Game 80 Preview: Penguins At Rangers

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 31, 12:11 PM | Hype this story!
W L OTL Pts.
3 3 1 7
 
Pts. W L OTL
8 4 3 0

7:00 @ Prudential Center
Versus (HD), TSN (HD)
Probable Goalies: Conklin (Pit), Lundqvist (NYR)
 
Inside The Game
Just one day after the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers at home, they will travel to Manhattan to play the Blueshirts in their territory.

With three games remaining in the regular season and a grip on first place in the Eastern Conference, the Penguins have the ability to control their destiny.  A win tonight would guarantee a first place finish in the Atlantic Division and no less than second place in the conference, while winning out would guarantee them first place in the conference, something the team surely would be proud of.

As the Penguins continue to get healthy — Rob Scuderi returned last week, Sidney Crosby returned Thursday, and Hossa returned yesterday, while Kris Beech and Adam Hall reportedly are ready for game action — they continue to look more and more playoff-ready.

As evidenced several weeks ago, if the tempo of the game is high-flying with plenty of offense, the Penguins can score plenty of goals, and if the game is slowed down and more defensive-minded, the Penguins are more than capable of keeping them out of the net.

What is most striking about this is that the Penguins can win any style of game.

Tonight the Penguins reportedly will give the red-hot Marc-Andre Fleury a rest so that Ty Conklin can stay fresh.  Henrik Lundqvist is expected to start between the pipes for the Rangers
 
Standings
  GP W L OT Pts Division Conference League
Penguins 79 46 26 7 99 1, Atlantic 1, Eastern 5, NHL
Rangers 78 40 27 11 91 3, Atlantic 6, Eastern 6, NHL
                 
Team Statistics
  GF GA PP% PK% Home Away L 10 Streak
Penguins 242 210 20.3 81.0 25-10-5 21-16-2 8-2-0 3 wins
Rangers 203 191 16.4 83.9 24-13-2 16-14-9 5-3-2 1 loss
                 
Team Leaders
  Stat Penguins   Stat Rangers
Goals 46 Malkin Goals 23 Drury
Assists 58 Malkin Assists 53 Gomez
Points 104 Malkin Points 69 Gomez
PIMs 132 Laraque PIMs 159 Orr
Wins 18 Conklin/Fleury Wins 35 Lundqvist
 
Injuries
Penguins Injury Rangers Injury
Beech, IR
Hall, IR
Roberts, IR
Eaton, IR		 Broken Right Wrist
Sports Hernia Surgery
Sprained Ankle
Torn ACL		    
       
Note: Info up-to-date as of 12:15 pm, Monday, March 31, 2008.

Comments

  1. Heath Condiotte

    Mar 31, 01:40 PM

    i just read over at the Post Gazette that Fleury is getting the nod… I hope they are right.

  2. Matt Bodenschatz

    Mar 31, 02:09 PM

    I saw that as well. I suppose their early morning prediction was just that: a prediction based on back-to-back games.

  3. Nathan

    Mar 31, 02:24 PM

    I really like seeing Fleury back to back, especially now getting ready for the playoffs.

  4. Phil

    Mar 31, 02:40 PM

    Especially since Conklin doesn’t seem to play well against NY teams except Buffalo. I’m not sure I have full confidence in him anymore…

  5. Nathan

    Mar 31, 02:47 PM

    Phil, me neither anymore, unfortunately.

    On the completely other end of the spectrum, I have full confidence Fleury right about now. I have that feeling of security when the other team crosses centre ice, and I’ve never had it before with Fleury. It’s a good feeling.

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