Who are they? Pittsburgh Penguins
What do they want? To win without Crosby and Malkin like they’ve done before; magic healing potions
What’s their ****ing problem? Injured: Sidney Crosby (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Chris Kunitz (lower body), Mark Letestu (knee), Arron Asham (upper body), Mike Comrie (hip).
Who the **** do they think they are? (IN) Fresh off the shuttle from the AHL: Joe Vitale, Brett Sterling, Nick Johnson, Ryan Craig. For the Kings, Kevin Westgarth is in over Brad Richardson, because the Pens and fighting majors are good friends. (OUT) Everyone’s favorite jerk, Matt Cooke, is currently serving a four game suspension for–oh, does it matter? You know he’s going to do reckless things again, even if part of his punishment involves writing “This time I’ve learned my lesson, Colie” three hundred times on a blackboard. Way to go, league.
What, are we supposed to be scared? What gets lost in all the talk about how many forwards they’re is missing is how good the Pens are at keeping pucks out of the net. Pittsburgh is 2nd in the league in goals against per game (2.26 — compare the Kings at 2.42); they allow just about one more shot on average than we do (28.5); and their penalty killing is far and away the best in the league with a whopping 89% success rate. As Kings fans of a certain era know very well, Disco Dan Bylsma knows team defense. With Crosby out, he’s emphasized that all the more.
Bottom line: the Penguins’ injury woes aren’t going to help the Kings score. They need to attack with intensity.
I thought we were friends! Ex-Penguin: Rob Scuderi. Ex-King: Dan Bylsma. Ex-Kings-fan: local boy Brett Sterling.
Yeah, well, wait till they get a load of: Jonathan Quick (.921 SV%, 2.14 GAA) should be ready to battle as he looks to extend his win streak. Go Kings.