Penguins

Penguins Game 40, Buzzsaw Awaits; New Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Panthers

Published

3 weeks ago

January 3, 2025

SUNRISE, Fla — The Florida Panthers (23-13-2) are the two-time defending Prince of Wales Trophy winner and defending Stanley Cup champion. They are, indeed, a pretty good team. Conversely, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ (17-17-5) journey of self-discovery has moved from slumming in the gutter of the Eastern Conference to charging back into playoff contention.

The teams meet at Amerant Arena Friday night. The puck drops just after 7 p.m.

The Penguins have alternated wins since the end of the holiday break, losing then beating the New York Islanders, then losing to the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Eve at Little Caesars Arena.

The Penguins were stride-for-stride against Detroit, but a couple of bounces went against them in the 4-2 loss. The game was notable for Drew O’Connor’s two goals. The Penguins’ winger had gone 32 games without a marker.

Florida nearly goalie’d the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night. Sergei Bobrovsky was the star of the show, making 37 saves, but it wasn’t enough in a 3-1 loss at Amerant Arena.

Florida Hockey Now: Bobrovsky Can’t Bail Out Panthers vs. Hurricanes

However, Florida remains solidly in second place in the Atlantic Division, just in case the standings matter to a stacked team that has already hoisted the Cup and has no reason for insecurity.

The Penguins will likely turn back to Tristan Jarry in net, though Alex Nedeljkovic was stellar in the loss to Detroit. Nedeljkovic has started the last two games. Having played a tough game Thursday, the Panthers will start Spencer Knight in net.

Knight is a true comeback story, having exited the NHL Player Assistance program last season. His statistics aren’t great this season, though. He is 6-6-1 with an .887 save percentage. Jarry is slightly below those numbers, with an 8-6-2 record and an .885 save percentage.

Defenseman Owen Pickering appears to be back in the lineup. He skated on the right side of the third pairing with Ryan Graves at the morning skate. Pickering hasn’t played since Dec. 21, when he suffered a concussion against the New Jersey Devils.

Another note that may escape daily notice but might be shocking nonetheless. The Penguins’ special teams are both ranked in the top 10. In fact, the power play has elevated to fourth best in the league at 26.1%.

One transaction to note: The Penguins re-assigned defenseman Nate Clurman to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

Penguins Lines

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Cody Glass

Drew O’Connor-Kevin Hayes-Philip Tomasino

Matt Nieto-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Defense

Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson

Marcus Pettersson-P.O Joseph

Ryan Graves-Ryan Shea

Goalie: Tristan Jarry/Alex Nedeljkovic

Panthers Lines

Evan Rodrigues-Alexandre Barkov-Sam Reinhart

Eetu Luostarinen-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe-Anton Lundell-Jesper Boqvist

AJ Greer-Tomas Nosek-Mackie Samoskevich

Defense

Gus Forsling-5 Aaron Ekblad

Dmitry Kulikov-Adam Boqvist

Nate Schmidt-Uvis Balinskis

Goalie: Spencer Knight

Special Teams

Penguins power play: 26.1%, 4th. Penguins penalty kill: 81.7%, 10th.

Panthers Power Play: 25.2%, 6th. Panthers Penalty Kill: 80.9%, 16th.

Penguins Game Notes

Surprisingly, the Penguins have points in 21 of their last 28 meetings versus the Panthers (16-7-5 record) dating back to Dec. 20, 2014.

Fourth-line magic: Matt Nieto has seven goals and 10 points (7-30-10) in 16 career games against the Panthers. His seven goals against them are his most against any one team. Blake Lizotte has six points (1G-5A) in eight career games versus Florida. His teams are 7-0-1 against the Panthers when he dresses.

Sidney Crosby (602) is just two goals shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull (604) for the sixth-most goals with one franchise in NHL history.

Friday, Bryan Rust will become the 28th player of the 2010 NHL Draft class to play in 600 games. He is 10th in scoring amongst his draft peers with 399 points.