Morning Skate (11/30)

Ryan gets us into the Monday with the Morning Skate. Read on!



The Morning After:
Last night’s scores:
Coyotes 3, Ducks 2 (OT)
Sharks 4, Canucks 2
Predictions record: 1-0-1

My 3 stars from last night:
1. Jim Vandermeer, PHX (2 Goals)
2. Dan Boyle, SJ (1 Goal)
3. Robert Lang, PHX (2 Assists)
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Tonight’s Slate:
Penguins @ Rangers, 7:00 ET
Sabres @ Maple Leafs, 7:00
Panthers @ Thrashers, 7:00
Capitals @ Hurricanes, 7:00
Blues @ Blue Jackets, 7:00
Avalanche @ Lightning, 7:30
Stars @ Red Wings, 7:30
Flames @ Predators, 8:00

Games of the Night:
Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Rangers
7:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Penguins (18-9-0) … Rangers (13-12-1)
Last Ten: Penguins (6-4-0) … Rangers (4-6-0)
Away/Home: Penguins (9-5-0) … Rangers (7-5-0)
Season Series: 2-0 Penguins

Players to watch:
PIT- Evgeni Malkin
All ‘Geno has done since returning is rack up a lot of points.
NYR- Michael Del Zotto
The rookie d-man was a -5 on Saturday, and hasn’t been the same since his hot start.

Projected Goaltenders:
PIT- Marc-Andre Fleury (09/10 stats: 15-7-0, 2.54 GAA)
NYR- Henrik Lundqvist (09/10 stats: 11-9-1, 2.68 GAA)

Injury Report:
PIT- Chris Kunitz (lower body, out), Jay McKee (finger, out)
NYR- Brandon Dubinsky (hand, out), Wade Redden (shoulder, out)

Game Thoughts:
Pittsburgh throttled the Blueshirts on Saturday at the Igloo by a score of 8-3. It was ugly for John Tortorella’s club as Crosby notched a hat trick and 5 points. ‘Torts’ surely can’t be happy with his team right now, and it’s going to be interesting to see how they respond. Rangers fans are assuming they’ll win tonight, but I don’t think that’ll be the case. Pittsburgh beats ‘em again.
Prediction: Penguins 4, Rangers 3
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Calgary Flames @ Nashville Predators
8:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Flames (16-6-3) … Predators (15-9-1)
Last Ten: Flames (6-2-2) … Predators (8-2-0)
Away/Home: Flames (9-1-3) … Predators (9-4-0)
Season Series: First meeting

Players to watch:
CGY- Jarome Iginla
‘Iggy’ is red-hot right now, and he has dominant career numbers vs. Nashville.
NSH- David Legwand
‘Leggy’ has played very well during the Preds’ hot streak, and is on a 5-game point streak.

Projected Goaltenders:
CGY- Miikka Kiprusoff (09/10 stats: 14-5-3, 2.38 GAA)
NSH- Pekka Rinne (09/10 stats: 11-5-0, 2.37 GAA)

Injury Report:
CGY- Rene Bourque (undisclosed, out)
NSH- None

Game Thoughts:
The Predators have another tough task ahead of them here tonight. Calgary is better on the road than they are at home, and have won 3 of their last 4 meetings in Nashville. Barry Trotz and company will have to play another sound, disciplined game to come out on top. I think it’ll be a close game, but I like the Flames to pull out the ‘W’.
Prediction: Flames 3, Predators 2

The rest of tonight’s predictions:
Sabres over Maple Leafs
Thrashers over Panthers
Capitals over Hurricanes
Blue Jackets over Blues
Lightning over Avalanche
Red Wings over Stars

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