Penguins Game 29 vs. Maple Leafs: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Pittsburgh Penguins (13-12-3) finish a two-game road trip with a game Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs (15-6-6).

The Penguins won the first game of the trip 4-3 in a 12-round shootout Wednesday in Montreal.

The Maple Leafs are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss Thursday against Columbus.

Game Time

The game starts a little after 7 p.m.

Penguins Preview

The Penguins have won two in a row after their rousing win against the Canadiens, when they overcame a sleepy first period and were pretty well willed to the comeback win by captain Sidney Crosby, who had two goals and an assist and was sparkling all over the ice.

This game is the final stop on the team’s dads’ trip.

The Penguins have been dealing with several injuries, particularly to their forwards. Top-six winger Rickard Rakell participated fully in Friday’s practice in Toronto and, while he seemed likely to return against the Maple Leafs, he has been ruled out.

Read more:

Kingerski: Penguins’ Rakell Close to Return; ‘I Was in a Pretty Dark Place’

Kingerski: Crosby to the Rescue; Karlsson Blunt Critique

The Maple Leafs have gone past regulation in 10 of their past 18 games.

Thursday, Toronto trailed 5-0 after two periods, rallied with five goals in the third before falling in overtime against the Blue Jackets for an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).

Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist in that game. He leads the NHL with 23 goals and the Maple Leafs with 35 points.

Penguins Expected Lines

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Drew O’Connor

Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Valtteri Puustinen

Radim Zohorna-Lars Eller-Vinnie Hinostroza

Jansen Harkins-Jonathan Gruden-Jeff Carter

Defense

Ryan Graves-Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson

P.O. Joseph-John Ludvig

Goalies

Tristan Jarry

Alex Nedeljkovic

Maple Leafs Expected Lines

Noah Gregor-Auston Matthews-William Nylander

Tyler Bertuzzi-John Tavares-Mitchell Marner

Nicholas Robertson-Max Domi-Calle Jarnkrok

Bobby McMann-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves

Defense

Morgan Reilly-TJ Brodie

William Lagesson-Jake McCabe

Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins

Goalies

Martin Jones

Ilya Samsonov

Penguins Special Teams

Penguins power play: 13.4%, 27th

Penguins penalty kill: 81.8%, 10th

Maple Leafs power play: 25.6%, 26th

Maple Leafs penalty kill: 79.3%, 19th

Penguins Game Notes

The Penguins are 20-12-2 in their past 34 games against the Maple Leafs and won 3-2 at home on Nov. 25.

The Penguins are 7-6-2 on the road.

Sidney Crosby got his fourth multiple-goal game of the season on Wednesday and moved into a tie with Mark Recchi for 13^th all-time in points with 1,533 points. He sits six points behind Joe Thornton.

Kris Letang  has 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists) in his past 15 games against Toronto.

Erik Karlsson is two assists shy of 600 for his career.

Marcus Pettersson is one assist shy of 100 for his career.

The Penguins are 4 for 8 on the power play over the past two games after a miserable stretch of 13-plus games without a man-advantage goal.

How to Watch

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Radio: 105.9 FM The X