Round 3: Game 1

Carolina Hurricanes
0
 
Pittsburgh Penguins
0

7:30 at Mellon Arena
TV: Versus, TSN, RDS
Big Screen Outside Arena: Yes
Radio: WXDX Radio, FM 105.9
Probable Goalies: Fleury (Pit), Ward (Car)
 
Inside The Game
I changed up the routine this series, skipping the full series preview.  I figured that, since all that info is in each game preview, there really is no need.

Now, on to tonight’s game…

The teams play a very similar up-tempo style of game, focusing their energy on puck control and offensive-zone possession.  While Carolina has a slight edge in goal, Pittsburgh has an edge defensively.  So what I am trying to say is that these teams balance out quite nicely.

On paper, the Penguins have significantly more offensive fire power, but don’t let that fool you.  The Hurricanes are more than capable of getting goals from players throughout their lineup, making all of their lines dangerous.

The Hurricanes are playing without any significant injuries, as Rod Brind’Amour is expected to return after a brief absence, while the Penguins are in the same situation with Sergei Gonchar.

In short, this should be yet another spectacular series, and it all begins tonight!

Western Conference Finals Update…
  • (2) Detroit has a 1-0 lead over (4) Chicago
    Next game: Chicago at Detroit — Tuesday at 7:30 — Versus, TSN, RDS
 
Projected Lineups
Penguins Hurricanes
Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin
Fedotenko-Malkin-Talbot
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Dupuis-Adams-Satan
(Godard, Jeffrey, Minard, Sykora, Taffe)

Gonchar-Orpik
Letang-Eaton
Gill-Scuderi
(Boucher, Goligoski, Lovejoy)

Fleury
Garon
(Curry, Thiessen)		 Whitney-Staal-Walker
Cole-Cullen-Ruutu
Samsonov-Jokinen-Eaves
Bayda-Brind’Amour-LaRose
(Bowman, Boychuk, Dwyer, Helminen, Ryan, Sutter)

Kaberle-Gleason
Seidenberg-Wallin
Pitkanen-Corvo
(Babchuk, Carson, Conboy, Rodney)

Ward
Leighton
(Peters)
 
Playoff Team Statistics
  GF G/G GA GA/G PP% PK% Home Away Streak
Penguins 45 3.46 38 2.92 19.7 81.6 4-2 4-3 1 win
Hurricanes 33 2.36 32 2.29 10.4 90.7 4-2 4-4 1 win
GF (goals for), G/G (goals-for per game), GA (goals against), GA/G (goals-against per game), PP% (power play percentage), PK% (penalty kill percentage), Home (home record), Away (away record)
 
Playoff Team Statistics (continued)
  S S/G SA SA/G PIM Hits BkS FO%
Penguins 456 35.1 374 28.8 132 342 223 49.9
Hurricanes 452 32.3 441 31.5 167 411 176 48.5
S (shots), S/G (shots per game), SA (shots against), SA/G (shots-against per game), PIM (penalty minutes), BkS (blocked shots), FO% (faceoff percentage)
 
Playoff Team Leaders
Penguins Hurricanes
  Stat Player   Stat Player
Goals 12 Crosby Goals 9 Staal
Assists 13 Malkin Assists 7 Larose/Pitkanen
Points 21 Crosby Points 13 Staal
+/- +7 Guerin +/- +4 Pitkanen/Samsonov/Staal
PIMs 16 Malkin PIMs 27 Gleason
Hits 60 Orpik Hits 53 Ruutu
BkS 31 Eaton BkS 27 Seidenberg
Wins 8 Fleury Wins 8 Ward
GAA 2.72 Fleury GAA 2.22 Ward
Sv% .901 Fleury Sv% .927 Ward
SO 0 – SO 2 Ward
PIM (penalty minutes), BkS (blocked shots), GAA (goals-against average), Sv% (save percentage), SO (shutouts)
 
Injuries/Suspensions
Penguins Injury Status
Zigomanis, IR Shoulder surgery Out for playoffs
Hurricanes Injury Status
Tanabe, IR Concussion Out for playoffs
IR (injured reserves), DTD (day-to-day), Sus (Suspended)
 
Regular Season Team Statistics
  GF GA PP% PK% Home Away
Penguins 264 239 17.2 82.7 25-13-3 20-15-6
Hurricanes 236 221 18.7 80.4 26-14-1 19-16-6
GF (goals for), GA (goals against), PP% (power play percentage), PK% (penalty kill percentage), Home (home record), Away (away record), L 10 (record in last 10 games)
 
Regular Season Standings
  GP W L OTL Pts Division Conference League
Penguins 82 45 28 9 99 2, Atlantic 4, Eastern 8, NHL
Hurricanes 82 45 30 7 97 2, Southeast 6, Eastern 11, NHL
GP (games played), W (wins), L (losses), OTL (overtime losses), Pts (standings points), Division (divisional rank), Conference (conference rank), League (league rank)
 
Regular Season Team Leaders
Penguins Hurricanes
  Stat Player   Stat Player
Goals 35 Malkin Goals 40 Staal
Assists 78 Malkin Assists 53 Whitney
Points 113 Malkin Points 77 Whitney
+/- +23 Scuderi +/- +15 Staal
PIMs 171 Godard PIMs 79 Ruutu
Hits 309 Orpik Hits 228 Ruutu
BkS 164 Scuderi BkS 160 Seidenberg
Wins 35 Fleury Wins 39 Ward
GAA 2.67 Fleury GAA 2.44 Ward
Sv% .912 Fleury Sv% .916 Ward
SO 4 Fleury SO 6 Ward
PIM (penalty minutes), BkS (blocked shots), GAA (goals-against average), Sv% (save percentage), SO (shutouts)