Penguins
Penguins Game 72: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Panthers
After winning five of their last six games, the Pittsburgh Penguins (29-32-10) begin a three-game road trip by facing the Stanley Cup favorite Florida Panthers (42-24-3) at Amerant Bank Arena.
The puck drops just after 6 p.m.
You can follow our esteemed colleague George Richards at Florida Hockey Now.
The Penguins are stacking wins, though it’s too little too late. With 11 games to go, including Sunday, they trail the Montreal Canadiens by six points, and Montreal has three games in hand. The Penguins remain closer to last in the Eastern Conference, though their winning ways have pushed them past the Philadelphia Flyers into third-worst.
The Penguins currently have the seventh-worst record in the NHL. Coach Mike Sullivan kept his lines the same Saturday at practice but tinkered with the defense pairings on an experimental basis.
Connor Timmins, who played with Kris Letang on Friday night, skated with Erik Karlsson. The morning skate is optional, so we’ll find out the lines and pairings in the pregame warmup.
Friday, the Penguins filled the net against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-3 win. Despite giving up 47 shots, the Penguins were never in danger. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was stellar, stopping 44, including some acrobatic saves in his first start since March 9.
Coach Mike Sullivan will announce the starting goalie at the morning skate.
Florida is the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion and leads the Atlantic Division, but is 2-4-0 in their last six games. The team has been treading water without Matthew Tkachuk, who was injured in the Four Nations Face-Off tournament.
The Penguins will face Sergei Bobrovsky, who most recently won a 1-0 overtime game over Columbus on Thursday. Florida lost to the Washington Capitals 6-3 Saturday. Vitek Vanacek stopped only 25 of 31 in the loss.
Sam Bennett, Seth Jones, and Jonah Gadjovich scored for Florida.
Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Connor Dewar-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino
Joona Koppanen-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Danton Heinen-Kevin Hayes-Boko Imama
Defense
Conor Timmons-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Vladislv Kolyachonok
Panthers Lines
Carter Verhaeghe-16 Sasha Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich-Sam Bennett-Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer-Nico Sturm-Jonah Gadjovich
Defense
Gus Forsling-Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola-Nate Schmidt
Uvis Balinskis-Toby Bjornfot
Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky
Special Teams
Penguins power play: 23.8%, 11th. Penguins penalty kill: 77.5%, 18th.
Panthers power play: 24.4%, 9th. Panthers penalty kill: 81.4%, 10th.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins have points in four of their last six games here at Amerant Bank Arena. Dating back further, they have points in 11 of their last 15 games at Amerant Bank Arena (6-4-5).
The Penguins play six of their next seven games on the road.
Blake Lizotte has six points (1-5-6) in nine career games versus Florida. His teams are 7-0-2 against the Panthers when he dresses.
Boko Imama recorded his first goal as a Penguin Friday, becoming the 29th different player to score for the team this season. No team has more unique goal-scorers than the Penguins.
Read More:Â Penguins Room: Sullivan Pushes Buttons; Boko, Others See a Chance
Sidney Crosby is on a six-game point streak. He is just four points shy of his record-setting 20th consecutive season with more than a point per game.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
