The Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins face-off in the Steel City in Pennsylvania. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here with Last Word On Hockey. Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for games around the NHL. In tonight’s matchup, the Penguins and Panthers face-off in the first half of a back-to-back in Pittsburgh.

NHL Predictions featuring the Florida Panthers and the Pittsburgh Penguins

Head-to-Head: Panthers 0-1 Penguins

How to Watch: Sportsnet+, NHL Centre Ice, SN-PIT, SCRIPPS, ESPN+ 

Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Penguins Story

Pittsburgh comes into this game off a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the loss, the Penguins are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Their overall record of 38-22-16 places them second in the Metropolitan Division. Even though they lost against the Lightning, Pittsburgh has a bit of insurance over the teams chasing them for Stanley Cup Playoff spots. Sitting second in their division, the Penguins have a three-point lead over the New York Islanders and a four-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers. With a game in hand over the Islanders, and the same amount of games played as the Flyers and Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh controls their destiny not just for the playoffs, but for home-ice advantage.

Credit Image: © Dean Beattie/ZUMAPRESS.com

There were certainly some bright spots in the loss. Anthony Mantha scored another assist. He is now up to 30 goals and 59 points in 76 games. Egor Chinakhov also continues to impress. With two goals against Tampa Bay, the recent acquisition is up to 17 goals and 30 points in 38 games with the Penguins. Another recent acquisition, Sam Girard, seems to finally be putting his game together in Pittsburgh. He produced a pair of assists against Tampa and now has three points in his last three games. He and veteran Kris Letang have started to show off chemistry together on the team’s second pair. 

Expect Arturs Silovs to appear in net following Stuart Skinner’s loss against the Lightning. Silovs is 17-10-8 with an .891 save percentage this season. 

Panthers Story

The back-to-back cup champions have had a difficult year, to say the least. They, however, come into this game off a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins. They are 37-35-3 on the season, sitting 11 points out of a playoff spot with just seven games remaining in their season. Three years of appearing in the Stanley Cup finals has taken its toll on this Panthers team, one that has maybe the longest list of injuries of any team this season. Florida can, however, take solace in the fact that they seem primed for a top 10 pick in this year‘s draft due to their ailments. 

One of the Panthers’ top offensive stars is available for this game. Watch for Matthew Tkachuk, who has 13 goals and 31 points in 28 games this season. The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy-winner, Sam Bennett, is also available. He’s been healthier than most this season, appearing in 72 games where he’s scored 26 goals and 57 points. In the absence of Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones has also gotten a bigger role. He has six goals and 29 points through 49 games. A player lower down the lineup to watch out for is Eetu Luostarinen. He’s scored nine goals and 27 points in 66 games while playing a fantastic two-way style of hockey. 

Expect Sergei Bobrovsky to start this game. The star netminder is 27-21-1 with an .881 save percentage this season. However, as this game is a back-to-back, it is also possible that backup Danill Tarasov starts this first game. Tarasov is 10-14-2 with an .897 save percentage. 

Prediction

The Pittsburgh Penguins desperately need to accumulate points to finalize a spot in the playoffs. The Panthers, meanwhile, are banged up and would likely benefit from being lower in the standings at this point in the season. Expect a Penguins win in this one. 

Prediction: Penguins win 5-4

Prop Bet of the Night

The Penguins have yet to win a game 1-0 or 2-1 this season. Expecting another high-scoring game, where a popular prop bet of goals over seven with odds of +176 is a good one. 

Main Photo Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images

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