After taking wins in two of their three games on the West Coast road trip, the Pittsburgh Penguins return home for a tough matchup against the Vancouver Canucks. Both teams come into the contest sitting at 4-2-0 and are looking to extend their respective win streaks (two for the Penguins and three for the Canucks).
Projected Lines
Penguins
Rickard Rakell- Sidney Crosby- Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha- Evgeni Malkin- Justin Brazeau
Tommy Novak- Benjamin Kindel- Filip Hallander
Connor Dewar- Blake Lizotte- Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea- Kris Letang
Caleb Jones- Harrison Brunicke
Arturs Silovs
Tristan Jarry
Canucks
Evander Kane- Elias Pettersson- Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk- Aatu Räty- Linus Karlsson
Drew O’Connor- Max Sasson- Kiefer Sherwood
Arshdeep Bains- Nils Aman- Joe Labate
Quinn Hughes- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson- Tyler Myers
P.O. Joseph- Elias Nils Pettersson
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
2025-26 Season So Far
The Penguins come into the game against the Canucks after blanking the San Jose Sharks on Oct.18, 3-0, and ride a two-game win streak. They have been led up front by Evgeni Malkin (two goals, seven assists), Sidney Crosby (three goals, four assists), and free agent signee Justin Brazeau (four goals, one assist). Both netminders have been solid for the Penguins, with Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs both having a 2-1-0 record and a shutout in each of their records. They have done a strong job defensively and have been led on the backend by Erik Karlsson and rookie Harrison Brunicke.
Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang (The Hockey Writers)
The Canucks have been led up front by a bit of a surprising player, Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood leads the way in the scoring department for the team with four goals, while Conor Garland has six total points to lead the team. The usual suspects of Elias Pettersson (the forward) and Quinn Hughes have both had strong starts to their seasons, tallying three and five points, respectively. Like the Penguins, the Canucks have relied on both of their goaltenders to start the season, with Thatcher Demko recording a 3-1-0 record and Kevin Lankinen holding a 1-1-0 record.
The Penguins Win If…
With the Canucks being battered with injuries already this season, including Teddy Blueger, Filip Chytil, and Jonathan Lekkermäki all being out, the Penguins have a chance to take advantage of a roster that is missing some of their key players. Overall, the matchup between these two teams is fairly even based on the numbers, with both sitting toward the middle of the pack when it comes to special teams, but where the Penguins do have an advantage is in the shot department at both ends of the ice. They have done a solid job of limiting high danger chances and have averaged the 19th-best shots allowed per game to this point while the Canucks have struggled to get shots on net, averaging only 25.3 (27th). So for the Penguins, continuing to take advantage of the chances they get in the offensive zone will be imperative. Getting to the high danger areas has been an aspect that they have really been able to strive in, having the most high danger shots on goal in the league and will need to keep the Canucks defense busy tonight.
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Playing a clean game against a team like the Canucks who have offensive weapons both in their forward groups and defensemen will be a tough task to tackle, but if they can play like they have defensively to this point and get solid goaltending once again, they have a strong chance to pull out their third win in a row tonight. Containing players like Sherwood, Pettersson, and Hughes will be key to success.
Penguins vs Canucks
Tonight’s matchup will be a tightly contested game based on the analytics and statistics. Both teams have similar playing styles in their lineups, but being able to take advantage of a roster that is hampered with injuries could help the Penguins pull out yet another victory.
