Penguins

Penguins Game 3: Notes, Lines & How to Watch vs. Flames

Published

1 year ago

October 14, 2023

Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames Game

The Pittsburgh Penguins regained their equilibrium — and picked up a couple of valuable points — with a convincing 4-0 victory in Washington Friday evening.

The challenge now for the Penguins, who are the NHL’s oldest team, will be to match their performance against the Capitals when Calgary visits PPG Paints Arena tonight at 7:08.

The Flames opened the season with a 5-3 victory Wednesday at home against Winnipeg and will be making their first stop on a five-game road trip.

The Penguins, meanwhile, will be playing their only set of games on consecutive days until Nov. 18-19, when they will visit Carolina and return home to take on Vegas.

Tristan Jarry, who made 19 saves in Washington en route to his 14th career shutout, is expected to have the night off, with backup Alex Nedeljkovic getting his first start since signing with the Penguins as a free agent. He lost his only previous start against the Flames.

Because they played in Washington Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1) did not conduct a game-day skate. Mike Sullivan is scheduled to meet with reporters around 5 p.m.

Expected Pittsburgh Penguins Lines

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust

Smith-Malkin-Rakell

O’Conn0r-Eller-Harkins

Nieto-Acciari-Carter

Defense

Pettersson-Karlsson

Graves-Letang

Joseph-Ruhwedel

Goalie

Alex Nedeljkovic

Expected Calgary Flames Lines

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Mangiapane

Ruzicka-Kadri-Coronato

Dube-Backlund-Coleman

Greer-Sharangovich-Duehr

Defense

Hanifin-Andersson

Zadorov-Weegar

Oesterle-Tanev

Goalie

Markstrom

Special Teams

Penguins power play: 2-for-5, 40%, 4th in NHL

Penguins penalty-kill: 7-for-7, 100%, 1st in NHL (tie)

Flames power play: 1-for-3, 33.3%, 6th in NHL

Flames penalty-kill: 4-for-4, 100%, 1st in NHL (tie)

Game Notes

The Penguins went 1-1 against Calgary last season, including a 2-1 shootout victory at PPG Paints Arena Nov. 23.

Evgeni Malkin’s next goal will be his 473rd, tying Alexander Mogilny for third place among Russian-born players. They trail only Alex Ovechkin (822) and Sergei Fedorov (483).

Erik Karlsson has two goals and 10 assists in his past 11 games against Calgary.

The Penguins are 103-10-5 when Sidney Crosby and Malkin both get a goal.

Fourth-line left winger Matt Nieto’s next point will be his 200th in the NHL.

Here’s a stat that seems unlikely to last much longer: Crosby and Jake Guentzel are tied for the worst plus-minus ratings on the team (minus-2).

Fourteen of Calgary’s next 20 games will be on the road.

First-line right winger Andrew Mangiapane had two goals and an assist in the Flames’ season-opener.

Calgary got points from four defensemen in the Winnipeg game, including goals by Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar.

Flames center Elias Lindholm won 21 of 25 faceoffs against the Jets. He also had a goal and two assists.

Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin is scheduled to appear in his 600th NHL game tonight.

A contingent of African penguins is scheduled to attend the game to raise awareness of their status as an endangered species. Their line is not expected to start.