KANATA, Ontario — The Pittsburgh Penguins (35-20-16) could find themselves out of a playoff spot with a loss Thursday. They face the second wild-card holding Ottawa Senators (38-24-9) at the Canadian Tire Centre, as points become crucial.
The puck drops just after 7 p.m.
The Penguins lead Ottawa by one point in the standings. While the teams are in different divisions, and the Penguins occupy third place in the Metro Division, the Penguins also lead Metro Division foe, the New York Islanders by only one point.
New York hosts Dallas Thursday.
Of course, if the Penguins win, they would have a three point cushion over Ottawa for a wild card spot, if needed, and at least a one point lead over New York with one game in hand.
Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche squashed the Penguins 6-2. The Penguins didn’t get their second goal until garbage time in the third period. Egor Chinakhov tied the game 1-1 in the first period, but the Penguins yielded three goals in 1:55 late in the opening frame to seal their fate.
Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs had a rough night, surrendering a few goals he would have liked back. Silovs stopped 24 of 29 shots in the loss.
Ottawa has been on a tear, but its blue line is depleted. Ottawa is 10-2-1 in their last 13 games and has won four in a row. Tuesday, Ottawa beat their Atlantic Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at Little Caesars Arena.
Goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 32 of 34 shots in the win. Rookie Carter Yakumchuk scored his first NHL goal. Lars Eller and Brady Tkachuk also scored.
However, all is not well with Ottawa. Top defensemen Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot are out, as are Nick Jensen and Lassi Thomson. Ottawa’s defense is now patchwork, though they have not allowed more than two goals in any of their last four games.
The Penguins forward crew is also beset with injuries. In addition to Evgeni Malkin being out day-to-day, the team announced Anthony Mantha also would not play Thursday. Kevin Hayes skated in Mantha’s place at practice Wednesday, but the team has not yet made a call-up.
Blake Lizotte is also out with an injury, leaving the Penguins with only 12 forwards.
Based on coach Dan Muse’s goalie rotation, Stuart Skinner is in line to start Thursday. Ullmark has regained his spot as Ottawa’s No. 1 goalie and is expected in their net.
Update: The Penguins recalled Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Thursday morning.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Expected Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-AVERY HAYES
Ville Koivunen-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom-Connor Dewar-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kris Letang
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
Goalie: Stuart Skinner, expected
Expected Senators Lines
Drake Batherson-Tim Stützle-Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk-Dylan Cozens-Ridley Greig
Nick Cousins-Shane Pinto-Michael Amadio
Warren Foegele-Lars Eller-Fabian Zetterlund
Defence
Tyler Kleven-Artem Zub
Jordan Spence-Nikolas Mantinpalo
Jorian Donovan-Carter Yakemchuk
Goalie: Linus Ullmark, expected
Special Teams
Penguins’ power play: 24.1%, 7th. Penguins penalty kill: 82.9%, 3rd.
Senators power play: 22.8%, 12th. Senators penalty kill: 74.9%, 30th.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins are 1-12 in goaltender interference reviews this season. They are 0-for-8 when challenging, and four of five opponents’ challenges have been successful.
Four of the last five games between the Penguins and Ottawa at Canadian Tire Centre have gone to overtime. The Penguins have points in 16 of their last 23 games against Ottawa (10-7-6) dating back to March 23, 2017.
Rickard Rakell has points in nine of his last 10 games (4-7-11).
Sidney Crosby has a four-game point streak (1-4-5) since returning from injury.
Stuart Skinner has a 6-1-0 record in seven games played against Ottawa and has a .903 save percentage with a 2.71 goals against average.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game two assists shy of becoming the eighth player in NHL history to record 1,100 career assists joining Wayne Gretzky (1,963), Ron Francis (1,249), Mark Messier (1,193), Ray Bourque (1,169), Jaromir Jagr (1,155), Paul Coffey (1,135) and Joe Thornton (1,109). Among the group, Crosby is set to accomplish this feat in the third-fewest games in NHL history (1412).
Crosby also has the second most assists with one team in NHL history, trailing Ray Bourque by only 13 assists.
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