Penguins
(UPDATED) Penguins Game 52, In the Tank; Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs. Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The symbolism could not be more appropriate Monday as the sinking Pittsburgh Penguins (20-23-8) are in the shark tank to face the rebuilding San Jose Sharks (14-32-6), who boast the 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini at SAP Arena.
The puck drops just after 10:30 EST.
You may need to grab some coffee or a six-pack of Red Bull. The Penguins have scored a combined two goals over their last two games, losing to the Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken. In fact, the Penguins have managed just one goal in three of their last four games. Adding to the negativity, the team is seven or more points out of a playoff spot and has the worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference, -39.
Only Western Conference teams Chicago (-42) and San Jose (-58) are worse.
The Penguins struggled to finish chances against Seattle Saturday afternoon. The advanced metrics from NaturalStatTrick.com, derived from automated calculations, showed the Penguins had a 16-1 high-danger chance advantage, but they lost 4-1.
Read More:Â Sleepy in Seattle, Penguins Tanking Continues; Malkin Injured
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin suffered a lower-body injury in the first period Saturday and did not return. He attempted an open-ice hit on Chandler Stephenson but missed. Stephenson’s shin directly contacted Malkin’s knee. Malkin went to the locker room, returned for one more shift, and then left the game.
The struggling Penguins are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. Coach Mike Sullivan will presumably update Malkin’s status at the morning skate on Monday and announce the starting goalie. Winger Bryan Rust is also day-to-day, so the Penguins are down to 12 healthy forwards, but Blake Lizotte has missed the last two games due to illness.
UPDATE: The team placed Malkin on injured reserve and recalled Jesse Puljujajarvi. Bryan Rust was a participant in the morning skate.
San Jose is one of the few teams in worse shape than the Penguins. They’ve lost nine of their last 10 games, including the last five. Their last win was Jan. 14 over the Detroit Red Wings. Over the weekend, they lost a home-and-home series against the Nashville Predators, allowing 13 goals.
Follow San Jose Hockey Now for in-depth Sharks and Celebrini coverage.
Possible Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Cody Glass-Anthony Beauvillier
Drew O’Connor-Kewvin Hayes-Philip Tomasino
Boko Imama-Noel Acciari-Matt Nieto
Defense
Marcus Pettersson-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Ryan Shea
Goalies: Alex Nedelkovic
Sharks Lines
Fabian Zetterlund-Mikael Granlund-Will Smith
William Eklund-Macklin Celebrini-Tyler Toffoli
Nikolai Kovalenko-Alex Wennberg-Luke Kunin
Barclay Goodrow-Colin White-Walker Duehr
Defense
Jake Walman-Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro-Timothy Liljegren
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (Pickles!)-Henry Thrun
Goalies: Yaroslav Askarov/Alexandar Georgiev
Special Teams
Penguins power play: 26.9%, 6th. Penguins penalty kill: 78.9%, 17th.
Sharks Power Play: 18.1%, 26th. Sharks Penalty Kill: 76.1%, 24th
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins have won six of their last seven games against San Jose and are averaging 5.14 goals per game. They have also won three in a row.
The Penguins might strongly hope to get Bryan Rust back in the lineup on Monday. He has 11 points (6-5-11) in his last six games against the Sharks.
Erik Karlsson has 19 points (5-14-19) in 16 career games against his former team. He has points in 11 of his last 12 games versus San Jose (4-13-17).
Michael Bunting led the Penguins with nine power-play goals, which is tied for sixth in the NHL.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Read This Next
Recommended
Absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable to have high danger chances be 16-1 and you lose 4-1. Bracing to wake up tomorrow morning to see a 5-1 loss.
….we’re in real bad shape if Beauvillier has to double shift….
DOC should be on the 3rd line
Jesse has been recalled.
OH! I see Pujlijarvi is back…..never mind!!
Rust is back….great!!
Just noticed that the d pairs listed here are also wrong.
I see its not that way….good….
Shows how useless NaturalStatTrick is. I was at the game and Kraken had waaaaaay more than one high danger chance, including their 4 goals.
SJ has lost 9 of 10 and 5 in a row so they should stomp the Pens. LOL
Wait! Pickering is back too???
I think Dan is wild and crazy with copy/paste haha
In his defense, it says possible lines lol
Let’s go ahead and pencil Lemieux in at 2nd line center and Scuderi on the 3rd d pair in place of Pickering
Hahahahaa!!
Don’t forget Gary Inness as the starting goalie with Gordie Laxton as the backup.