Who's In Net For Penguins In Game 3? Bylsma Knows, But Not Saying
BOSTON (CBS) - Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma knows who he will put in net against the Boston Bruins Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
But he's keeping that decision to himself.
Tomas Vokoun started the first two games of the series, but was yanked in the first period of Monday night's Game 2 after giving up three goals on just 12 shots. He was replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury, who wasn't all that effective either, allowed three of the 17 shots he saw go in.
Vokoun, who replaced a struggling Fleury in the first round against the New York Islanders, has a .929 save percentage and 2.2 goals against average over nine games this postseason. Fleury has been sub-par in his five playoff games, allowing an average of 3.4 goals per game.
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Chances are Vokoun will return to net in Game 3 -- to start -- but Bylsma is keeping his decision under wraps until game time. But the head coach did hint that changes were on the way, though not necessarily in net.
"I think there's going to be some changes to our lineup and some of our combinations, our lines," he said Tuesday. "I think very early on (Monday) night, we got behind by a goal and then the second goal right after the penalty kill, and we got off our game plan. We got off individual games by trying to get back a goal or goals by one play, by one instance, by one situation, and it got off -- got us off a path, and we deviated from the game plan in an effort to do so."
"We have to, as a group and as lines and as D pairings, we have to get back to playing our game," the Pens coach continued. "We have to get back to playing good defensive hockey, we have to get back to playing get away from the puck, and that's got to happen throughout our lineup, and I think you'll see some changes in our lines and a few guys being added to the lineup to do so."
Read: Bruins-Penguins Game 3
Pittsburgh has never led over the first two games, with Boston outscoring them 9-1. If things don't turn around in the series, those changes will certainly carry over into the offseason.
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