Penguins
Penguins Game 33, La La Land; Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs. Kings
The Pittsburgh Penguins (13-14-5) have another chance to get to .500 Tuesday night when they host the LA Kings (18-9-3) at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins have won six of their last nine games, amassing 13 of the last 18 possible points, and have moved to within striking distance of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots.
The puck drops just after 7 p.m. tonight.
The Penguins are one point behind the Ottawa Senators in the jumbled Eastern Conference wild-card race. Five teams, including the Penguins, have 31 or 32 points in the Eastern Conference.
The Penguins rallied from down 1-0 and 2-1 Saturday against Ottawa. Blake Lizotte scored on a rebound, and Kris Letang tied the game later in the third period with a long wrist shot through traffic, but the Penguins lost in overtime when Brady Tkachuk snapped a wrister past goalie Tristan Jarry.
Penguins Locker Room: ‘That Was a Sh*tty Goal’
Jarry has essentially reclaimed his No. 1 goalie status with the Penguins, starting the last four games and nine of the last 12. Jarry is 3-1-1 in his last five starts but has a deceiving .892 save percentage. A tough loss against Colorado otherwise sullies four other starts in December with save percentages above .900.
It’s also a rematch for former Kings forward Blake Lizotte, who was not given a qualifying offer by LA on June 30 and signed a two-year deal with the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent.
LA is sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, second in the Pacific Division. They’ve won two of three in their Metro Division swing, beating the New York Islanders, losing to the New Jersey Devils, and then handily dispatching the New York Rangers.
At 37 years old, Anze Kopitar is having a brilliant season. He leads the team with 34 points (8-26-34) in 30 games. Adrian Kempe has 30 points, scoring 15 goals.
UPDATE: Coach Mike Sullivan announced Alex Nedeljkovic will start. Darcy Kuemper is the likely Kings starter. He’s having a bounce-back season after the Washington Capitals traded him to LA as part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal. Kuemper has just 13 starts, but he’s 7-2-3 with a .916 save percentage.
Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Phil Tomasino
Drew O’Connor-Cody Glass-Anthony Beauvillier
Matt Nieto-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defense
Owen Pickering-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Ryan Shea
Goalies: Tristan Jarry/Alex Nedeljkovic
LA Kings Lines
Alex Turcotte-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala-Phillip Danault-Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele-Quinton Byfield-Tanner Jeanot
Kyle Burroughs-Samuel Helenius-Akil Thomas
Defense
Mikey Anderson-Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson-Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare-Jordan Spence
Goalies: Darcy Kuemper/David Rittich
Special Teams
Penguins power play: 23.1%, 11th. Penguins penalty kill: 81.7%, 9th.
Kings power play: 15.9%, 28th. Kings penalty kill: 81.3%, 10th.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins have scored points in seven of their last nine home games against the Kings (5-2-2), dating back to Oct. 30, 2014.
Lizotte played his first six seasons with the Kings, registering 106 points (37-69-106).
Michael Bunting has picked up 13 points (7-6-13) in 19 games. He leads the Penguins with four power-play goals.
Defenseman Kris Letang has nine points (5-4-9) in the last seven games. He is tied for the longest active points streak among NHL defensemen (4).
Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have combined on 305 goals in their careers. They are one goal shy of tying Boston’s Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr for the second-most goals combined on by a forward-defenseman duo in NHL history.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
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