Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – Game 2 Preview
The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins are set to duel it out in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight in Pittsburgh.
In Game 1 the Bruins successfully frustrated the Penguins stars, most notably Sidney Crosby. Sid was out of sorts all night thanks in large part to the 6-foot-9-inch, 255 lbs Zdeno Chara. Chara is one of, if not the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL and with his size and strength he can frustrate anyone in the league.
With all the elite talent on the ice for Pittsburgh it was Boston’s David Krejci who continued his torrid scoring pace in the post-season. He scored the first two Boston goals which gives him seven in the playoffs which is good for second in the league, just one behind Chicago’s Patrick Sharp. He also has 12 assists for a league-leading 19 points in 13 games, he is making a strong case for the Conn Smythe. On the other end of the ice Tuukka Rask stood tall stopping all 29 shots the Penguins threw his way. The 26-year-old netminder has looked great in his first post-season as a starter. He is now 9-4 with a 2.10 GAA and .933 SV% which are better than Tim Thomas’ 2011 numbers after 13 games of 9-4, 2.39 and .927, the Bruins won the Cup that year.
In the other net Tomas Vokoun who replaced Marc-Andre Fleury after four games in Round 1, allowed three goals on 30 shots. It is tough to pin the loss on Vokoun but regardless there was a lot of speculation whether or not he would start Game 2. However it will be the 36-year-old, Czech native that will take to the crease tonight.
Players to watch in Game 2:
Pittsburgh Penguins – Evgeni Malkin
Like I said earlier, in Game 1 the Bruins frustrated Crosby and he was not as effective as they need him to be. He will likely see a lot of Chara again tonight so Pittsburgh needs Malkin to step up. He played 18:19 in Game 1 and was a minus-1 while recording five shots, two hits and had a fight with Patrice Bergeron. A huge issue for the Pens is that Malkin only won 17% of his faceoffs. He needs to improve for Game 2 or the Penguins could be staring a 2-0 deficit in the face heading to Boston.
Boston Bruins – Zdeno Chara
How could he not be the player to watch? He was very successful in Game 1 and it led to a 3-0 win, if he can shut the NHL’s best player and his line-mates down again the B’s will be in great shape. He played a game-high 26:32 in the first contest and will very likely play 25-plus minutes again tonight.