GAMEDAY 50 - CANUCKS
10:00 PM
General Motors Place
Listen to the game at [WXDX]
Know The Enemy:
"Last time the Pens played in Vancouver, every time Crosby touched the puck, some select people in the crowd booed him. Why? Who knows, it's not like we have some hate on the Penguins or on Crosby. I hope people going to the game will have the respect just to enjoy a good game, but there are always a few dumb people at GM Place, so I won't hold my breath. Funny thing is, those same people will be cheering for Sid in less than a month's time at the Olympics."
Fleury is out.
John Curry is starting.
The Penguins have signed 2008 draft pick Alexander Pechurski to a one game try out contract.
Pechurski will back up Curry in tonight's game.
From Canada.com:
Asked if he felt any extra pressure due to an inexperienced back-up, Curry said: “Not really. I'm not planning on using the back-up goalie.”
This is what Faceoff Factor has to say about Pechurski:
Career Projection
Pechurski has played well for the Russians in international tournaments, deploying a hybrid style that makes him very versatile as a netminder. Flexibility is his greatest asset, and he moves about the crease with unwavering ease. His future in Pittsburgh could never be more than as a backup to Marc-Andre Fleury, but he’s a very interesting player to keep an eye on. He has NHL-caliber talent, but there are several questions surrounding him. Foremost, he may or may not ever make it to North America from Russia.
Strengths
Ungodly flexibility and poise between the pipes.
Weaknesses
Smallish stature…doesn’t always take good angles…fundamentals could use refining.
Fleury's injury destroys the Olympic goaltending battle that everyone wanted to see.
Whatev.
Fleury deserves to outrank Luongo in the Olympics anyway.
He'd have nothing to prove tonight.
Just the playoff stats alone give the advantage to MAF.
The Pens lines:
Mike Rupp - Sidney Crosby - Bill Guerin
Max Talbot - Evgeni Malkin - Ruslan Fedotenko
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis - Craig Adams - Eric Godard
Max Talbot - Evgeni Malkin - Ruslan Fedotenko
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis - Craig Adams - Eric Godard
Alex Goligoski - Kris Letang
Mark Eaton - Sergei Gonchar
Jay McKee - Ben Lovejoy
John Curry
Rupp gets an opportunity on the first line.
With the game in Vancouver, we expect to hear approximately 80 million Olympic references tonight.
The Pens being in Vancouver make us think of this game on December 8th, 2007:
Matt Cooke fought Ryan Malone that night:
The Pens will collect donations on Thursday before the game against the Caps.
The Canucks are currently 7th in the Western Conference with 56 points.
They've lost their last three games in a row.
They won four in a row prior to that.
Henrik Sedin leads the NHL in points with 64.
Crosby is seven points behind with 57.
CBC is calling this a matchup of Hart Trophy Candidates.
If you want a Talbot "SHHHHH" t-shirt, check out this post.
Do it.
Go Pens.
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