LGD: Doggin’ it out in Pittsburgh

8 years ago

It’s time to finally (barbe)cue up this game – the Leafs’ first date with the Penguins since sending them their top scorer over the summer in an attempt to clean things up for the Babcock “culture change” we’re starting to see. For Toronto, it’ll be the second half of a back-to-back, so usually the chances of getting grilled by Sid the Kid and company might be high, but the Penguins haven’t exactly been off to a sizzling start themselves. It’ll be no picnic for either team.

The Leafs

After nabbing their first win of the season last night in Columbus, the Leafs finally have some points on the board and will be looking to get into the mix with the middle of the conference. There’s no time to let last night’s victory simmer.

It’s super early, of course, but a win tonight would move them to .500 (well, sorta) and put them in the playoff picture. Even with only a handful of games into the season, it’s tough to play ketchup after a rocky road to start, and this team has deserved a little better than their current record. They certainly haven’t been soft-serving up victories to opposing teams.

LW	C	RW
James van Riemsdyk	Tyler Bozak	Leo Komarov
Shawn Matthias	Nazem Kadri	Brad Boyes
Michael Grabner	Peter Holland	P.A. Parenteau
Daniel Winnik	Nick Spaling	Joffrey Lupul

Defensive Pairings
Jake Gardiner	Dion Phaneuf
Morgan Rielly	Matt Hunwick
Roman Polak	Scott Harrington

The Penguins

Games against Pittsburgh always seem to be entertaining when the Leafs are involved, even when they’ve been far apart in the standings over the years. The Pens have been slow as cold high-fructose corn syrup here to start, but obviously the Leafs will still have a lot on their plates.

The big, big, big (really big) story going into this one is obviously this being the first matchup against Kessel, and it’ll be curious to see how the Leafs go after him. Pittsburgh, like we mentioned, is off to a tough start with only a handful of goals-scored, and Phil himself has only buried the biscuit once and sauced a single apple (candied, of course).

More concerning for the Penguins is that Sidney Crosby has been without a point so far this season, and they really need to get him going. Fortunately for them, he always plays the Leafs extremely tough and almost tends to have a little more mustard on his shot when he goes up against the blue and white. I’m not sure if matching up against the Leafs presents more of a pressure-cooker atmosphere, but he always tends to toast them. He relishes the opportunity.

Mayonnaise.

LW	C	RW
Evgeni Malkin	Sidney Crosby	Phil Kessel
David Perron	Kevin Porter	Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz	Nick Bonino	Daniel Sprong
Sergei Plotnikov	Matt Cullen	Bryan Rust

Defensive Pairings
Ian Cole	Kris Letang
Olli Maatta	Adam Clendening
Brian Dumoulin	Ben Lovejoy

It looks like Scuderi could be in for Clendening, per TSN, so keep that in mind if you care about Penguins depth defencemen.

Goaltenders

View image | gettyimages.com

Bernier and Fleury have both had a rough time getting wins so far this season, but let’s keep in mind they both have the ability to turn a game. This isn’t paper plate target practice. [Like, the paper plates you’d bring to a backyard barbecue or potluck, for example.]

What to look for

Bernier to let in a squeaker on the first shot of the game.
Phil Kessel chasing his Gatorade with Pepsi, post-hattrick.
Jays highlights.
Dion smashing Phil through the glass Van Ryn-style, with any luck.

Broadcast

The game goes at 7:00pm EST at Consol Energy Center, and CityTV will be broadcasting here in Canada since the 5-0-0 Habs are on CBC. Go figure.