Pittsburgh Penguins

The Morning Skate: Injury riddled Sabres and Pens face off in Pittsburgh

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Depending how you slice it, saying the Rochester Americans and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are facing off this evening wouldn’t be that big of a stretch. Fact is WBS will host Norfolk while the Amerks are on a road trip in Texas. Their parent clubs have just poached a majority of their roster.

Both the Sabres and Penguins are without numerous key players – a certain Pittsburgh center being the most prominent absence – for this evening’s game. Both teams had to travel to Pittsburgh for the game. Buffalo hosted Toronto while the Penguins were in Ottawa last night.

This is the final trip Buffalo will make to the Consol Energy Center this season; their first trip came back in October. That game was also played without number 87. Buffalo had a far healthier roster the last time they rolled into Pittsburgh. On that night, Jhonas Enroth was dazzling and Buffalo received some depth scoring on their way to a win.

The Sabres power play was shaken from its slumber last night, scoring three goals in the second period alone. Pittsburgh suffered a loss in a high-scoring affair in Ottawa. Looking at the scores from last night’s games, the fact that both teams travelled and that this is the tail-end of a back-to-back set; it may be safe to assume Lindy Ruff and Dan Bylsma will keep things close to the vest.

Highlighted Matchup

The Baby Pens vs. the Amerks. The roster Buffalo will roll out is nothing near the near 50/50 split they iced against Washington in November. The same could be said for the Penguins. However, both teams are missing star players and their depth is being tested. Whichever team gets more support from those depth players is likely to get the win.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Jhonas Enroth 17GP 8-6-1, 2.43 GAA, .922 SV%

PIT: Marc-Andre Fleury 25GP, 15-7-2, 2.28 GAA, .916 SV%

Last Game

10/15/2011, Consol Energy Center, Sabres 3 – Penguins 2

*no stats for the third-straight Saturday, sorry*

Double Minors: Sabres 3 – Penguins 2

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

A strong bounce-back effort, led by Jhonas Enroth’s 29 saves, gave Buffalo their first win against Pittsburgh since 2009.

While the Sabres power play didn’t get on the score sheet, they were better in controlling the puck and didn’t allow a half-dozen odd-man rushes. The penalty kill was called on only once, but answered the bell, they have killed 13 of 15 chances against for a respectable 86.7% rate.

Enroth was the story of the game, he made several sparkling saves, including a point-blank opportunity while the Penguins skated with six men. Entering the year, Enroth was expected to be a significant upgrade over the past two backup goaltenders. He seems fit for the task as he played a sharp game despite a layoff of over a week.

While the Sabres do not see a back-to-back set again until November, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Enroth get another Saturday start in Tampa. He could also get the nod as the Lightning return to Buffalo next Tuesday to close a home-and-home set.

  • Luke Adam doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He has found great chemistry with linemates Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. The top scoring line has found the net in all four games, accounting for 18 total points along the way (7+11). In addition, Vanek, Adam and Pominville are the top three scorers on the roster, respectively.
  • While Jochen Hecht may not bump Luke Adam from the lineup, there is probably a good chance that he bumps Brad Boyes or Cody McCormick from their spots. It will be a tough choice, despite Boyes’ struggles last night, as the Boyes-Leino-Ennis line continues to create chances and carry the play and McCormick offers a a physical edge that would be significantly decrease if he were to be pulled from the lineup. The one plus will be Hecht’s addition to the penalty kill. While the shorthanded unit has been stout, Hecht has long been one of Buffalo’s most responsible defensive forwards, his addition will make the unit much better.
  • Marc-Andre Gragnani has had two tough games in a row. He made a few bad choices with the puck against Carolina and had similar trouble yesterday in the Steel City. Mike Weber will likely see some time in the near future, particularly if Gragnani continues to struggle. While he has become a fixture on the top power play unit, I have to think Andrej Sekera brings the same benefits that Gragnani offers to the unit.
  • The power play, after converting three of eight chances in Europe (37.5%), has gone 0-7 since returning to North America. Christian Ehrhoff’s spot on the top unit is somewhat perplexing. As a defenseman acquired to boost the power play with his shot, Ehrhoff has been playing to the top of the right faceoff circle rather than the top of the unit. While it is still a prime shooting location, he has begun to drift low on many plays, effectively eliminating himself as a shooter. I’d like to see him at the top of the set up in order to capitalize on his shot.

Three Stars

1. Luke Adam

2. Nathan Gerbe

3. James Neal

NHL Links

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Penguins

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Coming of a disappointing home opener, the Sabres will need to bounce back quickly as they travel to Pittsburgh tonight for the first of four meetings with the Penguins.

Buffalo will also be looking to exact revenge a bit of revenge against the Penguins; Buffalo has lost six-straight against Pittsburgh. The last Buffalo victory came on December 29, 2009. A dismal effort on the power play by Buffalo doomed them last night. I expect to see a few changes made to shore up the giveaways that cost the Sabres last night. Of note, this is the first of Buffalo’s league-high 22 back-to-back sets. They started 2-0-0 after their trip to Europe last week.

I would like to see Lindy Ruff shuffle his lineup a bit this evening. I think this would be a good opportunity to get Jhonas Enroth his first start along with inserting Mike Weber in against a physical opponent. I fully expect the, “Ryan had a long layoff so we thought he could go again tonight” excuse as to why Miller starts the back-to-back set. But Enroth needs to get in a game soon, this seems like the perfect opportunity. I would put Weber in because the Penguins are going to play a more physical game and Marc-Andre Gragnani struggled last night.

The Penguins will be wearing their blue alternate jerseys this evening but will be without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. While this will make the matchups for Buffalo a bit easier, the Penguins had no trouble steaming to the playoffs without their two marquee players last season. Pittsburgh is riding a hot start from the league-leader in goals, James Neal. The Pens are first in the East as they have jumped to a 3-0-2 start.

Highlighted Matchup

Tyler Myers/Robyn Regehr vs James Neal: Neal has caught fire early for the Penguins and is the main source of offense for a Penguins team missing their two marquee players. Neal has four goals through five games and should see a healthy dose of the Sabres top defensive pairing. Myers and Regehr matched Eric Staal for much of last night, but the match tailed off as the special teams issue heated up. Expect Ruff to stick with this match for most of the game.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Jhonas Enroth 2010-11: 14 GP, 9-2-2, 2.73 GAA, .907 SV%

PIT: Marc-Andre Fleury 3 GP, 3-0-0, 2.59 GAA, .911 SV%

2010-11 Season Series BUF 0-4-0

11/24/2010, HSBC Arena, Sabres 0 – Penguins 1

12/11/2010, HSBC Arena, Sabres 2 – Penguins 5

2/4/2011, CONSOL Energy Center, Sabres 2 – Penguins 3

3/8/2011, CONSOL Energy Center, Sabres 1 – Penguins 3

2ITB NHL preview: The East

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Another NHL season is upon us after a summer that was filled with more Buffalo hockey news than you could shake a stick at. The entire Eastern Conference saw a shake up over the summer and the conference could see a similar playoff race, with seeds 7-12 all within shouting distance of each other. I think the same playoff cast will return this season, but with a few minor changes: Continue reading →

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round one recap

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

To say the first round of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs were highly entertaining would be a massive understatement.

Half of the series went to a game seven and three of the four deciding games were spectacular. The one exception was the 5-2 drubbing the Flyers put on the Sabres. The other four series were equally entertaining. I would say the Caps 4-1 triumph and Detroit’s sweep of the Desert Dogs were the only ho-hum parts of the first round.

Eastern Conference

#1 Washington Capitals defeat #8 New York Rangers 4-1

I had the Caps winning in five, which really is no great stretch of a prediction. This could have shaped up to be a much different series had Marian Gaborik not gift-wrapped the game four overtime goal for Jason Chimera. The Capitals improved defense was strong as was Michael Neuvirth. Washington scored timely goals and Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t enough to counter the superior match up. Turning point: Marian Gaborik’s gaffe leads to OT winning goal to give Washington a 3-1 series lead. MVP: Michael Neuvirth – 4-1, 1.38 GAA, .946 SV% Continue reading →

2ITB first-round predictions

Chris Ostrander2 Comments

After going just about o’fer on my regular season predictions, here is a look at who I think will advance in the first round of the NHL Playoffs.

East

1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. New York Rangers

This is an interesting series. If Ryan Callahan was healthy and the Rangers had better scoring depth they could really give the Caps a run. However, they don’t have those two things. The Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist and block a lot of shots. It ends there. The Caps play good defense and can score in bunches. Their goaltending is quite suspect but Alex Ovechkin has been heating up over the last half of the season. Plus, Jason Arnott and Scott Hannan were two fantastic acquisitions by George McPhee. Caps in five.

Continue reading →

Looking back at my conference predictions

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

A prognosticator I am not. My mock NFL Draft senior year was about 15% correct. When I went about predicting the NHL’s playoff picture back in October, I didn’t have high hopes. Let us see how 2ITB did:

East

Prediction – 1. WAS, 2. PIT, 3. BOS, 4. NJD, 5. BUF, 6. OTT, 7. MTL, 8. PHI, 9. NYR, 10. CAR, 11. TOR, 12. TBL, 13. NYI, 14. ATL, 15. FLA

Actual – 1. WAS, 2. PHI, 3. BOS, 4. PIT, 5. TBL, 6. MTL, 7. BUF, 8. NYR, 9. CAR, 10. TOR, 11. NJD, 12. ATL, 13. OTT, 14. NYI, 15. FLA

So I was a bit off in the middle. Not too many people would have bet on that epic collapse by New Jersey and I, admittedly put far too much stock in Brian Elliott and Pascal Leclaire. Philadelphia overachieved (according to my original calculation) and I vastly underestimated Tampa Bay.

Washington was a pretty easy choice to make, as was keeping Atlanta, Florida and the Islanders at the bottom. Otherwise it was a hodgepodge of close calls and near misses.

West

Prediction – 1. LA, 2. VAN, 3. CHI, 4. SJ, 5. DET, 6. NSH, 7. ANA, 8. CGY, 9. COL, 10. PHX, 11. STL, 12. DAL, 13. MIN, 14. CBJ, 15. EDM

Actual – 1. VAN, 2. SJ, 3. DET, 4. ANA, 5. NSH, 6. PHX, 7. LA, 8. CHI, 9. DAL, 10. CGY, 11. STL, 12. MIN, 13. CBJ, 14. COL, 15. EDM

Since the West is such a crap shoot it would have been pretty hard to predict either way. I gave LA too much credit and it turns out the Hawks didn’t have close to enough depth to compete at the level they did last year.

My biggest oversight was with Colorado at nine, turns out they really stink. The Western playoff picture is extremely interesting this season, with the amount of parity out there it isn’t a stretch to say that any team can advance and any team could have finished two to four places higher.

Just a thought – Max Talbot should shut it

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

I have never been a Max Talbot fan. I loved when he fought Dan Carcillo in the 2009 playoffs and held his finger to the Wachovia Center crowd. That was great. But, on the whole, I’m not a huge fan of his.

Max Talbot put up some early bulletin board material for the 2011 Winter Classic

Continue reading →