Pittsburgh Penguins Battle Log: Preseason – Game 3
By Mike Necciai
The Pittsburgh Penguins hope to pick up right where they left off against the Carolina Hurricanes as they prepare to face the Detroit Red Wings tonight in Detroit.
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The Red Wings are a team with a lot of questions heading into 2015-16, with the most notable of all being how they will fair in the post-Babcock era. Jeff Blashill seems like a great fit so far but let’s face it, the Mike Babcock has been the face of the franchise in Detroit for the last decade. Can they turn the corner and still recognize the consistent success we’ve come to expect from them?
The Pens also have their share of questions heading into tonight. And, while we’re obviously still dealing with preseason, there are quite a few interesting story lines to watch, both with Pittsburgh and Detroit.
Detroit Red Wings
First, tonight will be Johan Franzen‘s first appearance since suffering a concussion on January 6th. Many questioned his hockey future but it seems that things are progressing nicely.
Detroit’s lines should look as follows.
#RedWings lines for tonight are: Franzen-Sheahan-Glendening; Miele; Larkin-Pulkkinen; Miller-Andersson-Ferraro; Bertuzzi-Athanasiou-Mantha.
— Bill Roose (@Bill_Roose) September 24, 2015
Based on morning skate, #RedWings D-pairings appear to be Smith-Marchenko; Lashoff-Sproul; Paetsch-Jensen. Goalies are Howard and McCollum.
— Bill Roose (@Bill_Roose) September 24, 2015
Jimmy Howard will start in goal with Tom McCollum backing him up. The goalie situation in Detroit is one to watch closely as Howard and last season’s backup Petr Mrazek battle for the starting job. That title is completely up for grabs at the moment.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins will hold out some of their stars tonight but we’ll still get an opportunity to see Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and newcomer Sergei Plotnikov. I don’t have an indication of how the lines will shake out but the full listing for tonight is as follows…
Forwards
Kevin Porter, Bryan Rust, Beau Bennett, Kael Mouillierat, Oskar Sundqvist, Conor Sheary, Dominik Uher, Tom Sestito, Dominik Simon, Sergei Plotnikov, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist.
Defense
Rob Scuderi, Ben Lovejoy, Will O’Neill, Reid McNeill, Niclas Andersen, Derrick Pouliot and Sergei Gonchar.
Scuderi and Pouliot will see their first preseason action tonight. It seems quite odd that Pouliot hasn’t been in action for the first two games as well, considering he’s viewed as a potential candidate for a top-four role in the upcoming season. After a disappointing rookie tournament, I’d expect the Pens to want him out there.
I’d look for Plotnikov to get more work alongside Malkin and Hornqvist. The Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff will take a long look at those three to determine how the left side formulates. As of right now, where Chris Kunitz, David Perron, Pascal Dupuis and Plotnikov fit is still up in the air. For once, the Pens have too many options, which is never a bad thing.
Puck drop is at 7:30pm.
Next: 4 Mistakes to Avoid This Preseason