The strategic resting of players begins tonight

Today in the PG there's a report on how the Penguins are going to go in the past two games  Some minor changes; Mathieu Garon and Philippe Boucher are getting into the lineup tonight.

Makes sense, Marc-Andre Fleury has appeared in 47 games (starting 46 of them) since he returned from groin injury on December 18th.  The Penguins have played 50 games since then.  There's carrying the load and then there's that.  Tonight, against the woeful Islanders, is a perfect chance to give him a break and let him give a rare breather before the playoffs.

Philippe Boucher still could be a guy the Pens need to rely on.  He's a guy with 56 career playoff games but hasn't seen game action since January 30th.  Obviously just a game or two isn't going to get him totally up to speed but it'll help and be a lot better than if the Pens suffer and injury and have to throw Boucher into the playoffs cold.

There's no word on who Boucher will replace in the lineup, but Hal Gill didn't skate yesterday, the team said he isn't hurt just a day of rest.  Perhaps that makes Gill the most likely candidate to sit tonight.

Depending on how things shake out for the standings, there might be more incentive to rest other players on Saturday, on the road in Montreal, if the Penguins are locked into the 6th seed, as it seems they may be after games shakes out.  Like the Pens, take a deep breath everybody, it's about to get intense this time next week.