The Rangers and Penguins are back at it tonight for Game Three of their series. The Penguins evened the series on Saturday night, and the story of that game was the Rangers inefficient powerplay. They went just one-for-seven in that game, and it presumably has cost them the series already. In all seriousness, the powerplay is a concern, but this series is far from over. All of this doom and gloom is kind of entertaining. That said, the Pens blue line is a mess, and the Rangers really needed to take advantage. Pouliot and Ehrhoff are inchin towards returns.
The Pens still have to go without Kris Letang, Olli Maata, Derick Pouliot, Christian Ehrhoff, and Pascal Dupuis. The Rangers are without Kevin Klein tonight, the only injury the Blueshirts are facing at the moment, although he is on this trip and could play in Game Four. The Pens now have the home ice matchup advantage, so it will be up to Alain Vigneault to ensure McDonagh and Girardi are out there against Crosby.
Justin did a full goalie preview of Marc-Andre Fleury, as the Rangers will look to exploit his playoff shortcomings. I wrote a comprehensive series preview, and you should definitely check out both if you haven’t yet already.
Penguins Lines
Daniel Winnik-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-David Perron
Beau Bennett-Brandon Sutter-Steve Downie
Nick Spaling-Maxim Lapierre-Blake Comeau
Paul Martin-Ben Lovejoy
Rob Scuderi-Ian Cole
Taylor Chorney-Brian Dumoulin
PP1: Martin-Crosby-Malkin-Perron-Hornqvist
PP2: Kunitz-Bennett-Downie-Cole-Scuderi
PK: Winnik, Lapierre, Sutter, Spaling, Crosby, Martin, Scuderi, Lovejoy, Cole
Marc-Andre Fleury is in net.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Mats Zuccarello–Derick Brassard–J.T. Miller
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes–Martin St. Louis
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–Jesper Fast
Marc Staal–Ryan McDonagh
Keith Yandle–Dan Girardi
Matt Hunwick–Dan Boyle
PP1: Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Nash, Yandle
PP2: Miller, Hayes, Zuccarello, Boyle, McDonagh
PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Yandle, McDonagh
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Kevin Klein (arm), James Sheppard (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: All three rookie forwards score a goal.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on NBCSN and MSG.
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