Also, will not be participating a whole lot due to my wrist hurting.)Gooooood morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the sequel of buttball - your Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-11) against the Arizona Coyotes (23-44-8).
The last time these two teams played (one week ago, in Phoenix), Brandon Sutter scored a wonderful goal off of his butt to propel the Pens to victory. The game started off terribly, with Tobias Rieder scoring a short-handed goal to give the 'Yotes an early lead, but the Pens came back to win it.
This will be the 74th game for the Pens, and they are currently in a tight race for seeding in the Metro division. The Isles, who have played one more game, sit two points ahead & will be playing the Anaheim Ducks today. Washington (same # of games), meanwhile, plays the Predators. This is a good chance for the Pens to make up some points on both.
A Brief Look at the Team Formerly Known as Phoenix
The 'Yotes are currently in a fight for the McDavid sweepstakes. They currently sit at 54 points in 75 games played, 2nd worst in the league behind (ahead of?) the Sabres (48 points). However, the Oilers are only one point behind/ahead. It would do them very well to lose this game today; if neither the 'Yotes or the Sabres get the #1 draft pick (currently a 66.5% chance... Sabres at 20%, Coyotes at 13.5%), then the Coyotes get neither McDavid or Eichel. They need a quality center. As previously noted, they're a terrible 23-44-8, including a weak 10-17-3 against Eastern teams (4-8-3 against Metro teams). They're a 2-7-1 in their last 10: only the Leafs (1-8-1) & the Sabres (1-6-3) are worse. They score a woeful 2.04 goals per game (2nd worst), giving up 3.25 goals (3rd worst). Their powerplay is better than the Penguins, actually, with a 20.6% (7th in the league); keep in mind that this includes when they had Yandle & Vermette. Their PK, however, is a poor 77.9% (26th). Two of their top 5 players in scoring no longer play for the team (Yandle to NYR, Vermette to CHI).
Here is the projected lineup, according to Daily Faceoff. Their #1 center is familiar...
Several of their top players - M. Boedker, M. Hanzal (so hot right now), & L. Korpikoski - are injured. Many know about OEL, one of the most underrated defensemen in the league (due to playing on such a terrible team). Most here know about Arcobello & Vitale. Doan's also well-known... so how about we learn about one of their young guys?T. Rieder - M. Arcobello - S. Doan
M. Erat - S. Gagner - D. Moss (Mikey's favorite)
C. Cunningham - K. Chipchura - J. "May the" Szwarz "be with you"
T. McGinn - Joe "Potash's bane" Vitale - BJ Crombeen
O. Ekman-Larsson - M. Stone
K. Dahlbeck - C. Murphy
J. Moore - B. Gormley
M. Smith in goal
Spotlight on #8, Tobias Rieder
Rieder was drafted in the 4th round in 2011 by the Edmonton Oilers. His rights were traded for that incredibly skilled future superstar (
), Kale Kessy (who has yet to break out of the AHL). In 65 games played, Rieder has 19 points for the Coyotes (7 goals, 12 assists), and is a force on the PK, having scored 3 SHG. Two of them came in the same game... 58 seconds apart, a rookie record. I asked our resident scout, Mikey, for a brief report on Rieder:
Thanks again, Mikey!Rieder is kind of a beefy, young, two-way winger. A little slow off the blocks, but strong on his edges. Does not pass up shots from anywhere. Has strong defensive awareness. Not a ton of creativity to his game, so he strikes offensively as an opportunist, not as an organic creationist. Not really a tough guy, he plays the game the right way...just not with a real physical edge, unless he's trying to get the puck back. Already a pretty good PK guy...he stabs the puck away from you, almost like a d-man, when you're in the neutral zone. His stick game is really on point. Seems like a potential middle-six forward, probably a third liner for most of his career, but a good one.
Quick Pens' Hits
- This game starts a 3-game homestand for the Pens, with the next two being the Sharks & the Flyers.
- Only two teams in their remaining games are in the playoffs: the Senators (4/7, away) & the Isles (4/10, home).
- Greiss is in goal today. Fleury starts tomorrow against the Sharks (a 7:30 start on both Root & NBCSN).
- Malkin is expected to play. Hornqvist as well (on Crosby's line). Confirmed by Johnston/beat writers.
- Ehrhoff is expected to begin skating again next week.
We pass along thoughts & prayers to Head Coach Mike Johnston, who lost his mother today (Friday). He will coach today & tomorrow, then fly to the funeral. Let's win one (or two) for the coach, and put out a quality GDT as well.
Some Media Article Links (All of the list is a link to a news article, so just click on any of them to go to it.)
- Pens' Official Scouting Report on the Coyotes.
- Seth Rorabaugh / Emptynetters interviewed four-team player Mark Arcobello.
- Rorabaugh also interviewed Coyotes' coach Dave Tippett, asking about the lack of scoring in the NHL.
- Malkin spoke frankly about the poor quality of the team as of late.
- Listen to the latest Pens Roundtable with Jason Mackay, Josh Yohe, & Guy Junker.
- Yohe also has an injury update for the Pens.
- And another Yohe article, this time defending Johnston.
- Pens digital preview in spoiler:
- She also has a pregame article up.
- Shane Doan is good people.
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Let's have a good one, everyone. Have fun. Go Pens. And again, apologies for the super-early thread. Wanted to give everyone something to read on Saturday morning. Also apologies for not participating much due to a strained wrist (I mean... an upper body injury that leaves me day-to-day. Maybe they should put me on LTIR to give cap space).
This is just my style of GDT. It's how I did it at LGP too.