{"id":439582,"date":"2026-02-01T09:23:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/439582\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T09:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T09:23:38","slug":"penguins-game-53-sullivan-returns-lines-goalies-how-to-watch-vs-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/439582\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins Game 53, Sullivan Returns; Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

A big winning streak, honoring past champions, a returning coach, and perfect hockey weather. The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> (27-14-11) have won five in a row and have points in eight straight, claiming second place in the Metro Division. It is a big day as they host former coach Mike Sullivan<\/a> and the New York Rangers (22-27-6) at PPG Paints Arena Saturday. <\/p>\n

The puck drops just after 3:30 p.m for a national TV audience, and the Penguins are honoring the 2016 Stanley Cup championship team. The 2016 team also includes Sullivan, who coached the Penguins for nearly 10 years. <\/p>\n

The Penguins are on a heater. From middling in the playoff fight to solidly in a good spot, the team\u2019s 12-2-2 run since the holiday break has firmly established its chances. As of Jan. 31, the Penguins have an 84.2% chance to make the postseason, according to Moneypuck.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Penguins overcame a sluggish start to absolutely overwhelm the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 Thursday. Connor Dewar had a pair of goals. Egor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, Anthony Mantha, and Ryan Shea also lit the lamp. <\/p>\n

Mantha, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari also had two assists. <\/p>\n

Arturs Silovs<\/a> was given credit for 18 saves on only 20 shots. <\/p>\n

The Rangers are sledding to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. In a season full of promise with Sullivan, their new coach, the Rangers are now falling fast and on the precipice of a rebuild after general manager Chris Drury sent a letter to fans asking for patience as they retool. <\/p>\n

The Rangers have lost 10 of their last 12 games (2-9-1) and have endured a 10-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, as well as consecutive losses in a home-and-home to the New York Islanders, which is unforgivable in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

The Islanders beat the Rangers 5-2 on Wednesday and 2-1 Thursday. <\/p>\n

Artemi Panarin won\u2019t play Saturday, and the Rangers\u2019 superstar winger Artemi Panarin won\u2019t play again with the Rangers, as they have scratched him indefinitely pending the team\u2019s ability to work out a trade. <\/p>\n

The Rangers are also without their starting goalie, Igor Shesterkin.<\/p>\n

The Penguins will announce the status of veterans Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin when coach Dan Muse speaks at 1:30 p.m. The pair missed practice Friday while being evaluated for unspecified injuries. Bryan Rust will serve the second of his three-game suspension. <\/p>\n

In keeping with the Penguins\u2019 goalie rotation, Stuart Skinner is the likely starter Saturday. Spencer Martin has been getting the bulk of the starts but has posted just an .864 save percentage over four games in January. Jonathan Quick is expected in net. <\/p>\n

Update: Ther Penguins announced Kris Letang will be out for weeks, approximately four, with a fractured foot.<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/p>\n

TV: ABC<\/p>\n

Radio: 105.9 The X<\/p>\n

Expected Penguins Lines<\/p>\n

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n

Tommy Novak-Kevin Hayes-Egor Chinakhov<\/p>\n

Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Anthony Mantha<\/p>\n

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari<\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n

Brett Kulak-Connor Clifton<\/p>\n

Ilya Solovyov-Ryan Shea<\/p>\n

Goalie: Stuart Skinner, expected<\/p>\n

Expected Rangers Lines<\/p>\n

Gabe Perreault-J.T. Miller-Mika Zibanejad<\/p>\n

Will Cuylle-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere<\/p>\n

Brennan Othmann-Noah Laba-Taylor Raddysh<\/p>\n

Brett Berard-Sam Carrick-Matt Rempe<\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Vladislav Gavrikov-Braden Schneider<\/p>\n

Matthew Robertson-Will Borgen<\/p>\n

Urho Vaakanainen-Scott Morrow<\/p>\n

Goalie: Jonathan Quick, expected<\/p>\n

Special Teams<\/p>\n

Penguins\u2019 power play: 27.2%, 3rd. Penguins penalty kill: 83.8%, 4th.<\/p>\n

Rangers power play: 22.8%, 9th.\u00a0Blackhawks penalty kill: 79.5%, 16th.<\/p>\n

Penguins Game Notes<\/p>\n

The Penguins have lost five straight to the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena. <\/p>\n

Egor Chinakhov is on a four-game point streak (3-1-4), which is the third longest of his career.<\/p>\n

Stuart Skinner is 4-1-1 in six career games against the Rangers (all with Edmonton) with a .930 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against.<\/p>\n

Skinner is 7-1 since the break with a .934 save percentage and 1.63 goals against. <\/p>\n

The Penguins have killed off 26 of their last 27 penalties over the past eight games (96.3%).<\/p>\n

Anthony Mantha has been red-hot during the Penguins\u2019 five-game win streak. On Thursday, he tied his seasonhigh with three points (1G-2A), and it was his third multi-point game in the last five.<\/p>\n

The Penguins have scored the first goal of the game in 31 of their 52 games this year (59.6%), and only two other teams in the NHL have more goals in the first period than the Penguins.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: New York Rangers<\/a> Penguins game<\/a> Penguins lines<\/a> Penguins starting goalie<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> Rangers lines<\/a> <\/p>\n

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