The bruising road trip is over and the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ (34-18-16) had an extra day to recoup from their trip that began and ended with extra-time losses in Carolina but also featured impressive wins in Utah and Colorado. The Eastern Conference playoff race is now tighter than a snare drum as the Penguins face the Winnipeg Jets (28-29-11) Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.
The puck drops just after 1 p.m. and Mr. Jeff Jimerson performs the national anthem.
The Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes engaged in a historic see-saw battle Wednesday. It was only the fourth time in history that there were four blown leads in the third period. Carolina led three times, and the Penguins led once, but the game went to overtime and ended when Carolina defenseman Sean Walker beat goalie Stuart Skinner with less than 30 seconds remaining.
The game featured the return of Sidney Crosby to the Penguins’ lineup for the first time since the Olympics, and he scored the Penguins’ first goal in the first period.
Erik Karlsson had a standout performance and three points, including two goals. Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist. Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins, who receded to 4-6 in OT.
Skinner had the dubious distinction of being lauded for spectacular play but giving up six goals. He stopped 38 of 44 shots.
The Penguins now trail Carolina by 10 points with one game in hand for the Metro Division lead. However, the rest of the Eastern Conference playoff race is extraordinarily tight.
The Penguins have second place in the Metro Division with 84 points in 68 games. They lead the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have surged into third place by one point. Both wild-card teams, the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, have 84 points in 69 games played.
The first team out of the playoffs is now the New York Islanders, who have 83 points in 69 games played. And just to make things more interesting, the Ottawa Senators have points in eight of their last 10 games (7-2-1) to close within five points of a wild card.
The Winnipeg Jets are another of the Canadian teams that have labored through a surprisingly poor season with a losing record. Winnipeg has mustered only 67 points, but in the weakened Western Conference, they are only five points out of a playoff spot.
Based on coach Dan Muse’s goalie rotation, Arturs Silovs is in line for the start today. Gold medal-winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck should go for Winnipeg.
The Penguins are also likely to put Sam Girard back in the lineup, pairing him with Kris Letang. The pair struggled through four games before Muse broke up the pairing, but Girard suffered an injury in the next game.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Expected Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom-Connor Dewar-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kris Letang
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
Goalie: Arturs Silovs, expected
Expected Jets Lines
Kyle Connor-Mark Scheifele-Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti-Adam Lowry-Gabe Vilardi
Gustav Nyquist-Jonathan Toews-Isak Rosén
Cole Koepke-Morgan Barron-Brad Lambert
Defense
Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg-Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury-Jacob Bryson
Goalie: Connor Hellebuyck, expected
Special Teams
Penguins’ power play: 25.1%, 3rd. Penguins’ penalty kill: 84.2%, 1st
Jets power play: 18.0%, 23rd. Jets penalty kill: 79.7%, 19th.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins are 17-8-0 in their last 25 meetings with the Jets, and since 2007, the Penguins are 20-3-0 in their last 23 matchups at PPG Paints Arena.
Egor Chinakhov (14-14-28) sits two goals and one point shy of tying his respective career highs (16G and 29 PTS) set in the 2023-24 season.
With his three points (2-1-3) on Wednesday, Erik Karlsson now has 52 points (9-43-52) and became the fifth Penguins player to record 50 or more points this season (Sidney Crosby – 61; Bryan Rust – 54; Anthony Mantha – 53; Evgeni Malkin – 51), tying the League lead with Vegas and Montreal.
Noel Acciari has three goals in his last five games and has four points (3-1-4) total.
Bryan Rust has a five-game point streak (5-3-8) and has points in 10 of his last 11 games played (7-7-14) dating back to Feb. 28.
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