There's no doubt that the Penguins' mediocre start has the organization frustrated, and when the Pens play the Ducks in Anaheim Friday night at 10:00, they could be ready to do some things differently. The Post-Gazette says there will be "fallout" in advance of the game, but doesn't say what it will be. To begin with, Pascal Dupuis, who missed the Pens' last game as his wife gave birth, will be back and ready to play. And Marc-Andre Fleury will start in goal over Brent Johnson, although it's unclear how that helps things. (Believe it or not, though, Fleury could become the seventh-youngest goaltender ever to reach 150 wins if the Pens defeat Anaheim with him in the net.)
If anything, it's Anaheim that sounds more prepared for "fallout." General manager Bob Murray has already had to defend his coach in the press and is talking about breaking up his group of core players in order to get the team out of their funk. The Ducks stand at 5-7-1 and have a worse goal differential than any team except the Devils and Islanders, and they're also allowing more shots per game than any other NHL team. Their offense, led by Ryan Getzlaf, isn't bad, though, so this could be a high-scoring game, especially if Fleury continues to struggle. The speculation about "fallout" will probably get louder for whichever team comes out on the wrong end of this one.