Update (12:22 PM): Darren McCarty will sit tonight, according to Bruce MacLeod. No word on what will happen with the forward units, but I’m changing my guess to Jiri Hudler getting the demotion to the fourth line.
MacLeod also has a correction for my Pens lines listed below: Ruutu will center the fourth line, not Roberts. - Matt
Update (12:15 PM): Ansar Khan has more detail on why there was confusion about Franzen’s status. - Matt
Update (12:07 PM): Never mind, Franzen is playing. So says Helene St. James, via Mike Babcock. Great, great news. - Matt
Update (12:05 PM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Johan Franzen will not play tonight. He has not received medical clearance to play, though he did practice today. He is expected back this week, however. - Matt
Update (10:52 AM): Over at the FanHouse, Eric McErlain is hosting a liveblog with IwoCPO and George Malik today at noon. If you’re able, stop by to discuss the series with them. - Matt
Tonight is the second game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit leads the series 1-0 after a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh Saturday night.
The Penguins came into this series without home ice advantage for the first time in their run. They knew that splitting the first two games if they couldn’t win both was going to be necessary. A 2-0 deficit in the Finals is much more difficult to overcome than it is in other rounds. So the Pens face something of a must-win situation here.
Some keys for the Penguins:
Evgeni Malkin. The big Russian just has to play better. Every shift he continues to play average hockey is another shift the Penguins are likely to lose.
Sidney Crosby. The Kid didn’t have a bad game Saturday, but he will need to stand out tonight. This is a time when Pittsburgh needs its best players to, as Babcock would say, be its best players.
Score first. The Wings aren’t phased by being scored on first, but that doesn’t mean they’ve come back to win in those situations. For Pittsburgh, the first goal would be a major boost of confidence.
The Pens shuffled their lines in preparation for the game today:
Hossa-Crosby-Malone
Dupuis-Staal-Kennedy
Talbot-Malkin-Sykora
Hall-Roberts-Ruutu
The only lineup change for the Pens was the insertion of Gary Roberts for Georges Laraque.
For Detroit, this game is an opportunity to push the Pens one step closer to the brink. They will want to pick up where they left off Saturday by coming out strong and carrying it through to the end.
Some keys to the game for Detroit:
The Eurotwins. They had a big defensive night Saturday, but tonight would be a good night for them to shine offensively.
Chris Osgood. The Wings will need the Oz to continue his stellar play as Pittsburgh is likely to bring the offense tonight.
Puck possession. It starts with faceoffs and continues with smart, hard passes. The Wings will need to be at their best in this regard tonight. Keeping the puck away from the Pittsburgh forwards is the best way to ensure they have little impact on the game.
Detroit could see the return of Johan Franzen tonight. If he is not able to return, the lines will remain the same. If he is in the lineup, it’s possible Dan Cleary will drop back to the third line. As to who will sit, my guess is Darren McCarty, whose presence in the lineup is less necessary now that Laraque is a healthy scratch.
Lastly, I have a key for the officials:
Let them play. Game 1 was far too much of a penalty-fest. These are two of the most skilled teams in the League and play that way. They are not the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, or Philadelphia Flyers. Let them play their game and make calls only if it’s actually necessary.
This should be a heck of a game.