Flames to host Penguins after first loss under Ward

Tuesday night there are eleven games on the the slate in the NHL. The Pittsburgh Penguins will visit the Scotiabank Saddledome to meet the Calgary Flames. Will the Penguins be able to get a good result against the Flames without their captain Crosby?

Ward's first loss as head coach of the Flames

In the first months of the new season, the NHL has already turned out to be a real graveyard for head coaches. Five of them (Mike Babcock, Bill Peters, John Hynes, Jim Montgomery and Peter DeBoer) already lost their jobs and there are still some head coaches who are sitting on the hot seat. In Calgary's case, persistent poor results led to the sacking of Bill Peters. Geoff Ward took over as an interim head coach and under him the Flames surpisingly got back on track.

Ward impressed in his first weeks, winning his first seven games as Calgary's head coach and as a result, the hockey team climbed up to fourth place in the Pacific Division, just two points behind the division leading Arizona Coyotes. The concerns surrounding Calgary have gone away, although last Saturday their seven-game win streak came to an end. In front of their own audience, the Flames suffered a 4-0 shutout defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes. It wasn't Calgary's best game, as they allowed a power-play goal and two shorthanded goals.

Crosby's on his way back

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a big name in ice hockey. This season, coach Mike Sullivan has had to deal with quite a few setbacks. Star player and captain Sidney Crosby has been on the side with a sports hernia for over a month now and Evgeni Malkin has also missed a handful of games. Still, the Penguins manage to hold their own in the Metro Division. It currently shares third place with the Carolina Hurricanes and also the New York Islanders, who are in second place, are certainly not out of sight.

Pittsburgh had to miss Crosby for the past sixteen games, but the captain is on his way back and has already practiced with the team again. Despite his absence, the Penguins have performed well in recent weeks. They won five of their last six games and backup goalie Tristan Jarry also made life difficult for first goaltender Matt Murray with some excellent performances. Last Saturday, the Pittsburgh beat the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout thriller. Bryan Rust stepped up, scoring twice in regulation and got the lone goal in the shootout.

Value on team goals Pens

The Pittsburgh Penguins are waiting for the return of their captain Crosby, but have shown that they can also achieve good results without him and Malkin, who missed the last two games due to the flu. Matt Murray, who's not playing on his normal level currently, is expected in net for the Pens tonight. Pittsburgh is playing great defensively this season and are also among the most productive teams in the NHL. Goalie Rittich started during the vast majority of the games during the Flames recent win streak. Tonight backup goalie Talbot will start, this gives Pittsburgh an excellent chance to net some goals with Malkin back in the line up. In addition, I expect goals in this game, with Murray still a bit shaky.

Update: Jarry will start for the Pens, so I'm playing Pittsburgh on the moneyline instead of the game total (over 5.5), besides the team total.