Playing Crosby and Malkin together right off the bat…..Good idea to get Malkin going or a little too desperate for your tastes?

So who plays the other wing? Kunitz, Guerin or Tenks?

where is the secondary scoring gonna come from? Caps coach Boudreau moved Backstrom off the Ovechkin line in order to have 2 dynamite lines. This has paid off for them. I dont think the Pens should put all their eggs in one basket. They have been getting chances in this series, they just have not capitalized. I think this spells doom for the men in black

Interesting. Did it work out last series? What are his numbers when they do this, compared to when they have not? Anybody got this obscure stat? Also, you’re right about Backstrom so far in this series. His line isnt really generating anything. I think Semin has 5 shots in the two games.

First, let me say that it’s not what I would do. Here’s why.

The Pens have out-shot, out-chanced, out-PIM’d and out-possessioned the Caps. They have pinned the Caps in deep in their end for long stretches of time, generating chances and grinding down the Caps. This is a great recipe for winning. In fact, but for a miracle save in Game 1, a couple of coverage lapses, and AO having a superstar moment down the stretch in Game 2, we’d be talking about how Sid has put his team on his back to reclaim the mantle of best-in-the-game.

So if I were Bylsma, I’d do…nothing. Tighten up in the defensive zone a bit, pay attention to matchups now that he has the last change, but go forward confident that they are not in a dire position at all. With home ice, they can easily tie the series up, and then it becomes a matter of whether or not they can sneak one at the Phone Booth.

That said, I don’t think it’s a panic move, either. If you’re getting all your scoring from Crosby anyway, might as well see what he can do with Malkin as his wingman. I just don’t think it’s a completely necessary move.

I see the Pens winning this one big tonight. They will be desperate, the Caps will probably be complacent, and the Igloo will be rocking.

…will make it easier for the Caps to stop the Penguin attack. The one line that has been most effective against the Pens forwards: Laich-Bradley-Steckel have been out there most of the time against Malkin, while Semin-Backstron-Fleischmann have been going against Crosby with dubious results at best on the Caps end of it (certainly Crosby has been the dominant Penguin forward in the series, since has scored 80% of the goals).

The way Letang looked when he skated off Monday night, he looked like he had either a separated shoudler or broken collar bone. If he can play at all, he’d be out there on pure guts. Admittedly, I’m a Caps fan, but I don’t want to see the kid get injured…hopefully he’ll be ok and not hurt himself worse by playing.

Meanwhile on the Caps side, it appears that Erskine and Fehr are out for the game and Nylander will be skating in Fehr’s place. Tyler Sloan will get his second game in as Erskine’s replacement…

If the Capitals had a veteran d-corps with experience when it comes to shutting down the best offensive players the NHL has to offer in the playoffs, I might agree that putting Crosby and Malkin on the same line would not have the desired effect. However, after watching Mike Green, who is supposedly the Capitals best defenseman, fail to cover his man by allowing himself to be otherwise distracted in front of Simeon Varlamov’s net and letting Sidney Crosby score all three of the Penguins goals right on the doorstep, I am convinced that the Caps ‘D’ is not very good. It is quite possible that by putting Crosby and Malkin together, the Penguins will hope to overwhelm the Capitals defense by having one draw the attention of Washington’s inexperienced defenders, giving the other some room to generate some offense. Just a thought.