Penguins
Penguins Game 28, Bite the Apple; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Rangers
NEW YORK — In the city that never sleeps, there is swirling drama as the New York Rangers (13-10-1) could waive captain Jacob Trouba on Friday. Conversely, The Pittsburgh Penguins (11-12-4) have won four in a row and are climbing back into the middle of the Eastern Conference after a disastrous first two months of the season.
The puck drops just after 7:30 at the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden. However, the Penguins game will not be on “television” or cable. Welcome another game on streaming services.
The Rangers have lost six of their last seven games, including a 5-1 drubbing administered by tri-state rival New Jersey Devils on Monday. New York called up right-handed defenseman Victor Mancini Friday, and Trouba will not play against the Penguins due to “roster management” issues.
That should mean Sidney Crosby’s head is in less danger.
Forever Blueshirts: Rangers trade rumors: Jacob Trouba out against Penguins due to ‘roster management
The Penguins have won four in a row in very … very different ways. They’ve had a couple of big leads, held one by the skin of their teeth (Vancouver), won a low-scoring defensive contest in Boston, blew out Calgary, and lost a three-goal lead to the Florida Panthers before winning in overtime on Tuesday.
If there are common themes among the games, it might be some timely goaltending, depth scoring, and simply deciding they would no longer be the weak-willed team that has punted nine multi-goal leads and mentally crumbled in the process.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan may reinstate Cody Glass back into the lineup. The team activated Glass from IR on Tuesday, but he did not play against Florida. Based on the morning skate, it appears Matt Nieto will be the healthy scratch as he stayed on the ice with the other scratches. However, Sullivan is not one to share such information.
Glass hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in a collision with a teammate (Lars Eller) on Nov. 7 against Carolina.
Sullivan said Alex Nedeljkovic will start in net. Igor Shesterkin will start for the Rangers. Shesterkin is 8-5-1 with a .930 save percentage in his career against the Penguins. He was in net for the Rangers opening night, 6-0 shutout of the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
Possible Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Drew O’Connor-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino
Michael Bunting-Blake Lizotte-Anthony Beauvillier
Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari-Cody Glass
Defense
Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson
Owen Pickering-Ryan Shea
Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic
Possible Rangers Lines
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider– Mika Zibanejad–Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil–Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom–Sam Carrick–Jimmy Vesey
Defense
Rya Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller–Braden Schneider
Zac Jones-Victor Mancini
Goalie: Igor Shesterkin
Special Teams
Penguins power play: 22.7%, 13th. Penguins penalty kill: 79.5%, 17th.
Rangers power play: 23.4%, 10th. Rangers penalty kill: 86.7%, 2nd.
Penguins Game Notes
Philip Tomasino has points in three of his four career games versus the Rangers (2-1-3). Tomasino also has two game-winning goals in four games with the Penguins.
The Penguins are 7-2-2, with Blake Lizotte in the lineup. He has multiple points in back-to-back games (1-3-4) for just the second time in his career.
Long-time Islanders forward and current Penguins winger Anthony Beauvillier has 25 points (13-12-25) in 31 career games against New York. It’s the most goals and points he’s recorded against any one team.
Sidney Crosby will become the 72nd player in NHL history to reach 1,300 regular-season games played. Crosby already ranks 10th in NHL history with 1,622 points (600-1022-1622) and is set to have the fourth-most points through their first 1,300 games played in league history. However, he’s only three behind third-place Jaromir Jagr. A three-point night would tie him for third-most points in 1300 games behind only Marcel Dionne (1743) and Wayne Gretzky (2670).
How to Watch
TV: Hulu, ESPN+; Radio: 105.9 The X
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