Penguin career performances against the Bruins
Penguin Interviews
Dan Bylsma
Sidney Crosby
Matt Cooke
Matt Niskanen
Tyler Kennedy
Jussi Jokinen
Brooks Orpik
Courtesy, Pittsburgh Penguins
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Penguin career numbers against the Bruins
Craig Adams: 37 games (1G, 6A), 29 PIMs, (26W-43L faceoffs, 37.7%).
Adams has not fared well in the faceoff circle against the Bruins.
Beau Bennett: 3 games (0 G, 2 A), 1 PPA, 4 shots.
Bennett with two points in three games against the Bruins.
Robert Bortuzzo: 1 game (0G, 0A), minus-2 rating
Played poorly in his lone game against the B’s.
Matt Cooke: 30 games (6G, 10A), 52 PIMs, 2 Game-Winning Goals, 38 shots, 15.8 shooting %
Surprisingly high point total against Boston, underrated aspect of his matchup against the Bruins with his hit on Marc Savard getting all the notoriety.
Sidney Crosby: 22 games (9G, 23A), plus-11, (202W-253L faceoffs, 44.4%), 4 PPG, 4 PPA, 60 shots, 15.0 shooting %
Nice scoring averages, terrible faceoff numbers. Which one will prove more important in series?
Simon Despres: 2 games (0G, 0A), 4 PIMs, 2 hits, 4 shots, another really small sample size.
Pascal Dupuis: 28 games (8G, 7A), 25 hits, 76 shots, 10.5 shooting %
Playing the best hockey of his NHL career right now.
Mark Eaton: 26 games (2G, 2A)
Pens went 20-3 in regular season with Eaton in lineup, but have lost three of seven in the playoffs.
Deryk Engelland: 11 games (0G, 3A), 30 hits, 11 blocks
Engelland only has five penalty minutes against the Bruins.
Marc-Andre Fleury: 10-5-2, 2.19 GAA, .929 save percentage, 2 shutouts
Fleury has strong numbers against Boston, encouraging in the event something happens to Vokoun.
Tanner Glass: 12 games (0G, 2A), 29 hits
He’s got a goal in these playoffs, will play role killing penalties.
Jarome Iginla: 19 games (7G, 8A), 2 PPG, 5 PPA
The object of Boston’s desire, Iginla has played in 1232 NHL reg. season games but only 19 vs. B’s.
Dustin Jeffrey: 7 games (3G, 2A), 1 game-winning goal
Hasn’t suited up for the playoffs but could contribute if called upon.
Jussi Jokinen: 20 games (4G, 9A), 53W-56L, 48.6 faceoff %, 2 PPG, 5 PPA
Jokinen mediocre in the circle but had goal and three points vs B’s on April 20.
Tyler Kennedy: 18 games (1G, 4A)
His one goal was a game-winner, but TK’s numbers are obviously weak against Boston.
Chris Kunitz: 16 games (7G, 5A)
Kunitz collected a goal and two assists in three games against Boston in 2013.
Kris Letang: 18 games (2G, 8A), 2 PPG, 3 PPA, 48 shots
Letang has been active against the Bruins, had a goal and an assist in three games vs. Boston.
Evgeni Malkin: 21 games (11G, 14A), 30 PIMs, 101W-146L, 40.9 faceoff %, 5 PPG, 4 PPA
Malkin has decent offensive numbers but has struggled mightily on draws against the B’s.
Paul Martin: 30 games (2G, 8A)
Puck-moving skills important when Bruins win faceoffs, force Pens to skate 200 feet up ice.
Brenden Morrow: 12 games (5G, 2A)
Led Pens with five hits against Bruins in only game vs. B’s in 2013.
Doug Murray: 7 games (0G, 0A)
Had three blocked shots in lone game vs. Boston in ’13. Has 3 goals in 25 games for Pgh, 6-in-451 before.
James Neal: 10 games (2G, 4A), 2 PPG, 1 PPA, 28 shots
Five goals, seven points last two playoff games. Will mix things up with Zdeno Chara.
Matt Niskanen: 12 games (1G, 3A)
Still waiting for the offensive breakout Sidney Crosby predicted preseason for Nisky.
Brooks Orpik: 31 games (3G, 2A), 43 hits & 31 blocks since 2009-10
Eight days off has to help physical defender from Boston College (had two goals total in college).
Brandon Sutter: 18 games (4G, 6A), 116W-140L, 45.3 faceoff %
Scored two third-period goals in 3-2 comeback win over Bruins on March 12.
Joe Vitale: 7 games (1G, 2A), 29W-28L, 50.9 faceoff %
Went 10-14 in the circle against Boston in regular season.
Tomas Vokoun: 9-10-1-2, 2.51 GAA, .930 save percentage, 2 shutouts
Beat B’s twice in reg season, stopping 38 of 40 and 31 of 32 in the two victories.
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Tweets ‘O the Day
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins
"[Vokoun] has been one of the better goalies in NHL. He just happened to be playing in Nashville & Florida, not in media spotlight" –Shero
Joe Haggerty @HackswithHaggs
David Krejci back on the Bruins practice ice this morning. Chara & Seidenberg on different D pairings, but we'll see what happens in Pitt
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins
D-pairs: Orpik-Martin, Eaton-Letang, Murray-Niskanen, Engelland-Bortuzzo, Despres
Dave Molinari @MolinariPG 1h
Pgh. personnel groupings: 14-87-9, 12-71-18, 24-16-48, 10-36-27, 15-46-17, 4-58, 44-7, 3-2, 5-41.
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Random Thoughts
Having Sidney Crosby on your team is like having the gym teacher on your side in gym class. You’re not going to win every time but you know you’re going to have a pretty darn good chance.
Much has been made about the four remaining playoff squads winning the last four Stanley Cups, but no one has mentioned that the four teams employ the same four coaches they won the Cup with.
KHLer Anton Belov signed with the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins were rumored to be close to inking the defenseman. I thought Edmonton needed blueliners who could play defense, Belov is more of an offensive-oriented blueliner, isn’t he?
Rewatched the Pens-Isles Game 2 in which New York won, 4-3, on Marc-Andre Fleury’s bad goal surrendered to Kyle Okposo.
You knew the Pens were in trouble when coach Bylsma called a timeout nine minutes into the game with his team WINNING 3-1.
The Islanders had the better zone time in Pittsburgh’s end. The Pens seemed confident they could score whenever they wanted to, but it didn’t work out that way – at least in that game. Evgeni Nabokov made some big saves, Sidney Crosby wasn’t back at full strength (even though he scored two goals on eight shots). Bob Errey commented on how Travis Hamonic was the best defenseman on either side.
The Pens are going to need to be patient against Boston, because the Bruins are the better faceoff team and will send the puck in Pittsburgh’s zone whenever possible. The Penguins won’t have a pushover in goal that they can rely on to give up the glove-side score like Nabby.
Since the 2008-09 campaign, Pittsburgh holds a 13-6 record against the Bruins, including a 7-2 mark in Boston.
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Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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