It's Dial-A-Defenseman For Montreal As Pittsburgh Looks To Do What They Do Best In Game 6

After a game 5 victory on Saturday night at Mellon Arena that upped the post-season record of the Pittsburgh Penguins under Head Coach Dan Bylsma to 10-2 after a loss, the Boys of Winter traveled to Montreal yesterday as they prepared for their chance to close out the Habs in game 6 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal tonight at The Bell Centre (7:00 PM EST, VERSUS, FSN PITTSBURGH).

Certainly, the crowd in Montreal this evening is bound to be loud and hostile to the visitors, but if it's one thing the Penguins have down at this point, it's closing out a series on the road.

In fact, they have yet to close one out at home under Bylsma, instead winning all 5 playoff series' under him away from home, including the first round this year against the Ottawa Senators in game 6.

Given the mostly complete game he saw from his team in game 5 Saturday night, expect Bylsma to stick with the same lineup tonight. That means no Ruslan Fedotenko or Alexei Ponikarovsky.

For Montreal, there is anything but certainty as to who is going to suit up for them -- particularly on the blue line.

Defenseman Hal Gill returned to Montreal yesterday from Pittsburgh, one day after staying in Pittsburgh overnight for observation of a cut he sustained on the back of his leg after Pens' LW Chris Kunitz inadvertently stepped on it with one of his skate blades Saturday night.

Sources have provided varying reports about Gill's availability for tonight's game and, while anything is possible in the post-season, it appears that Gill has maybe a 35% chance of suiting up.

If he doesn't go, his most likely replacement would be Jaroslav Spacek, who has been out since game 3 or 4 of Montreal's first round series against Washington with a condition -- believed to be Vertigo -- that was affecting his balance. Spacek has been cleared by Montreal's medical staff to play, but as I understand it, he's yet to take in a full practice with all of his teammates and instead only skated with small groups of other injured players or taxi-squad members.

If Spacek goes, he can bring a good two-way stability to Montreal's blueline, but there has to be a question as to how quickly he could acclimate to getting back into the lineup in the middle of a highly-contested series with everything on the line after not playing for about 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, the Habs saw defensemen Andrei Markov and Paul Mara skate lightly yesterday, as well. Mara has been out since early April after sustaining what was thought to be a season-ending shoulder injury, while everyone following this series knows that Markov left game 1 after suffering a torn ACL on a crushing -- but legal -- hit by Pens' forward Matt Cooke.

Despite skating briefly yesterday, Mara isn't believed to be close to playing yet and, while Markov is still considered out indefinitely, word has been circulating that the Canadiens are trying to find him a proper brace that could support his knee enough to allow him to try to go.

Players have played with a torn ACL before, but needless to say, if Markov suits up in that condition, his mobility would be severely limited.

Personally, I don't expect to see Markov back in the lineup tonight. As I mentioned, Spacek is the most likely play.

Lineup changes aside, it goes without saying that it's incumbent on the Penguins to match Montreal's intensity tonight. The Habs were in the same situation in round 1 against the Capitals, so it won't be unfamiliar to them. Pittsburgh will need to show the same urgency the Canadiens surely will, and do everything they can to close out the Habs in game 6 tonight. The last thing they want is to leave things to an anything-can-happen game 7.

As usual, things for Pittsburgh are likely to come down to their players down the middle.

If Pens' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury can give them another good game (which he's been generally putting together lately), if Captain Sidney Crosby can get something going without having to see Gill opposite him on the Montreal blueline, and if Malkin continues the dominance he showed in game 5, I like the Penguins' chances. Even if -- as is often the case in big games -- the role players are often the hero in the end.

Hey -- as long as the guys in the white jerseys are celebrating afterwards, that's all that matters.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!