Pittsburgh Penguins: Keys to the game vs. Vegas Golden Knights
The Pittsburgh Penguins begin a road trip after losing to Colorado on Monday night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins play the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time this season (or ever) at 10 PM EST on Wednesday, Dec. 14th.
Vegas is currently ranked 2nd in the Pacific division, but is coming off an OT loss to Carolina. They’ll be looking to rebound and get Marc-Andre Fleury his fourth win of the season.
Here are three keys to winning this match up against the offensively potent Golden Knights.
Get to Fleury
The Flower played in Pittsburgh for 13 seasons. Sid, Geno, and company know him better than any goaltender they’ve ever played against.
In an interview with Sam Kasan via the Penguins official website, Crosby said “When you shoot on a goalie for 12 years, I think he gets to know your tendencies pretty good. I like to think I know a few things about him too.”
Fleury was having a terrific start to the season before he was shelved with a concussion. He’s 3-1-1 with a 2.35 GAA and .930 SV%.
Hopefully the Pens utilize their knowledge or Fleury’s game and put pressure on the netminder. The Golden Knights are 3rd in the NHL with 3.43 goals per game, so it may be a high scoring affair.
Hit em with the PP
Despite even strength scoring woes, the Penguins are 3rd in the NHL with a 26.27% on the powerplay. Comparatively, the Golden Knights are one of the bottom ten teams in the league with a 78.94% on the penalty kill.
Justin Schultz won’t be available to play, so look for Letang to spend a majority of the night at the top of the umbrella.
Phil the Thrill
Phil’s been absolutely en fuego with points in his last five games. The Penguins offensive attack has begun and ended with Phil in December, so look to him to get the ball rolling. It helps that Fleury is coming back from injury, perhaps he won’t be ready for that Phil Kessel release.
ladies, u are all beautiful, but phil kessel's wrist shot is the love of my life pic.twitter.com/JH1el1Y4GH
— ego (@notmalkinego) December 3, 2017
Kessel has 9 points in 6 games against Pacific division opponents this season.
Follow Pen’s Labyrinth on Twitter and Facebook
Oh how’d that get there? It may not be a key to victory, but hey, why chance it? Follow us on Twitter here and check out the Facebook.