Penguins
Penguins Game 9 vs. Struggling Oilers; Lines, Notes & How to Watch
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Pittsburgh Penguins (3-4-1) are in a rough patch. They are winless in their last three games, and their bad habit of punting third-period leads cost them again Tuesday in a shootout loss to the Calgary Flames. After a day off and a practice in Edmonton, the Penguins face the Edmonton Oilers (2-4-1) on Friday at Rogers Place.
The puck drops just after 9 p.m. ET.
The game is the first of back-to-backs and features the marquee matchup of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby vs. Connor McDavid.
Read More: ‘No Brainer’: McDavid on Team Canada Captaincy; Crosby’s Smiling Response
The Penguins play the Vancouver Canucks Saturday.
The Penguins rebounded from plenty of sloppy hockey in a loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday with a more structured attempt Tuesday in Calgary. They were better but far from perfect, as turnovers and mistakes yielded odd-man rushes and goals. However, the Penguins led 3-2 in the closing minute before allowing Calgary to tie the game with the extra attacker.
Bryan Rust scored a power-play goal for the Penguins. Rickard Rakell and Noel Acciari also scored goals. But Calgary center Nazem Kadri tied the game with 43 seconds remaining, and Justin Kirkland scored in the sixth round of the shootout.
Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic wasn’t pleased with his performance, but his play outpaced his numbers. Nedeljkovic stopped 22 of 25 shots but allowed three shootout goals.
Read More: They Said It. Penguins Sour After Shootout Loss
Edmonton is also dealing with a loss that left them salty. Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho scored the overtime winner with just seven seconds remaining in the extra period.
Edmonton is struggling this season, even at home. They’re 1-3-1 at Rogers Place, and even the vaunted power play is undergoing changes. Their penalty kill is killing barely more than 50% of the chances.
The Stanley Cup Final hangover has been strong. Connor McDavid scored only his second and third goals of the season on Tuesday vs. Carolina.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan will announce his starting goalie after the morning skate. It will not be Tristan Jarry; the team sent the goaltender home to work with the director of goaltending, Jon Elkin.
UPDATE: Joel Blomqvist will start.
Penguins Lines
Penguins Lines
Drew O’Connor-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell
Anthony Beauvillier-Lars Eller-Cody Glass
Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari-Jesse Puljujarvi
Defense
Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic
Joel Blomqvist
Oilers Lines (Estimated)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman
Vasily Podklzin-Leon Draisaitl-Viktor Arvidsson
Jeff Skinner-Adam Henrique-Connor Brown
Mattias Janmark-Derek Ryan-Corey Perry
Defense
Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Troy Stecher
Brett Kulak-Ty Emberson
Goalie: Stuart Skinner
Special Teams
Penguins Power Play: 6-for-25, 24%, 12th. Penguins Penalty Kill: 4-for-23, 82.6%, 10th
Oilers Power Play: 2-for-19, 10% 28th. Oilers Penalty Kill: 10-fr-22, 54%, 32nd.
Penguins Game Notes
*The Penguins are looking for their first win in Edmonton since Dec. 20, 2019.
*Evgeni Malkin has notched 21 points (8G-13A) in 21 career games against Edmonton. He has points in six straight games against the Oilers (3-3-6).
*Malkin is ninth in the NHL scoring race.
*Lars Eller is one of five players who share the league lead for goals on the road. Eller has four tallies in five road games.
*Thirteen Penguins players have scored this season. Noel Acciari became the 13th player when he tallied his first goal of the year on Tuesday night. The Penguins are one behind the NHL leaders for most unique goal scorers.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Jesse should be on the third line.
We need to take his blender away from him…. I thought this team had an analytics department?
Put Rakell with Sid.
Switch Glass and Jesse so Acciari is not the center.
Aside from the 2 goal game Beauvillier had , he hadn’t done much. Would rather see Puus in the 3rd line.
The interesting question is when Lizotte is healthy and his 2 yr contract comes back, who is being sent down or traded because his cap number won’t fit and just sending down Beauvillier, Blom, or Puus by themselves won’t do it.
Yes, Rackell with Sid is LONG overdue!!!
Agree with everything you said!
Sully’s job has to be in more danger than any time in his Penquin career. The entire D has been called out as inadequate and the top six are going sideways. Everybody is squeezing their sticks and whistles way to tight. Please God two wins on the finish of this trip (ugly,lucky,whatever) and maybe we can have an “average” season. Oh,I forgot we seem to have goalie problems as well. Early happy hour tonight……..
The Good Pens will win 4-3 OR the Bad Pens will lose 7-2……
no one tracks it, but if there was a stat for giveaways that lead to goals against, letang would be the record holder by a mile