GDT: #57| Penguins @ Sabres | 7:30pm EST

[Dipsy Doodle]

I must've missed what happened to Kunitz. Why is he questionable tonight?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I must've missed what happened to Kunitz. Why is he questionable tonight?

Nobody knows.

And he isn't questionable. He's on a "hopeful maintenance" day.

 

[eXile59]

Sid seemed pretty frustrated last game. Of course when Turris is boxing you out 30 feet away from the puck going through the neutral zone you can understand why.

 

[rick6668]

Taking my son to his first NHL Game tonight! Hoping for a good game.
Go Pens!

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Nobody knows.

And he isn't questionable. He's on a "hopeful maintenance" day.

Oh, okay. Good.

 

[Beau Knows]

Good time for Sid to remind Miller that he can't stop him heading into the Olympics.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Oh, okay. Good.

I hope it's good.

Because Crosby was skating with Gibbons and Harry Z. this morning.

 

[Axman]

I finally get to relax with a couple old ones and watch a game.

Kind of expecting a beatdown; Pens are the conference highest scoring team while the Sabres are the league's lowest scorers. Sid owns Buffalo so hopefully they do damage early and often.

NO INJURIES!

 

[Greeneye]

I just hope it's not as boring as the ott game. Buffalo is an ahl team, this should be an asskicking.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I hope it's good.

Because Crosby was skating with Gibbons and Harry Z. this morning.

Gulp.

 

[LetangInTheSO]

Taking my son to his first NHL Game tonight! Hoping for a good game.
Go Pens!

Hope you and your son enjoy the game! Some of my greatest childhood memories are of attending games during the Bure-era Canucks years. Hockey players were like Gods to me. In the last few years (I'm 25 now) I've taken lots of friends to their "first hockey game," and they're always blown away by watching the game in person. The speed, the sounds, the crowd. All great stuff!!

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I just hope it's not as boring as the ott game. Buffalo is an ahl team, this should be an asskicking.

I really liked how the Penguins stuck with it and played through that miserable game.

But yeah... obviously staring at a bucket of wallpaper paste would have been more entertaining.

I really would love to see a big, ostentatious, brutal blowout, tonight. But that's not often the way the Penguins seem to play these cellar-dwellers. They love to make it "interesting."

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Hope to see a monster game from Neal tonight, to try and make a good impression before Stamkos replacement is chosen.

 

[End of Line]

Taking my son to his first NHL Game tonight! Hoping for a good game.
Go Pens!

Have a fun time!

Lets Go Pens!

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I hope it's good.

Because Crosby was skating with Gibbons and Harry Z. this morning.

Games like this, I don't understand why Bylsma doesn't just stack one line. Roll Crosby/Malkin/Neal out there and hope the other three lines can just be even with Buffalo, instead of handicapping Crosby and turning him into a non-factor.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I don't trust them against teams like Buffalo and I always end up unduly impressed when they don't embarrass themselves. So, no injuries and no being embarrassing.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Games like this, I don't understand why Bylsma doesn't just stack one line. Roll Crosby/Malkin/Neal out there and hope the other three lines can just be even with Buffalo, instead of handicapping Crosby and turning him into a non-factor.

Obviously, I always prefer to keep them apart to create matchup problems for the other team (yes, yes... I know... that implies that this team attempts to create matchups). But yeah... for the sake of Crosby's sanity, I don't get why they can't just play he, Geno and Neal together when he's missing his entire line to injury.

Then again, I also don't understand why a team so firmly in first place can't experiment with different players in different roles for more than one shift at a time. And possibly even *gasp* bench a veteran depth player to get a younger guy in the lineup for a night. So...

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Lets hope that Neal turns it up now that there's a spot on Team Canada.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Obviously, I always prefer to keep them apart to create matchup problems for the other team (yes, yes... I know... that implies that this team attempts to create matchups). But yeah... for the sake of Crosby's sanity, I don't get why they can't just play he, Geno and Neal together when he's missing his entire line to injury.

Then again, I also don't understand why a team so firmly in first place can't experiment with different players in different roles for more than one shift at a time. And possibly even *gasp* bench a veteran depth player to get a younger guy in the lineup for a night. So...

Well yeah, I don't expect the lines to be stacked when Kunitz is playing. But when the option is stack the line, or have Crosby play with Gibbons and a friggin' 4th liner, at that point it just makes more sense to play Crosby with Malkin and Neal. Otherwise, you're basically shutting Crosby down for the opposition.

 

[stefanh]

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG 59s
Niskanen and Kunitz are on the ice for the Penguins' pregame warmups. Did not participate in morning skate.

 

[Vujtek]

You guys ready for rivalry night!


Oh NBC....

 

[Stad]

You guys ready for rivalry night!


Oh NBC....

They really need to stop with these "rivalry" nights

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Well yeah, I don't expect the lines to be stacked when Kunitz is playing. But when the option is stack the line, or have Crosby play with Gibbons and a friggin' 4th liner, at that point it just makes more sense to play Crosby with Malkin and Neal. Otherwise, you're basically shutting Crosby down for the opposition.

Indeed. But you said it, there... "makes sense." Hopefully Kunitz makes it into the lineup. Sounds like he's at least at warmup.



And yeah... the great Buffalo/Pittsburgh rivalry. Right up there with Montreal/Boston, no doubt. Just think of all those classic playoff series!

 

[rick6668]

Niskanen and Kunitz on the ice for warm ups.

 

[Shrimper]

The roster invites are set... Stamkos will be replaced by one of the reserve players, not Neal. The games are in three days... can't exactly whip up all the documentation and other stuff required for a new player at this point AFAIK. Much less him have time to set up appropriate travel arrangements and the like.

Pretty sure the Olympics start on the 7th but the actual hockey tournament starts on the 13th. It'll be MSL anyway.