No Need to Panic Yet. Pens lose 4-2

Sidney Crosby's first game at the MTS Centre wasn't enough to rally the Pens to a win in Winnipeg.

Sidney Crosby Ready for First Game in Winnipeg

It may be hard to believe, but Sidney Crosby, due to injury, hasn't had a chance yet to play in the hockey mad city of Winnipeg. The Jets are still fairly fresh on their move from Atlanta and Sid has been out whenever the Pens were in town.

Tonight will change that, and the man who scored the Golden Goal in the 2010 Olympics to give Canada the gold medal in the olympics over the USA will finally get the chance to play in this Canadian town. So, what should he expect?

From our buddies at Arctic Ice Hockey, they might have some conflicting feelings about how to handle the chance to see #87 in an opposing jersey.

We've all seen how Jets' fans have treated the opposing stars of the NHL. Alex Ovechkin. Steven Stamkos. Eric Staal. Each of them have been booed and taunted until our throats are raw and hoarse. But something is different about Crosby and the Penguins which leads me to believe the MTSC faithful will go easy on Sid the Kid

On June 12, 2009 I was in-house watching the Hershey Bears put the final touches on back-to-back Calder Cup Championships against the Manitoba Moose. As the third period was drawing to a close, things looked dire for the Moose as they trailed by a score of 3-1. With roughly five minutes remaining in the game, public address announcer Jay Richardson took to the mic to announce the Pittsburgh Penguins had just won the Stanley Cup, as Game 7 of the Finals took place that night in Detroit, MI.

I was in awe of the response: the 15,004 in attendance turned on a heel from stone silence to raucous celebration.

You see, Winnipeg seems to have adopted rooting interests in the Pittsburgh Penguins during their 15-year absence from the NHL. And you'd be crazy if you think that number 87 didn't have something to do with this mass conversion. For the casual fan, what's better than watching arguably the greatest player of our era captivate our imaginations night in and night out.

Crosby may have been a fan favorite back then, but tonight with the hometown Jets in Crosby's sights, the reaction might be different. Even if the crowd is excited to see Sid in person, they're probably not going to be happy if he creates offense against their team.

Tomas Vokoun to start, Ben Lovejoy in for Simon Despres

Some news breaking on the lineup front, on the heels of the 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pens will again go back to the rotation and give Tomas Vokoun his second start in a Penguins jersey tonight in the fourth game of the season.

Also of note, the team's sixth defenseman will be different for tonight's game too. Simon Despres will be out of the lineup and Ben Lovejoy will touch the ice for the first time since his game-winning goal giveaway in the playoffs last year.

As of now, the updated lines look as follow, at least to start the game:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Tyler Kennedy - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Brandon Sutter - Tanner Glass
Eric Tangradi - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Kris Letang
Deryk Engelland - Ben Lovejoy

Vokoun to start

Game 4 @ Winnipeg: Scouting the Enemy

Our SB Nation partner blog, Arctic Ice Hockey, checks in to answer some questions about the Winnipeg Jets in advance of the game tonight when the Penguins head to the True North for the 4th game of the season.