The Penguins will dodge a sizable bullet on Black Friday in Boston. The Bruins will be missing Patrice Bergeron, the center of arguably the top line in the NHL along with wingers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.
The Penguins will not be so fortunate tonight when they host the Stars tonight at PPG Paints Arena. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov are all healthy and will be in the lineup.
Even as the Penguins were celebrating the return of their three top centers and the balance that it creates down the lineup, Dallas coach Jim Montgomery and the Stars have no such qualms about loading up their top line with their three best players. After all, it was Montgomery who, as a player in the mid-1990s, coined the nickname for the Flyers' famed "Legion of Doom" line that had Eric Lindros between John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.
Montgomery made no bones about what he wants from his top line tonight: He wants them to match up against Sidney Crosby.
“I don’t think you argue it," Montgomery said. "He is the best player in the world. I told our top line, 'Hopefully, I can get you guys out against him,' because I want our best against the best."
In an era where line combinations rarely last two weeks together, let alone earning a nickname, Dallas' top line has had some staying power.
The dynamic trio has combined for 23 goals and 53 points, led by Seguin with 21 points. All three bring a different element: left winger Benn brings grit, centerman Seguin is a sniper and right winger Radulov plays a strong two-way game. Oh, and all can score.
"Really, really talented line," Riley Sheahan was saying. "They're very threatening offensively. We're going to have to watch that. But I think we just have to kind of worry about our game and be detailed and try and fix the spots that we've been lacking the last couple games."
Dallas' top line might not be the best, but it's certainly among them.
"They're all elite players," Olli Maatta said. "When they're on the ice you have to know here they are. For us, we want to be the ones with the puck. We want to play in the O-zone. It's tough to score if they're playing defense."
Ranking lines are subjective, of course. Sheahan offered up Toronto's top line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner while Bryan Rust and Maatta said they would go with either Bergeron's group up in Boston or the one the Penguins will face a week from today in Denver. The Avlanche's top line boasts Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Rantanen and MacKinnon rank one and three in league scoring.
"There's so many skilled players around now, you kind of have to be ready for it and be prepared to be a little harder and ready to play a little more defensively and shut them down," Sheahan said.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Matt Cullen, center, is out longer term with a lower body injury. Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Stars: Ben Bishop, goalie, is out for at least a week with a lower body injury sustained Monday vs. the Rangers. Western Pa. native Stephen Johns, defenseman, has been out all season with post-concussion symptoms. Martin Hanzal, forward, has missed all 21 games with a back injury. Connor Carrick, defenseman, is out with a lower body injury. Marc Methot, defenseman, has been out since Nov. 3 with a lower body injury.
THE SKATE
• For the first time since Oct. 25 at Calgary, arguably their best win of the season, the Penguins will have their top three centers in the lineup. Crosby confirmed that he will play tonight after missing the previous three games with an upper body injury.
"It certainly will help," Mike Sullivan said. "When we have the complement of centers, we think we're strong up the middle and that's one of the strengths of our group. And when those three guys are in the lineup we're a better hockey team."
The captain had scored two goals and three assists in the three games prior to his injury. Derick Brassard, who returned to the lineup last Saturday in Ottawa, scored his first goal Monday vs. the Sabres.
• Casey DeSmith will make his second straight start in goal, despite giving up five goals on 40 shots in his last outing, Monday's 5-4 OT loss to Buffalo.
However, DeSmith does have a good track record against Dallas. He stopped 17 of 18 shots in the Penguins' March 11 win over the Stars last season. Sullivan later called that win, in which the Stars were held to just four third-period shots, the "blueprint" of how he would like his team to play.
On Wednesday, Sullivan said that they do have a "tentative plan" to work the struggling Matt Murray back in, but right now it's a matter of taking it "game by game" while weighing "the short term and the bigger picture."
By starting DeSmith tonight with back to back games this weekend vs. the Bruins and Blue Jackets, it will be interesting to see how Sullivan plays his hand. DeSmith is a New England native and would seem likely to play in his hometown.
• Juuso Riikola will draw back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. Chad Ruhwedel and Daniel Sprong look to be the healthy scratches.
Sullivan said that the organization is still high on Riikola, who is a minus-3 and without a point in his previous eight games. For any young player, particularly one accustomed to playing on bigger ice surfaces in Europe, there's an adjustment period, according to Sullivan.
"It's his first experience with the grind of the NHL schedule, I think there's a lot of adjustments to go through," he said. "It's the size of the rink, the quickness of the game. Not just the physical speed but just how quickly players think the game, and windows of opportunity open and close. The pressure on the puck is a lot faster."
• Since the Penguins didn't take line rushes, we won't know what Sullivan has in store for the Penguins' breakout. The coach said he was mixing things up after Tuesday's practice. Could they have the defensemen carry the puck more? Use more stretch passes up the middle? Stay tuned.
Whatever they do, Maatta says, it's all about execution.
"I think maybe we've given up too many chances just off our breakout, just turning the puck over," the defenseman said. "I think it just comes down to execution. The biggest thing is playing for your D partner, playing for the guy next to you and try and be in the right position and be available (to support the puck) and just talking and make the next play as easy as it can be for the guy next to you."
• This will be the 46th Thanksgiving Eve game in what's become an annual tradition in Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 22-15-18 on the night before Turkey Day. Despite their recent struggles, particularly at home where they are just 3-5-2 with eight points, the second-fewest in the NHL, Rust told me the Penguins can feed off the home crowd.
"I expect a good one," he said. "This place is going to be packed. They're going to be excited and get us energized. I think that's just going to help us."
THE OTHER SIDE
• The Stars held a full morning skate at PPG Paints Arena.
• With Bishop out Anton Khudobin will carry the load for the next week or so. As backups go, the Russian is among the best. He was signed in July in free agency after his second stint as Tuukka Rask's understudy in Boston.
Khudobin, who was 16-6-7 with the Bruins last season, has a 3-3-1 record this season with a fine 2.37 GAA and .925 save percentage.
"He has the mentality of a No. 1," Montgomery said. "He believes, and we all believe, that he truly is a No. 1. It's a luxury to have this, and this is why Jim Nill went out and signed him."
• Defenseman Julius Honka did not take part in the skate due to an illness, according to the team.
THE COMBINATIONS
• Here's an educated guess at the lines and pairs, based on what was shown in practice Monday and who is back:
Guentzel -- Crosby -- Hornqvist
Pearson -- Malkin -- Kessel
Simon -- Brassard -- Rust
Grant -- Sheahan -- Aston-Reese
Dumoulin — Letang
Johnson -- Ruhwedel
Maatta -- Oleksiak
• The Stars' lineup should look like this:
Benn -- Seguin -- Radulov
Janmark -- Spezza --Hintz
Comeau -- Faksa -- Pitlick
Nichushkin -- Dickinson -- Ritchie
Lindell -- Heiskanen
Bayreuther -- Polak
Hanley -- Gleason
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will practice at noon tomorrow in Cranberry. Following practice they'll travel to Boston where they'll take on the Bruins on Friday night.
THE COVERAGE
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