Penguins vs Canadiens preview

Judging by Montreal's 7-4 performance last night against the Hurricanes, it's more than obvious that Christobal Huet can give up a few goals. More importantly though, is that number seven, the number of goals an otherwise low-scoring team managed to put up against Cam Ward, one of the beat netminders in the league, to secure Huet's win for the night. Clearly, the Habs can pack a punch too.

The last time the Pens and Canadiens faced off, Huet was on the bench in favor of Carey Price's first NHL start. If you're a Penguins fan, then you know how that went. If I have to hear about how Dryden, Roy and Price all won their first career starts against Pittsburgh one more time I'm going to flip a sh*t.

With that being said, at least Price's first start is out of the way. Die hard Montreal fans have been hailing him the "Savior of Montreal".

I could care less who starts in net. Huet and Price are both beatlable, and if it weren't for Price having his toe in the right place at the right time last game Sid would've notched his first goal of the season and the score would've been tied at 3. Of course, that's just me being positive in my hindsight. Crosby was still 'warming up' at this point, so I think tonight's game is going to be entirely different.

Speaking of, this is the last chance for the Pens to snag a home victory before they embark on a nice little four game road trip, a trip that includes visits to Minnesota and Colorado before returning back to the east coast against the Islanders and Devils.

Both teams played a very disciplined game as far as penalties run in their last match. Not many powerplay opportunities were given to either team. After only giving the Habs two chances on the powerplay, the Penguins' penalty kill still managed to let one in, putting the Canadiens' PP unit at 1-2 on the night. The Pens' powerplay on the other hand managed only one goal on five chances. A powerplay goal tonight would make it the eleventh consecutive game in which the Penguins have notched a goal with the man advantage.

Some concern happens to also be on the Penguins and their scoring. The 5-4 win against the Ducks in the home opener and the 6-4 win over Toronto two games later were direct examples of the Penguins' offensive assault. Outside of those games, the Pens have been on a bit of a decline. Not to mention, the Pens also have this insatiable ability to only win games by one goal. Five of their nine games have been won by one goal, while two have been lost by the one. Needless to say, it's a bit stressful being a Pens fan and watching the clock tick down in the closing seconds of the third while holding a one goal lead.

Max Talbot practiced with the Pens the other day but is not expected to start tonight as he still has some soreness in his neck from the crash into the boards Thursday night. With that in mind, the Pens have called up Tyler Kennedy from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton club. Kennedy was a prospect hopeful during the preseason and now has his chance in the parent club. In six games with WBS, Kennedy is second on the team in scoring with three goals and two assists. Last season, Kennedy practically scored a point a game, tallying 37 in 40.

I really hope tonight's game is not another close one. I'd like to see the Pens hand the Canadiens a loss similar to the one the Leafs gave them the other night. If the offense wanted to hit the gas some time soon, then now wouldn't be a bad time. Winning at home before hitting the road is a nice boost to any team. Hopefully that is the boost the Pens can get after tonight's win.

Pens vs Habs preview

The Pens take on the Canadiens this Wednesday night for the first time this season. At least, when it counts. In the two preseason games against the Habs, each team took a win, with a former Penguins generously handing us that overtime loss.

Alexei Kovalev (or as he is known now, simply Alex) [why?] scored in game one of the preseason on a pass from Mark Streit with under 30 seconds remaining before a shootout decision. In that same game, Kovalev also assisted the two other goals for a Canadiens 3-2 win. To say the struggling Pens defense will have to contain Kovalev is certainly an understatement.

Speaking of, the defense has spent far too much time idling around the net. Although I don't expect (nor do I want) them to over-commit to the puck, they hardly even play the man. There is no pressure on to the boards to push the puck out, and the other team is spending far too much time putting shots on net towards Marc "Still Waiting To Find My Groove"-Andre Fleury. If the Pens want to play this way Wednesday night, then they best be putting up 7 goals if they hope to even stay in it.

Continuing with the Habs, we'll look at threat number two - Saku Koivu. In game one against the Hurricanes he netted two powerplay goals, one of which proved to be the overtime game winner. If Koivu and Kovalev hit the Pens on the powerplay, then the PK unit is going to have their work cut out for them. Ideally I'd like to see Talbot and Staal working the corners in the Habs' zone, eating up time and controlling the play. In the last game against Anaheim, Talbot showed some good work on the PK unit. I'd like to see a repeater.

The Canadiens' defense, led primarily by goaltender Cristobal Huet, is nothing short of average. In the Habs' 3-2 preseason victory over the Pens, Huet faced 12 shots, giving up zero goals before Yann Danis got his shot. Danis let in 2 goals on 9 shots while Huet let in none. In game two, Huet was scratched from the line-up. Coincidentally, the Pens and Canadiens have each struggled a bit in the defensive area. Both Fleury and Huet are easily flustered when faced with a barrage of shots, and I'd expect to see nothing less in this contest.

On to the Penguins.

There's no better time than now for Crosby to step up and show us how he brought home the hardware last season. Everyone predicts and expects and suspects and whatever you wanna say that he's going to have a 120+ season. But if he keeps playing at the rate of hardly one point every two games, he's on track for a 41 - 60 point season. I want to see, at the least, a goal and an assist Wednesday night.

Now for the Fleury situation. There's been a lot of talk about how much longer Therrion is going to keep him in net. The way I see it; it's only game three. Give him two more, and I genuinely mean that. Give him two more games to find his groove, and if he doesn't improve yank 'em and put in Sabourin. If there is one player on the Penguins roster who I've inherently doubted, it's Fleury. I personally have never perceived him to be a franchise goalie, and I see him in the same light as Ken Wregget and Patrick Lalime. On a similar note, he'd have to find a home on a high-scoring team if he hopes to play elsewhere and collect some wins. In other words, he better pull himself together and stick it out with the Pens if he ever hopes to touch the cup.

I predict a highly offensive contest Wednesday night, and I'm going to go on a whim and say Pens win 4-3. Not only will Sykora have the stints out of his newly remodeled nose, and Crosby hopefully playing at 100% by then, but the home crowd will hopefully carry them to another victory.