Penguins
Penguins Game 5, Spirit of St. Louis: Notes, Lines & How to Watch vs. Blues
The Pittsburgh Penguins (2-2-0) bookended a pair of wins with frustrating losses, but the defeats were frustrating for different reasons. The Penguins visit the St. Louis Blues (1-1-1) Saturday night and will have two lineup changes to jumpstart their flagging fourth line and the blue line. Coach Mike Sullivan is promoting defenseman Ryan Shea into the lineup for his NHL debut, meaning P.O Joseph will be a healthy scratch.
The puck drops just after 8 p.m. tonight at the Enterprise Center.
The Penguins stars lit up the scoresheet Wednesday. Erik Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust scored, but the Penguins could not overcome a 4-1 deficit, getting to 4-3 before Detroit scored a couple of empty net goals. Detroit beat the Penguins 6-3 Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena.
Malkin is tied for fifth atop the NHL scoring race. He’s tied with William Nylander, John Tavares, and Leon Draisaitl.
St. Louis was demolished by the Arizona Coyotes Thursday, 6-2. Blues goalie Joel Hofer stopped 36 of 42.
Tristan Jarry will likely start for the Penguins. Jordan Binnington will start for the Blues.
Expected Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney-Crosby-Bryan Rust
Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell
Drew O’Connor-Lars Eller-Radim Zohorna
Matt Nieto-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter
Defensemen:
Ryan Graves-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Chad Ruhwedel
Goalie:
Tristan Jarry
Expected Blues Lines:
Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Jakub Vrana-Kevin Hayes-Sammy Blais
Alexei Toropchenko-Nikita Alexandrov-Oskar Sundqvist
Defensemen:
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella-Tyler Tucker
Goalie:
Jordan Binnington
Penguins Special Teams
Penguins Power Play: 18.2%, 17th
Penguins Penalty Kill: 76.9%, 17th
Blues Power Play: 0% (0-for-9) 30th
Blues Penalty Kill: 55.9% (4-for-9) 32nd
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins are 5-1-0 over the last six games against the Blues.
The Penguins have points in nine of its last 11 games versus St. Louis (8-2-1) dating back to Feb. 4, 2017.
Only the Carolina Hurricanes have more third period goals (12) than the Penguins (8).
Tristan Jarry is undefeated against the Blues, 5-0-0, with a 1.32 GAA.
Bryan Rust has four goals on 10 shots in four career games against St. Louis netminder Jordan Binnington.
Jake Guentzel is two goals shy of 200 and becoming the eighth player in Penguins history to reach the mark.
How to Watch the Penguins Game
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
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