Penguins Game 60 vs. Blue Jackets: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

It’s probably fair to wonder where the Pittsburgh Penguins’ heads will be Tuesday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Penguins (27-24-8) are coming off a soul-crushing western road trip riding a three-game losing streak and now staring hard at possible impactful changes leading into Friday’s trade deadline.

The Blue Jackets (20-30-10) sit last in the Eastern Conference, and although they will be playing for the second night in a row, they come in with some momentum after downing defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas 6-3 on Monday.

Game Time

The game starts a little after 7 p.m.

Penguins Preview

Will the team make it to faceoff without any trades? We will see.

Will the team make it to faceoff with any sort of game mindset? We will see.

Things took a stark turn after the Penguins opened their western trip by knocking off Vancouver, then the top team in the league, 4-3 in overtime.

Then came a shutout loss at Seattle 2-0 and a gut-check loss Saturday at Calgary, when they blew a two-goal, third period lead to fall 4-3. Still stinging – Sidney Crosby admitted the Penguins didn’t properly move on from that terrible loss – they got blown Sunday at Edmonton 6-1.

The Penguins are now 10 points out of both third place in the Metropolitan Division and a wildcard spot in the Metropolitan Division.

Read more:

Kingerski: Penguins Inaction Was the Problem; What Exactly Was the Plan?

Molinari: Here’s What Matters Most in Penguins’ Deadline Trades

Columbus has won two straight games for the first time since Nov. 22 and 24, and is looking for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Perhaps adding a little more sting for the Penguins, Alex Nylander got his first career hat trick in Monday’s win over the Golden Knights.

Nylander was traded to the Blue Jackets less than two weeks ago in exchange for Emil Bemstrom. Nylander has four goals, six points in five games with Columbus; Bemstrom scored in his first game with the Penguins but has no points in the four games since.

“I’m ready,” Nylander told Bally Sports Ohio with a smile of facing the Penguins.

Expected Penguins Lines

Drew O’Connor-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell

Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Valtteri Puustinen

Jonathan Gruden-Lars Eller-Emil Bemstrom

Jansen Harkins-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter

Defense

P.O Joseph-Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Chad Ruhwedel

Goalies

Tristan Jarry

Alex Nedeljkovic

Expected Blue Jackets Lines

Johnny Gaudreau-Boone Jenner-Jack Roslovic

Yegor Chinakhov-Dmitri Voronkov-Kirill Marchenko

Alexandre Texier-Cole Sillinger-Alex Nylander

Justin Danforth-Sean Kuraly-Mathieu Olivier

Defense

Zach Werenski-Adam Boqvist

Ivan Provorov-Damon Severson

Jake Bean-Erik Gudbranson

Goalies

Jet Greaves

Daniil Tarasov

Penguins Special Teams

Penguins power play: 14.6%, 29th

Penguins penalty kill: 82.2%, 6th

Blue Jackets power play: 14.7%, 28th

Blue Jackets penalty kill: 77.1%, 25th

Penguins Game Notes

This is the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Penguins won 5-3 Nov. 14 at Columbus, with Sidney Crosby picking up a hat trick plus an assist.

The Penguins were 3-0-1 against the Blue Jackets last season and are 9-0-1 in the teams’ past 10 meetings.

This marks a stretch were the Penguins play six of eight at home.

Tristan Jarry is 7-1-1 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in his career against Columbus.

Sidney Crosby has 57 points (20 goals, 37 assists) in 39 career games against the Blue Jackets.

Reilly Smith is one point shy of 500 for his career.

How to Watch

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Radio: 105.9 FM The X