PENS GAMEDAY 5/06/2010 - Game 4 - Habs

Yesterday was one of the most exciting days for us Penguin fans. Why? Jordan Staal returned to the ice for an optional practice. It was less than a week ago we all got word of an injury to Staalsy. The following day RDS.ca caused the biggest uproar I've seen on twitter since the Tiger incident by reporting Staal having "season ending" surgery. Fortunately it was inaccurate. Though we at PensU had to do a little digging on our own and found out Staal was only going to be out for 7-10 days, maybe sooner. Well, that's just what happened. Though as of now the reports show Staal will be a game time decision.

The other two missing Penguins unlikely to play tonight are Bill Guerin (likely to return on Saturday) and Mike Rupp, who is questionable due to undisclosed reasons.

Undisclosed reasons make us all ponder and speculate. We're not going to do that here. Though Geurin was just quoted at 2:50pm stating the following:

"On playing Game 5 Saturday night: That’s my goal. I won’t say yes or no but that is my goal to play Game 5. Right now that is what I am shooting for. I felt good on the ice today and I had a lot of energy. There were a lot of good jokes in the locker room today so I am feeling better."

GAME THOUGHTS

When we speak of a game 4 situation like this we're speaking of perhaps the most pivotal game of this series. We all know why, the Pens have a chance to either take a two game lead and go up 3-1, or they can let the Habs back into the series and completely alter the momentum. Tonight will be no different in the eyes of head coach Jacques Martin. He'll want to establish the same amount of energy they came out with in game 3. As stated in our thoughts on that game, if not for the heroics of Fleury the game would have gotten out of hand pretty quickly. Well that's just what Martin wants, to establish an early lead and hang on for dear life. He's reported to be doing a little line shuffling of his own to create some disruption for the Pens. Going down 3 game to 1 isn't on the Canadiens agenda, but unless they can contain the onslaught of SUP87MAN and Geno they don't stand a chance.

Thus far the Pens are undefeated on the road with a 4-0 record and are oddly one game under .500 at home (2-3). They seem to thrive when paying in the opponents arena, which is certainly not the norm. Though if you remember correctly they won every series last year in the post season on the road. Therefore proving the "Crosby Sucks" methodology as a failure.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

WEATHER THE STORM: Its inevitable that the energy level of the Habs was too much for the Pens. Chances are they're going to come out gunz-a-blazin' and try to get out on an early lead. The Pens need to keep them in check by eliminating chances in the slot.
PATIENCE AND PUCK MANAGEMENT: In the second and third period we saw two major changes for the Penguins: 1) Getting back to their North and South style play, and 2) Patience and puck management. The latter is more critical against a team like Montreal who will look to exploit the defense and capitalize on turnovers.
FLOWER POWER: Clearly goalies and win and lose a game for their team. This was exactly what happened in game 3. If Fleury can maintain his stellar play, the Pens will always have a chance.

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As of right now here are the projected lines.