The Penguins are stumbling into the all-star break with losses in three consecutive games coming into tonight’s matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks, their final chance to turn things around before the break.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: It will be a back-to-back situation including travel for both teams. The Penguins lost 3-2 in overtime in Philadelphia last night while the Blackhawks were handling the Arizona Coyotes 6-1 in Chicago.
The Blackhawks, who looked like absolute world-beaters in the first part of the season, have come down to earth slightly in the month of January. They’re 4-5 since the calendar has turned, including losses to bottom-dwellers Edmonton, Dallas and Colorado.
HAPPY RETURNS: Pittsburgh-native Brandon Saad will make his second appearanceat Consol Energy Center in a Blackhawks uniform. Saad was held scoreless and was a minus-2 when Chicago came to town in March 2014.
On the season, he is fourth on the team in scoring with 31 points and second with 15 goals. He is solidly on pace to break his career highs in both of those categories.
THE 4077: Kris Letang will be a game-time decision for tonight’s contest after leaving last night’s loss to Philadelphia in the first period. Letang was boarded by Flyers winger Zac Rinaldo and didn’t return.
“For Letang, for tonight, he’s still going through tests,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “So he’s still got a couple tests to be cleared and we’ll see where he’s at. He went out to get some activity this morning. That’s part of it, after a hit like that last night, to get some activity the next day and see how you react to it.”
Letang participated in the team’s optional morning skate. Fellow defenseman Simon Despres, who missed yesterday’s game with an illness, did not skate, and will not play tonight.
CALLED INTO THE OFFICE: Rinaldo will receive an in-person hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety for the hit on Letang. The Flyers do not play agains until Tuesday, so the league will have time to ascertain the severity of Letang’s injury before making a decision on Rinaldo.
An in-person hearing usually means that the player will be suspended for more than two games. Rinaldo has been suspended twice before: two games for charging in 2012 and four games for a hit to the head in April of 2014.
After the game, Rinaldo was anything but apologetic for his hit. Locker room video is courtesy of NJ.com
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UP AND DOWN: In case Letang is unable to suit up, the Penguins recalled rookie defenseman Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Pouliot, the Pens first draft pick in 2012, will be making his second stint in Pittsburgh this season. He played in seven games earlier in the season, scoring a goal and recording two assists and a plus-1 rating. In 25 games in Wilkes-Barre, he has seven goals, 14 assists, 12 penalty minutes, and a minus-1 rating.
To make room for Pouliot on the roster, the Penguins re-assigned forward Bobby Farnham. Farnham had just been recalled on Tuesday to play against the Flyers. Farnham played 5:11 in Philadelphia and was even with two hits and a fight.
HAIRY START: Penguins rookie defenseman Scott Harrington isn’t known as an offensive force. In 117 career AHL games, he has just six goals. So it isn’t surprising that through his first nine NHL games, he’s been held off the scoresheet.
What is surprising is his minus-11 rating. Plus/minus is an imperfect statistic, but the results aren’t pretty. Harrington’s -11 is the worst rating on the team, and worse than the next three combined (Marcel Goc -4, Bryan Rust -3, and Jayson Megna -2). Harrington has been a minus player in six consecutive games, despite a decreasing workload.
He’s averaged 13:02 of ice time over his last three games, down from a high of 22:37 against Tampa on December 23. More advanced stats don’t paint his play in a more positive light. His Corsi-for percentage is only 49.8 and it’s relative to his teammates, it’s -2.3%
Yet with Olli Maatta out for the season, the Penguins will need to rely on the young defenseman as depth down the stretch. Hopefully Harrington can turn things around.
SLIPPING IN THE STANDINGS: The Penguins current three-game losing streak hasn’t just been demoralizing, it’s made a significant impact on their standing the in Metropolitan Division. Not only are they now three points behind the first-place New York Islanders, the third-place Rangers are only one point behind the Penguins and have a game in hand on the Pens. Fourth-place Washington has also been coming on and are only two points back.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (20-17-4, 2nd in AHL East) host the St. John’s Ice Caps tonight at 7:05 p.m. Goaltender Eric Hartzell was recalled from ECHL Wheeling because regular starter Jeff Zatkoff was injured in practice on Tuesday. Hartzell is expected to back up Matt Murray this evening. Murray has been impressive in his rookie campaign, with a .920 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average in 18 games.
The Wheeling Nailers (18-18, 4th ECHL North) host the Fort Wayne Komets for two games this Friday and Saturday at 7:35 p.m. The Nailers will be debuting new ribbon and video boards that have been installed at WesBanco arena during the team’s last road trip.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: The Robert Morris Colonials (15-5-4, 1st AHC) are traveling to Worcester, Massachusetts this weekend for a two-game series against Holy Cross. The Crusaders are 8-10-5 overall but 7-5-5 in the conference, which has them in fourth place. They lead the AHC with only 33 goals against in league play.
Penn State (11-7-3, 1st Big Ten) hosts Northern Michigan this weekend for a two-game set. Friday’s game will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Pegula Ice Arena. Saturday’s contest will be held at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, the team will be wearing special one-off jerseys that will be auctioned off at the game and online to benefit the university’s student-run THON charity. Saturday’s game will also be televised on the Big Ten Network.
