Jarry Homecoming! Penguins Game Notes & Lines vs. Oilers

The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently in the midst of an 18-game unbeaten streak versus the Edmonton Oilers and look to add on at the Rogers Place, Friday. The game marks the second stop on the Penguins journey through Western Canada and is also the first of a back-to-back situation.

Last season when the Penguins visited Edmonton, they took down the Oilers, 6-5, in overtime. Sidney Crosby scored twice, including a sensational highlight-reel goal in overtime. Earlier this year, the Penguins fired a season-high 52 shots on net but lost, 2-1, on a Leon Draisaitl overtime goal.

Tristan Jarry starts his fifth straight game for the Penguins against Edmonton. Jarry is now 5-1-0 with a 1.31 GAA, .955 SV% and three shutouts in his last six outings. Edmonton turns to Mike Smith for their goaltending needs. Smith has gone 0-2-1 with a 4.63 GAA and .838 SV% in his last four appearances.

The Penguins started their trip on the right foot with a 4-1 victory against Calgary, Tuesday. After surrendering the first goal and surviving an early blitz by Calgary the Penguins found their legs and rolled off four straight goals. Calgary played the better first period and opened the scoring with less than four minutes left in the first frame. Johnny Gaudreau (10) set up next to the cage and tapped Tobias Rieder’s perfect feed in to open a 1-0 lead. Despite a powerplay chance, the Penguins could not tie and the period remained marred by a Justin Schultz injury.

After shaking off the road jitters, the Penguins offense woke up and took the lead in the second period. John Marino (4) sent a shot from the right circle just as the power play expired to tie the game 12:13 into the period. Marino’s effort seemed to lift his teammates as Bryan Rust found the net less than a minute later. Rust circled behind the net and snapped a wrister that trickles through to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. The third period featured two empty-net goals for the Penguins, but one held historic significance. Evgeni Malkin slid the puck into the empty net to record the 400th goal of his NHL career. The goal put Malkin in a prestigious company among all-time Penguins. Kris Letang scored an empty-net a few seconds later to cap off the scoring.

Tristan Jarry, starting in his fourth straight game, continued his hot play with another impressive effort. Jarry stopped 33 of the 34 he faced after surrendering a goal on just his 10th of the game. Cam Talbot was tagged with the loss for Calgary but did make 29 saves. You can read about the Penguins game against Calgary in Dan’s Recap and the PHN Extra Report Card.

Edmonton traded chances throughout the game with St. Louis, but was on the losing end of a 2-1 game, Wednesday. St Louis received goals by Brayden Schenn (15) and Mackenzie MacEachern (6) to win their 22nd game of the year. James Neal tallied his 16th late to cut into the lead but it was the only goal managed by Edmonton. Jake Allen outdueled Mikko Koskinen by stopping 42 of 44 shots in the win. Koskinen made 35 saves in the loss.

Notes

Evgeni Malkin has a little more than a point-per-game against Edmonton, registering 16 points (7G-9A) in 15 career games.

Tristan Jarry will return to a familiar place, as he spent his entire junior hockey career in Edmonton with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. In four seasons, Jarry appeared in 159 games, going 93-49-10 with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He is a two-time WHL champion (2012, 2014) and led the Oil Kings to a Memorial Cup Championship in 2014.

Evgeni Malkin netted the 400th goal of his career on Tuesday, joining Mario Lemieux (690), Sidney Crosby (451) and Jaromir Jagr (439) as the only players in franchise history to score 400 goals. Only the Montreal Canadiens (5) have had more 400-goal scorers in franchise history

With injuries and the loss of Stefan Noesen to waivers, the Penguins made some calls to the WBS Penguins to fill out their roster.

Injuries

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby (Core Muscle, 6+ Weeks)

Nick Bjugstad (Core Muscle, 6+ Weeks)

Brian Dumoulin (Ankle, IR)

Patric Hornqvist (Lower Body, Longer term)

Justin Schultz (Lower Body, Longer term)

Edmonton Oilers

Kyle Brodziak (Back)

Matt Benning (Concussion)

Special Teams

Expected Lines