September 22, 2011
Game Peviews, NHL
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Preseason Preview #2: Blackhawks @ Penguins

Tonight, the Penguins take on Patrick Sharp and the rest of the devilishly handsome Blackhawks. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fresh off of last night’s sweet victory against the Red Wings, the Penguins are gearing up to take on another Western Conference frontrunner: The Chicago Blackhawks.

The Penguins have an advantage before the game even starts, though. Core Blackhawks such as Toews, Kane, Sharp, Keith, and Seabrook will not be playing in tonight’s game. Rather, the ‘Hawks are using tonight as an opportunity to give prospects such as Brandon Saad an opportunity to experience the major-league game, as well as let veteran players like Bryan Bickell a chance to shine.

The Blackhawks will be striving to prove their depth, while the Penguins will want to prove they can overcome a team that consistently stole two points from them last season.

Update! Here are the lines for tonight’s game:

Kennedy-Staal-N.Johnson
Tangradi-Letestu-McDonald
Cooke-Lerg-Adams
MacIntyre-Sill-Veilleux

Picard-Michalek
Strait-Engelland
Harrington-Lovejoy

Johnson/Munroe

Keep an Eye Out For:

  • Dan Carcillo as a Blackhawk. Imagining him in a Blackhawks uniform still makes me giggle a bit. I look forward to watching this as a bit of a science experiment.
  • The changes Matt Cooke has made to his game this off-season.
  • Brent Johnson. There is never a reason to not watch Brent Johnson.
  • The development of our defensive pairings.
  • The power play. It worked for us last night, but that’s because everyone on the Red Wings is 75 years old, or is too much of a legend to worry about killing penalties. Chicago, however, has been working on their PK.
  • Smile inducing shots of Crosby in the press box.

Where to Watch/Listen:

ROOT Sports (Pittsburgh), NHL Network (U.S.) WGN Radio AM-720 (Chicago), Penguins Radio (Online)

 

LET’S GO PENS!

 

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