Boston Bruins: 5 Keys to Monday's Matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins each have 16 wins, including 13 apiece in regulation or overtime, and only seven regulation losses to their credit. They are two of only four NHL teams averaging more than three goals per game, as well as fewer than three goals-against.

The Bruins, who have three games in hand, cannot lasso Pittsburgh for so much as a share of first place in the Eastern Conference with a win Monday night. But they can add to their superior winning percentage and rephrase their continually evolving proclamation of conviction by reaping two points from the Consol Energy Center, where the Penguins are 7-0-1 in their last eight home dates.

Five side stories to this Titanic tangle worth monitoring are as follows.

Depth vs. Depth

Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk will be assigned to curb the Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz, who have charged up eight goals together in the seven games since Crosby’s return.

That much is certain.

Or is it? The Pens also have the troika of Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Steve Sullivan, who have combined for 27 goals in as many games on Pittsburgh’s schedule. Then there are Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, who have an aggregate 20 goals to their credit.

Of course, the Bruins will have their own radiant set of nine forwards to keep all of Pittsburgh’s rearguards on standby.

Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin enter with 26 goals through 24 games. Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Milan Lucic are flaunting their most convincing signs of consistency so far this season and have logged a total of 22 strikes to date. Nominal third-liners Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Benoit Pouliot have combined to put 17 discs in the cage.

Thomas-Fleury Staring Contest

The presumptive goaltending card will pit a pair of former Olympic backups and Stanley Cup champions, facing off for the first time since they both acquired a ring.

Marc-Andre Fleury is the league’s second-winningest goaltender with 14 victories in 20 appearances to date, while Tim Thomas is not far behind with 12 triumphs in 16 starts. Thomas’ key goaltending data is slightly superior, but Fleury has been decently efficient more often than not.

Thomas is also slightly more battle-tested. He has confronted three teams with a heavier offensive output than the Penguins (Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto) five times already, allowing a total of nine goals in those five outings.

Extraordinarily, Fleury has yet to face his divisional and intrastate rival Flyers, who boast the only strike force more prolific than Boston’s. For what it’s worth, he has faced four of the NHL’s top 10 offenses (Vancouver, Ottawa, NY Rangers, Washington), going 3-1-0 with 11 goals-against.

Still, the course of Monday’s matchup will depend heavily on which team can put a greater strain on the opposing stopper and how Thomas and Fleury respond.

Seguin’s Second Wind

Only once has Seguin faced off against Crosby, about two months before the latter’s concussion and a little less than a year before the former burgeoned.

Seguin, who pitched in an assist in a come-from-behind, 7-4 victory on Nov. 10, 2010, will have naturally higher expectations this time around. Lately, he has been experiencing his driest spell of the season, with no goals and one assist in the last four games.

Seguin had a statistically identical slump in the works before another much-anticipated game in Buffalo, where he tallied a power-play goal and added a helper to fuel a rally en route to a shootout victory.

No time like Monday night for the Bruins’ highest draft choice in recent memory to cultivate another booster dose of incentive.

Keeping It Even

Contrary to knee-jerk logic, Crosby has not meant a dramatic swell in power-play productivity for the Penguins, at least not yet. Pittsburgh was converting 18.4 percent of its chances before its captain was available and has since dropped that by a full point to 17.4 percent.

That having been said, the Penguins usually get around to burning an opponent’s penalty kill if they are tantalized enough times in one night. In their last five games, they have capitalized on at least one man-advantage if and only if they are given four or more opportunities. Conversely, they have come up empty when limited to three advantages or fewer.

Pittsburgh also deploys the second-most efficient penalty killing brigade in the league, getting through 89.1 percent of its shorthanded predicaments unscathed.

And, at any rate, the Bruins are once again the NHL’s superior five-on-five team with a 1.77 scoring ratio at even strength. The Penguins are tucked in the middle of the pack in that category with only a 1.02 ratio. Boston's best bet is to eschew special teams.

Swift, But Steady

The Penguins are arguably the toughest team to put away. Sure, three games and six nights ago, they authorized four unanswered goals in the second period and fell short in their subsequent rally as the New York Rangers stamped a 4-3 victory. But file that one under “anomaly.”

Pittsburgh is just as inclined to surmount multi-goal potholes. Exhibit A: The game prior to that, when the Penguins trailed the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 late in the middle frame, only to wrest away a 4-3 overtime decision.

Whether they are tied, trailing or leading at any point in this game, the Bruins want to take care not to over-commit, especially in the first 40 minutes. They want to have sufficient energy and intensity at all times so as to match Pittsburgh’s, but they also want that vigor to translate to tangible rewards.