The road back to the Stanley Cup Final took two very different turns for the Penguins and Predators at the start of the second round.
Back-to-back defending champion Pittsburgh roared back from a two-goal
Jihad Ward Color Rush Jersey , third-period deficit to beat the Washington Capitals, while the Winnipeg Jets chased Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne in a convincing 4-1 victory in Game 1. As each team prepares for Game 2, two key pieces could be ready to help.
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin practiced Saturday and is on the verge of returning to the lineup after missing the past two games with an apparent leg injury. Coach Mike Sullivan called Malkin a game-time decision, though signs are pointing to the Russian star playing Sunday at Washington (3 p.m. EDT, NBC).
”If I’m playing, I’m ready to play,” Malkin said. ”If you play, you need to show you can, you show you’re 100 percent. It’s not like the regular season. You can’t play slow the first period and be better in third. If I play, if I’m ready, I’m ready first shift.”
Predators winger Auston Watson skated just seven first-period shifts Friday night before leaving with an undisclosed injury. His teammates outshot the Jets 48-19 and still lost, though a healthy Watson for Game 2 back in Music City (7 p.m., NBCSN) could make a difference as the defending Western Conference champions try to even the series between the NHL’s top two teams.
”Getting this squared up before we go to Winnipeg is definitely important,” said Watson, who felt great and called it a good practice. ”We’ll do our best to take care of business.”
The Penguins and Predators each took care of business in six games in the first round. Malkin had three goals and two assists in five games before being injured against Philadelphia
Youth Daryl Worley Jersey , and the line of Colton Sissons, former Pittsburgh center Nick Bonino and Watson combined for 19 points in beating Colorado.
It’s impossible to overstate Malkin’s value to the Penguins. Top-line winger Jake Guentzel called Malkin’s potential return a ”game-changer,” restoring one of their most dangerous options on the power play and at even strength after a season in which the 31-year-old forward put up 98 points.
Malkin skated on the fourth line between rookie Zack Aston-Reese and Tom Kuhnhackl at practice and on the first power-play unit. If he plays, it wouldn’t be in a limited role.
”Putting Geno on the fourth line? Probably not,” Sullivan said. ”We’ll try to put him in a position where he can play to his strengths, be successful as an individual and help our team win.”
Just as the Penguins drew on two long playoff runs to come back against the Capitals, the Predators need only look up at their Western Conference champions banner in the rafters as they try to rebound.
”We just have to keep having that bounce-back mentality we’ve had since I’ve been here for two and a half years,” center Ryan Johansen said. ”We’re looking forward to tomorrow night’s game because we know we’re going to get a great response from everybody in here.”
A FOR DISCIPLINE
Referees combined to call three penalties each in Game 1 of Penguins-Capitals and Jets-Predators. Nashville was the most-penalized team in the league during the regular season but hasn’t taken one its past two games.
”We’re trying to get better in a lot of different areas,” coach Peter Laviolette said. ”And you hope that through the course of fixing some things, continuing to do things right that you like, fixing some things, staying out of the penalty box, whatever it may be that at the end of the night you’ll be able to move forward from that. There are some things that I guess are going in the right direction.”
The strength of the Washington and Pittsburgh power plays has those teams watching themselves and trying to avoid time in the sin bin.
”I think both teams go into the series trying to be disciplined for that reason,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. ”You don’t want to give the power plays an opportunity to have an impact in the game.
HELLEBUYCK SHINES
Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top goaltender
Evander Kane Sharks Jersey , starred for the Jets in making 47 saves in Game 1. In a breakout year for the 24-year-old, it was the kind of game that showed Winnipeg it has someone ready to take on the best in the West.
”There’s great difficulty in a lot of the saves and finding the puck in those scrums, but he’s built for that,” coach Paul Maurice said. ”He’s a big man that moves well and tracks well in traffic – especially close traffic. So he’s capable of that kind of game in that kind of environment.”
—
AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.
—
ESPN is going with a fresh approach for its first 2018 regular-season broadcast of "Monday Night Football."
Two announcers with plenty of NFL credentials but far more entrenched in the college game these days will be handling the Jets-Lions game from Detroit: Beth Mowins and Brian Griese.
"We are pretty excited to bring the franchise on the air, and hoping some pretty good story lines will play out," says Mowins, who did last year's second half of the opening doubleheader with analyst Rex Ryan. Mowins also does a few CBS telecasts of NFL games during the season, as well as Oakland Raiders preseason contests, but her main gig is college sports.
Griese is one of the top analysts of the college game, an insightful and often critical but fair voice.
"Guys who can shoot from the hip are always fun to work with," Mowins says.
Of course, he also played 11 pro seasons, starting 83 games. So his knowledge of both levels of football is expansive.
"I think the pro game in a lot of ways is more familiar to me than the college game
Will Hernandez Game Jersey ," Griese notes. "I have had to learn the college game as it has grown. I spent 11 years in the NFL playing quarterback and it's more similar to what I know."
What both Mowins and Griese know is that the fan bases of both teams will be stoked for the game, even though Jets-Lions isn't quite the marquee matchup. Indeed, the NFL gave ESPN what appears to be a better game in the nightcap, Jon Gruden's return as the Raiders host the Rams. The regular and new Monday night crew of Joe Tessitore and Jason Witten will be in the booth, Booger McFarland at field level for that one.
"No question both these teams have reasons for optimism, for different reasons," Griese says. "Jets fans should be excited about Sam Darnold, who can be a game changer and a franchise quarterback in the making. For Detroit, it's a whole new ballgame for the fans with Matt Patricia hired as coach, a new way of doing things. I'm eager to see how he will impact the franchise. And they have their bellwether in Matthew Stafford at quarterback."
Adds Mowins: "You tell the truth with a heavier emphasis on the hope, and that is what all of these fan bases are having. The history is part of the story heading into the season and something we absolutely talk about graphically. The nice thing about the opener is everyone has hope again, and we can also focus on the changes these teams have made to improve."
To its credit, ESPN is willing to make changes or go outside the box for its Monday night showcase. One area of expertise that Mowins and Griese 鈥?and sideline reporter Laura Rutledge 鈥?bring to the telecast is an advanced awareness of NFL newcomers.
That could be particularly enlightening for Jets-Lions with the likes of Darnold 鈥?even if he doesn't play and Josh McCown starts 鈥?and Lions rookie running back Kerryon Johnson on hand.
"One of the things I have noticed over the last several years and doing the Raiders games in preseason, you have a head start on rookies coming into the league," Mowins says. "I sort of have that background of who they were and relationships they might have with other players and coaches. That provides a nice jumping-off point
D.J. Fluker Jersey Elite , especially early in the season. Some of the rookies the NFL fans may not have seen in college, but I have had a chance to call their games in college, and so has Brian."
Mowins and Griese have not done game broadcasts together, but have had many conversations and learning sessions. Last year, when the Broncos played in the opener Mowins and Ryan announced, she reached out to Griese, who does Denver's preseason games.
"I've talked with Beth quite a bit through the years, we are in the same college football realm, so we see quite a bit of each other's work," Griese says. "I'm very familiar with her work in college football.
"The approach for me will be a little bit different because I will probably go to both teams' training camps to familiarize myself with the teams. I don't ever do a game where I have not seen a team live or in person (at practice or in a game). That will be the only difference for you in preparation."
.
