Standings: Penguins (20-12-7), Rangers (25-9-4)

Leading Scorer: Evgeny Malkin (15-28-43)

Goaltender: Marc Andre Fleury (31 GP, 2.26 GAA, .910 SV%)

Rangers Lines (probable)

Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Brad Richards-Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko-Brian Boyle-Carl Hagelin
Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Brandon Prust

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto-Anton Stralman
Marc Staal-Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start tonight.

Scratches/Injuries: Wojtek Wolski (groin), Mike Sauer (concussion), Erik Christensen (healthy), Jeff Woywitka (healthy)

Preview: Despite being Sidney Crosby-less, the Penguins are still a pretty good team that wil make the playoffs. They get the job done with a combination of scoring (5th in the conference – 121 goals for) and great defense (3rd in the conference – 100 goals allowed). The Penguins outscore the Rangers on average, but the goal differential favors the Rangers by 11 goals due to the Rangers great defensive play.

The Pens generate offense using that all-too-familiar 2-1-2 forecheck that the Rangers use as well. Despite missing Crosby, the Pens still have a lot of dangerous weapons in Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz, and former Ranger Pascal Dupuis. Puck possession is key to this game, as keeping the puck away from the Pens will limit their scoring chances.

Fleury still has rebound control issues. So for the Rangers to be successful, they will need to crash the net and bury those opportunities. What they can’t do is try to pick corners, miss the net far side, and have the puck circle around for a rush the other way. That’s something they do too often, and the Pens are a team that will make them pay for that mistake.

Crazy Thought: Staal gets a goal.

Opponent’s Blog: The Pens Blog

Game time tonight is 7:00pm on MSG2 (listings here), AM970 and XM213.

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