Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Preview: Penguins at Detroit

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

May 26, 10:34 AM | Hype this story!
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Series Preview — Schedule — FF Predictions — Media Predictions

8:00 @ Joe Louis Arena
Versus, CBC, RDS
Probable Goaltenders: Fleury (Pit), Osgood (Det)
 
Inside The Game
The setting is the same, but the lines have changed.  According to various media outlets, the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday made adjustments to their lines with intentions of better countering the talented Detroit Red Wings.

Gone are the lines that, for the most part, have been used since the arrival of Pascal Dupuis and Marian Hossa at the trade deadline, and in their place are a new set of lines that hope to create an advantage.

New Lines:
Ryan Malone – Sidney Crosby – Marian Hossa
Maxime Talbot – Evgeni Malkin – Petr Sykora
Pascal Dupuis – Jordan Staal – Tyler Kennedy
Gary Roberts – Adam Hall – Jarkko Ruutu

"Every team has to make adjustments through the course of the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said to the media, according to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.  "We think those adjustments are going to help us get successful."

Forget successful, the Penguins just need to start out with a little production.

Saturday’s game looked to be going in favor of the Penguins early, as they drew four first period penalties and put 12 shots on goal.  But the final 40 minutes were another story.

In that span, the Penguins drew just one penalty, took seven shots, gave up all four goals, and took four penalties (compared to one in the first period).

Clearly an adjustment was needed.

So, as the game went on, Therrien juggled lines, hoping to find some combination that worked.  Nothing did, but his players believe the new lines will work.

"It’s good to make adjustments and try a couple new things," Talbot said.  Crosby added: "That’s just a decision to make sure everything’s evened out."

With the defensive abilities of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk — the Red Wings’ top two players —they are capable of matching up against the Crosby/Hossa line.  Adding Malone to the mix provides an extra offensive weapon without downgrading the other lines too much.

"One thing that’s important to us with the adjustment we made, there’s (chemistry) with players," Therrien said.  "We want to keep those combinations.  We’re talking about Crosby and Hossa, Malkin and Sykora, and we like Staal and Kennedy together.  So, when you evaluate the other team, this is where you have to make some adjustments.  Ryan Malone could be a good fit to play against their top line.  With Talbot, I like his grit.  I like his speed.  He’s a guy that likes to pursue the puck, create turnovers.  So, I believe it could be a good fit."

The third line continues the traditional shutdown role with two defensive forwards in Staal and Dupuis and a high energy player in Kennedy, while the fourth line will be used for momentum swings via physicality.

With these new lines in place, the Penguins hope to earn a victory before heading back to Pittsburgh for games three and four.  It won’t be easy, but it can be done.
 
Playoff Team Statistics
  GF/G GA/G PP% PK% Home Away L 10 Streak
Penguins 3.40 2.00 22.9 86.9 8-0 4-3 7-3 1 loss
Red Wings 3.47 1.82 20.7 88.2 8-1 5-3 8-2 2 wins
 
Series Leaders
  Stat Penguins   Stat Red Wings
Goals - - Goals 2 Samuelsson
Assists - - Assists 1 Holmstrom / Lidstrom / Stuart
Points - - Points 2 Samuelsson
PIMs 2 6 players tied PIMs 4 Holmstrom / Lidstrom
GAA 4.00 Fleury GAA 0.00 Osgood
Sv% .889 Fleury Sv% 1.00 Osgood
 
Series Results
In Detroit In Pittsburgh
Game 1 Detroit wins 4-0    
Game 2      
    Game 3  
    Game 4  
Game 5      
    Game 6  
Game 7      
 
Injuries
Penguins Injury Red Wings Injury
Eaton, IR Torn ACL Franzen, DTD
Kopecky, IR		 Concussion
Sprained MCL/Torn ACL
 
Note: Info up-to-date as of 10:15 am, Saturday, May 24, 2008.

Comments

  1. Dabich

    May 26, 07:04 PM

    I hope this works!!!

Commenting is closed for this article.