NHL Extra: Breaking down Penguins vs. Rangers

Joe Yerdon

Mar 20, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT

3 Comments

AP

Looking for the numbers breakdown for how these two teams stack up? Look no further as we’ve got you covered as the Rangers take on the Penguins at 12:30 p.m. ET from CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

PHT Previews

Pens coach Dan Bylsma keeps it together in Pittsburgh

Kris Letang slumping at the wrong time?

Are the Rangers playing Henrik Lundqvist too much?

Lundqvist plays today, Marc Staal and Sean Avery do not

Team scoring

Pittsburgh has scored 206 goals this season and plenty of those from guys not named Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Those goals are good for 12th in the NHL and their 2.83 goals per game is good for 10th in the NHL. They’re led by Chris Kunitz with 20 goals and Tyler Kennedy is next with 16. Kris Letang is their leading points man with 46 which includes eight goals and 38 assists from the blue line.

The Rangers do pretty well putting the puck in the net themselves. They’ve scored 210 goals this year, good for 10th in the NHL and at 2.81 goals per game they’re 12th in the league on average. The goals can come from a host of players. Ryan Callahan leads the team with 22, but Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle each have 21 while Brandon Dubinsky has 20. Dubinsky is the leading points getter with 47.

Goaltending

A pair of all world goalies face off here. For Pittsburgh it’s Marc-Andre Fleury who might be the guy most responsible for how well they’re doing this season. Fleury is 31-17-5 with a 2.35 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. His play this year has been outstanding after a shaky first month of the year and he’s helped keep Pittsburgh in position to have home ice in the first round of the playoffs at least and could help lead them overtake the Flyers in the division.

Henrik Lundqvist has been similarly brilliant for the Rangers. At 30-24-4 he’s seen a heavy workload but his 2.35 goals against average and .920 save percentage with nine shutouts prove that he’s been worth it for coach John Tortorella to keep going to him this year. When Lundqvist is on his game and the Rangers defense helps him out, he’s almost unbeatable.

Special teams

If there’s a problem with the Penguins it’s their power play. They score at a 16.2% rate with the man advantage, a mark that ranks them 23rd in the league. Obviously being without two of the best scorers in the NHL plays into that, but it’s still a maddeningly erratic thing for Pittsburgh. The Rangers have been very good on the man advantage scoring 17.8% of the time. With that they’ve got the 13th best power play in the league but scoring against Pittsburgh’s penalty killers presents a tough issue.

Pittsburgh’s PK is the best in the NHL killing off 86.9% of the power plays they face. Getting one by the Pens when they’re down a man takes great skill and a bit of luck. The Rangers PK is average killing off 83% of the power plays they face, a mark good for 14th in the league. If the game comes down to special teams, we might be waiting a while for something to happen.

Streaks and standings

Pittsburgh is second behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division with 90 points. Those 90 points also put them fourth overall in the Eastern Conference just one point ahead of Tampa Bay. The Pens are six points behind the Flyers for first place but they’re playing well nonetheless having won four of their last five games and two in a row.

New York is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 80 points. They’re not a threat to catch either Pittsburgh or Philly in the division and are, instead, fighting for their playoff lives. The Rangers sit seventh in the East just two points ahead of eighth place Buffalo, four ahead of ninth place Carolina, and six ahead of 10th place Toronto.

Fighting and facewashing

Pittsburgh is one of the top fighting teams in the NHL so expect Rangers enforcer Brandon Prust to stay busy. As far as agitators go, Matt Cooke will play for the Pens while Sean Avery will be a healthy scratch for the Rangers. These two teams do not like each other at all so expect the agitation to come from everyone.

NHL Extra

If you’d like to ask James and I questions and get our thoughts on today’s game, you can join us for NHL Extra online and follow along with the action that way. To join us for NHL Extra click here. We’ll be kicking things off at 12:30 p.m.

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3 Comments (Feed for Comments)

jfiglio1 - Mar 20, 2011 at 1:24 PM

Whether borne out statistically or not, you won’t find too many fans outside Pittsburgh who don’t think that the Pens get some extra consideration from the officials. That first period serves as some evidence for that suspicion. Players talking refs out of penalty minutes and an unpenalized bull rush over Lundquist are not considerations granted to the Rangers, I’ll tell you that.
jfiglio1 - Mar 20, 2011 at 2:28 PM

After watching that cheap shot by Cooke, I don’t want to hear any complaints from Lemieux anymore. That was followed by another shot to the head of a Ranger player that went unpenalized. The Penguins have Latang as well who is known as a cheap shot artist.
jfiglio1 - Mar 20, 2011 at 2:45 PM

Penguins can punch Rangers, but Rangers can’t punch Penguins.

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