Penguins vs. Rangers, Game 66: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Pittsburgh Penguins have played the New York Rangers once during the first five months of the 2022-23 season.

That’s about to change.

Quickly.

And dramatically.

Their game against New York today at 4:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena will be the first of three against the Rangers in a span of seven days.

That’s right. Almost an entire season series against a Metropolitan Division rival will be shoehorned into a single week, with rematches scheduled for Madison Square Garden Thursday and Saturday.

It will be as close to a playoff series as one can expect to find during the regular season and the Penguins, you might recall, had a fairly memorable best-of-seven against New York last spring.

The Penguins played most of it without No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry and backup Casey DeSmith, as well as top-six winger Rickard Rakell, but still took the series to overtime in Game 7 before Artemi Panarin lifted the Rangers into the second round.

Of course, there are many who contend the series wouldn’t have even reached a Game 6 had Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba not delivered a head shot to Sidney Crosby in the second period of Game 5, when the Penguins were holding a 2-0 lead and closing in on a series-clinching victory.

Crosby missed the rest of that game and all of the one that followed, and New York rallied for a 5-3 victory that extended the series.

The NHL’s Dept. of Baffling Decisions, er, Player Safety did not deem that head shot — one of several flagrant ones Trouba delivered during the Rangers’ postseason run — worthy of a hearing.

The chances of a Penguins-Rangers rematch in Round 1 next month are almost nil. New York is third in the Metro, nine points behind second-place New Jersey, and the Penguins are tied with the New York Islanders for fourth, seven in back of the Rangers.

Nonetheless, the next seven days just might provide a passable impersonation of one.

Expected Pittsburgh Penguins Lines

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust

Zucker-Malkin-Nylander

O’Connor-Granlund-Rakell

Heinen-Carter-Archibald

Defense

Pettersson-Letang

Dumoulin-Petry

Kulikov-Rutta

Goalie

Jarry

Expected New York Rangers Lines

Kreider-Zibanejad-Tarasenko

Panarin-Trocheck-Kane

Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko

Vesey-Goodrow-Motte

Defense

Miller-Trouba

Mikkola-Fox

Harpur-Schneider

Goalie

Halak

Special Teams

Penguins power play: 47 for 225, 20.9%, 17th in NHL (tied)

Penguins penalty-kill: 43 for 210, 79.5%, 17th in NHL

Rangers power play: 47 for 200, 23.5%, 7th in NHL

Rangers penalty-kill: 37 for 184, 79.9%, 15th in NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins Game Notes

Jake Guentzel’s next point will be his 400th in the NHL, making him the 14th player to reach that milestone with the Penguins.

Jason Zucker has eight goals in his past seven games and 10 in his past 12. (Might be a good day to fit his helmet with shock absorbers, just in case.)

Eight of Crosby’s 29 goals have been game-winners. That’s one shy of his career high.

The Penguins have lost nine games when leading at the second intermission. New York has won six games when trailing then.

Rangers right winger Patrick Kane, the most prominent player to switch teams as the NHL trade deadline approached, has two goals and an assist in four games since leaving Chicago.

New York left winger Chris Kreider is a 60-minute threat: He has eight goals in the first period and nine each in the second and third.

The Rangers are 6-2-1 in games played on Sunday.

New York’s power play will be a good test for the Penguins’ struggling penalty-kill. The Rangers have scored at least one man-advantage goal in six of their past seven games.

The Penguins are 3-7-2 in the second game when playing on consecutive days. New York, coming off a 2-1 overtime victory in Buffalo Saturday, is 6-5-1 in the finale of a back-to-back.

How to Watch

TV: TNT

Radio: 105.9 the X