With four wins in a row and points in seven straight, the Pittsburgh Penguins (26-14-11) have separated themselves from the pack in the Eastern Conference and the Metro Division. The Penguins are now a 79% favorite to make the playoffs and will go for five wins in a row when they host the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-9) at PPG Paints Arena Thursday.

The puck drops just after 7 p.m., and Mr. Jeff Jimerson sings the National Anthem.

The Penguins completed a perfect road trip Sunday. They were 4-0-0 on the roadie, beating the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and finally, the Vancouver Canucks.

The Penguins held onto a late push by Vancouver Sunday, winning 3-2 at Rogers Arena. Stuart Skinner earned a few “Stu!” chants on the road as he held firm despite the Penguins slipping in the third period. The Penguins lead 3-0 as rookie Ben Kindel excited his hometown crowd (and large family contingent) with a pair of goals. Evgeni Malkin scored the other when he finished a two-on-one with Tommy Novak.

Skinner stopped 30 of 32 for the win.

However, the game did prove somewhat costly. The NHL suspended winger Bryan Rust for three games for elbowing Vancouver forward Brock Boeser during a scramble at the net in the final couple of seconds.

Malkin also appeared to suffer an injury on the bench, as a teammate punched his shoulder in celebration. However, coach Dan Muse later clarified that Malkin would be OK. Malkin participated in practice Tuesday.

And defenseman Jack St. Ivany will be out for approximately eight weeks after suffering a broken left hand in the first period. He had successful surgery, and the team projects him to return in later March.

Chicago is winless in their last three games, but earned a pair of loser points, including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

Chicago’s star attraction, Connor Bedard, has struggled since returning from injury. Bedard has one goal in his last nine games and failed to make a shot on his shootout attempt Tuesday.

Ilya Mikheyev, Ryan Donato, and Teuvo Teravainen scored for Chicago in regulation. Spencer Knights stopped 20 of 23 in the SO loss.

In keeping with the Penguins’ goalie rotation, Arturs Silovs is expected to start in net for the Penguins, opposing Knight in goal for Chicago.

Thursday is also expected to be the debut of the Penguins’ newly acquired defenseman Ilya Solovyov.

How to Watch

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Radio: 105.9 The X

Expected Penguins Lines (UPDATED)

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Justin Brazeau

Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin

Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Anthony Mantha

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Defense

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak-Kris Letang

Ilya Solovyov-Ryan Shea

Goalie: Arturs Silovs, expected

Expected Blackhawks Lines

Blackhawks lines from Chicago Hockey Now.

Frank Nazar-Connor Bedard-Teuvo Teravainen

Tyler Bertuzzi-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev

Ryan Greene-Oliver Moore-Andre Burakovsky

Ryan Donato-Nick Foligno-Landon Slaggert

Defensive Pairings

Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier

Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov

Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy

Goalie: Spencer Knight, expected

Special Teams

Penguins’ power play: 27.4%, 4th. Penguins penalty kill: 83.6%, 6th.

Blackhawks power play: 19.9%, 17th. Blackhawks penalty kill: 85.5%, 1st.

Penguins Game Notes

The Penguins have points in seven of their last 10 games versus the Blackhawks (6-3-1), and have wins in three of their last four home games against the Blackhawks (3-1-0).

Tommy Novak has a three-game point streak (1-3-4) and has seven
points (1-6-7) over his last six games.

The Penguins have killed off 24 of their last 25 penalties over the past eight
games (96%).

If coach Dan Muse starts Stuart Skinner, it would be for good reasons, and historical ones, too. Skinner is a perfect 5-0-0 against the Blackhawks in his career with a
1.98 goals against and a .925 save percentage.

The Penguins are 11-2-2 since the holiday break and are among the NHL leaders in most categories.

NHL Leaders Since Dec. 25
Category Rank
Wins (11) T3rd
Points (24) T3rd
Points Percentage (.800) 2nd
Goals For (59) T4th
Goals Against (31) 1st
Goals For per Game (3.93) 2nd
Goals Against per Game (2.07) 1st
Penalty Kill (90.0%) 3rd

The Penguins have gotten a lot of production from their defensemen this season. They have accounted for 25.1% of the Penguins’ total points this year (455), and they have the fourth-most assists by their blueliners this season.

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