Pens vs. Bruins Game 3 Preview, TV Info and Predictions

As the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final switches sites, the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins are percolating polar memories of the last time they each faced the Philadelphia Flyers in a Stanley Cup playoff series.

Just as they had in the 2011 conference semifinals versus Philadelphia, the Bruins are coming home from Pennsylvania with a 2-0 edge. Just like they did against the Flyers in the opening round last spring, the Penguins are about to venture onto enemy property with a multi-game deficit staring them in the face.

For the sake of completing that historical scoreboard, the 2011 Bruins proceeded to finish a sweep at the TD Garden. The 2012 Penguins perked up at the 11th hour to avert a sweep, though they eventually sputtered in six games.

The following is a glimpse at where the series stands going into Game 3. This is the time for the contesting parties to either accelerate or avoid a remake of their recent past.

Viewing Info

Time: Wednesday, June 5, 8 p.m. ET

TV: NBC Sports Network, CBC, RDS

Key Storyline: Bruins Scorers On Hot Streaks, Penguins Experiencing Cold Spells

With a goal in Game 2, David Krejci became the first NHL player to reach the 20-point plateau in the 2013 playoffs. Linemate Nathan Horton pole-vaulted over Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin for second on the league’s production leaderboard with a two-point effort, giving him a total of 17 in the tournament.

Horton has now produced in four straight contests, dating back to Game 4 of Boston’s conference semifinal bout with the New York Rangers. Fellow top-six winger Brad Marchand tuned the mesh twice on Monday to break up his four-game goal drought. Patrice Bergeron stopped his overall production skid at an identical four games.

On the other bench, Crosby is now in danger of enduring his first pointless streak of three games or more since November 2009. Five fellow Penguins with 10 playoff points or more have stalled since the series started, while Chris Kunitz has been stuck on nine points.

Anything those individual Pittsburgh strikers can do to snap out of their slumps will immensely improve the team’s collective outlook.

Key Matchup: Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg versus Malkin’s Line

Boston’s top defenseman, Chara, had 16 overlapping shifts with Pittsburgh’s top postseason scorer, Malkin, in Game 2. Now that the Bruins will have the last change after whistles, Chara will likely match up with Malkin more frequently.

Keeping Malkin, as well as linemates Jarome Iginla and James Neal, out of any productive rhythm can go a long way toward hastening the end of the series for Boston. On the flipside, breaking through in the Bruins’ building can amount to a critical, series-altering confidence booster for Malkin’s line and the rest of the team.

Injury Report (via tsn.ca)

Boston Bruins

No injuries.

Pittsburgh Penguins

No injuries.

Projected Lineup

Bruins’ Projected Lineup

Forwards

Line 1: Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jaromir Jagr

Line 2: Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Line 3: Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin

Line 4: Shawn Thornton-Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell

Defensemen

Line 1: Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg

Line 2: Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk

Line 3: Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Goalies

Starter: Tuukka Rask

Backup: Anton Khudobin

Penguins’ Projected Lineup

Forwards

Line 1: Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Pascal Dupuis

Line 2: James Neal-Evgeni Malkin-Jarome Iginla

Line 3: Brenden Morrow-Brandon Sutter-Matt Cooke

Line 4: Jussi Jokinen-Joe Vitale-Tyler Kennedy or Craig Adams

Defensemen

Line 1: Mark Eaton-Kris Letang

Line 2: Paul Martin-Brooks Orpik

Line 3: Douglas Murray-Deryk Engelland or Matt Niskanen

Goalies

Starter: Tomas Vokoun

Backup: Marc-Andre Fleury

Boston Will Win If...

It continues to establish momentum without hesitation and clamps down to preserve it.

The Bruins steamrolled to a 6-1 triumph in Game 2 with the help of Marchand, who set the tone by single-handedly executing a counter-attack for the icebreaker only 28 seconds into the opening frame.

The result was a contrast in confidence that had the Penguins failing to test Rask even with substantial possession time while Boston slowly sculpted a commanding lead. In the eight-plus minutes between Marchand’s first goal and an Iginla shot at the 9:11 mark, the Penguins attempted seven shots, only to shoot off-target twice and see the other five blocked.

Marchand later bookended the scoring of the opening frame by nimbly stealing back the momentum with his second goal. He tucked that puck home in the final minute before intermission and only 25 seconds after Pittsburgh had cut its deficit down to 3-1.

Pittsburgh Will Win If...

Its array of late-season acquisitions start doing what general manager Ray Shero brought them in to do.

The fact that Morrow was on the ice for Sutter’s goal, the team’s only strike so far in the series, was somewhat of a start. However, the Penguins will need more from all of their seasoned trade-deadline imports.

To reiterate the importance of the Malkin line-Chara/Seidenberg matchup, this is Iginla’s calling to live up to his plus-points of being able to, in the words of The Hockey News, “overpower defenders physically or use finesse” and show why, “He is the ultimate leader.”

The Penguins need exemplary leadership from their prime suspects for more than just reinvigorating their wealth of offensive assets. The resultant confidence and determination from that can also embolden the defense against the likes of Boston’s Krejci line.

Prediction: Bruins 4, Penguins 3 

Although the past holds no direct sway on what unfolds in the present, many elements are in place for history to repeat itself. At this point, in light of Games 1 and 2, no one should be startled if Boston raises a commanding 3-0 upper hand in the series and then needs multiple swings before it finally throws the knockout punch.

An exponentially desperate Pittsburgh squad will cultivate some long-amiss production from some of its most leaned-on personnel. The Pens will do so in a fashion that tacks some hope onto another otherwise bitter outing and parlays them to a tangible victory in Game 4 and quite possibly Game 5 this weekend.

But for at least Wednesday night, it will not be enough to avoid nudging to the precipice of elimination.

Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics for this report were found via nhl.com