goal in shootout.
On Saturday night, the Nailers lost 4-3 in overtime to the Greenville Road Warriors. Eric Hartzell made 23 saves in a losing effort. Derek Army and Jean-Sebastien Dea each had a goal and an assist. The Nailers and Road Warriors will play again today at 4:05 p.m.
#CAWLIDGEHAKEY: Robert Morris (22-7-5, AHC Champions) finished their season in style with a 2-1 win over Niagara on senior night on Saturday. The Colonials’ first-place regular season finish earned them a bye and they will have next weekend off before hosting a second-round Atlantic Hockey tournament matchup the following week.
Penn State (16-12-14, 4th in Big Ten) were swept by Ohio State on Saturday, dropping both of this weekend’s games by a final score of 5-3. The Nittany Lions will host first-place Michigan next weekend.
Photo credit: USA Today
