Pittsburgh Penguins
In tonight’s crucial game, goaltender Matt Murray will once again start over Marc-Andre Fleury, a choice that helped the Penguins win the last round against the Washington Capitals. In the most recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, however, Murray didn’t play his best, which showed in Pittsburgh’s 3-1 loss.
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby haven’t been on their scoring game this postseason, and the Penguins had many unnecessary turnovers and didn’t create many opportunities.
Defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang, who were injured last game, were at practice Sunday, and both are expected to play in tonight’s game.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Last game, the Lightning was able to get around the Penguins’ defense; the Lightning offense is dangerous.
After starting goaltender Ben Bishop injured his leg last game and was stretchered off, backup Andrei Vasilevskiy came on the ice and played well. He only let in one goal, during a Penguin power play.
Prediction
The Penguins need a win to stay in this series. Murray must be on his game tonight, and the rest of the team needs to play how it did in the last round rather than leaving it up to Murray to essentially play for the entire defensive line.
Now that the Penguins have played one game against the Lightning, Pittsburgh should have a better understanding of how Tampa Bay plays, which should help the Penguins tailor their game.
All this being said, I believe the Penguins have a decent shot at winning tonight’s game.
