Penguins' No. 3 center has foot surgery, listed day to day; others also likely to get bigger roles
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Jordan Staal grimaces as he makes his way off the ice after getting injured in the second period of Game 1 vs. Montreal Friday at Mellon Arena. Staal will not play today. -
Teams tend to get a feel for each other in Game 1 of a series. Sergei Gonchar roughs up Montreal's Tomas Plekanec in the series opener Friday at Mellon Arena.
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Max Talbot is not 6 feet 4.
He does not weigh 220 pounds.
He is not a finalist for the Selke Trophy.
It does not exactly require a DNA test to establish that Max Talbot is not Jordan Staal.
Then again, not many guys in the NHL are likely to be confused with him.
Staal is the finest third-line center in the game, although labeling him that might suggest to some that he is suited only to that narrowly defined niche, that he's effective only in a classic blue-collar role.
Hardly.
Put Staal, who is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a damaged tendon on the top of his right foot, on almost any team that does not have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on its depth chart, and he would be centering the second line. Maybe the first.
And likely doing a pretty good job of it.
Matchup: Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens, 2:08 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.
Series: Penguins lead, 1-0.
TV, radio: WPXI, WXDX-FM (105.9).
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Jaroslav Halak for Canadiens.
Penguins: Are 31-18 in Game 2s. ... Have top power play among remaining playoff teams (34.4 percent). ... Sergei Gonchar has moved into ninth in Penguins career playoff scoring with 34 points.
Canadiens: Have given up five or more goals in four of eight playoff games. ... Mike Cammalleri is tied for second with 6 goals through Saturday. ... Have three bench-minor penalties, most among remaining clubs.
Hidden stat: After averaging 26 blocked shots a game in the first round, the Canadiens had 15 in Game 1 against the Penguins, who had 22.
But while the Penguins' unmatched depth down the middle might take a bit of the sting out of losing Staal, who officially is listed as "day to day," his absence still figures to have a major impact.
And it likely will be Talbot, more than anyone else, who will be charged with minimizing it.
Oh, several players will assume Staal's responsibilities -- Craig Adams, for example, had been plugged into Staal's spot when he scored the game-winning goal in the Penguins' 6-3 victory against Montreal in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Friday -- but Talbot's share of the burden is expected to be larger than most.
While Mark Letestu moved into Staal's usual locker-room stall at the Penguins' practice rink at Southpointe Saturday and is expected to take his place in the lineup today, Talbot is penciled in to center the No. 3 line most of the time.
That means he will have Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis on his wings when the Penguins and Canadiens collide in Game 2 today at 2:08 p.m. at Mellon Arena.
First Published May 2, 2010 12:00 am
