Pittsburgh Penguins Battle Log: Preseason – Game 5
By Mike Necciai
The Pittsburgh Penguins are set to battle the Montreal Canadiens tonight in Quebec City for their fifth preseason contest. While it’s simply another preseason game for both teams, there’s more meaning to this one than usual.
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Tonight’s contest will take place at the new Videotron Centre in Quebec City, which is their new NHL-ready arena. Quebec City is one of two finalists in the NHL expansion process, along with Las Vegas and the city is clearly excited to unveil its new facility to the world.
While the Penguins won’t dress as much star power as many had hoped, there will still be plenty of interest with guys like Evgeni Malkin in the lineup. Also, Kris Letang and David Perron, both French Canadians, are excited to play in Quebec City in front of a passionate hockey fan base that is hoping to have an NHL team in the very near future.
Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup and Notes
The most interesting storyline for the Penguins tonight will be Derrick Pouliot‘s performance. Pouliot is being given every chance to succeed and tonight is no exception. Mike Johnston made it a point to call him out in the media, though not in an unproductive way, paving the way for Pouliot to respond. Then, he paired him with Kris Letang for tonight’s game on the top defensive pairing. It’s up to number 51 to prove himself now.
The lineup for tonight is as follows…
Dominik Simon – Nick Bonino – David Perron
Beau Bennett – Oskar Sundqvist – Scott Wilson
Bryan Rust – JS Dea – Daniel Sprong
Tyler Biggs – Matia Marcanuoni – Dominik Uher
Derrick Pouliot – Kris Letang
Rob Scuderi – Daniel Warsofsky
Sergei Gonchar – Tim Erixon
Daniel Sprong is in the lineup once again. Could the Pens be gearing up for a nine-game tryout for him?
Sprong has been playing nightly. Johnston has spoken highly of him. I think organization is going to give him 9 game tryout. Game on kid!
— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) September 28, 2015
Bryan Rust needs to make his presence known. As someone widely believed to be in contention for an NHL roster spot, he has been quite disappointing so far throughout camp. Also, Scott Wilson falls in the same category. These are players that should be a step ahead of their competition for the final roster spots and so far, they aren’t.
Bonino will make his penguins debut tonight, as he was held out due to the flu so far through four games. Surprisingly, he isn’t slotted next to Beau Bennett, a pair that seemed inseparable a week ago.
The full rosters can be found below.
Looking for tomorrow night's lineup when the #Pens take on the Habs in Quebec City? We can help with that. pic.twitter.com/inrjEEmDWH
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2015
Tonight’s game will not be televised but you can listen live on 105.9 the X or the Pittsburgh Penguins app.
Next: Roster Cuts Coming, Lineup Predictions