Penguins

Penguins Game 32 vs. Senators: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Published

4 months ago

December 23, 2023

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in yet another situation Saturday where things can take a large swing either way depending on how they play when they face the Senators in Ottawa.

Will the Penguins (15-13-3) build on their two-game winning streak that came against Minnesota and Carolina, or take a step back going into the NHL’s Christmas break?

The Senators (11-17-0) have lost six straight, most recently a 6-4 loss Thursday against Colorado.

Game Time

The game starts a little after 7 p.m.

Penguins Preview

The last time the Penguins had a two-game winning streak, they went to Toronto last Saturday and flopped big time in a 7-0 loss.

They bounced back to beat the Wild 4-3 Monday, showing some resilience after blowing a three-goal lead when Sidney Crosby scored the deciding goal on a power play. Then came Thursday, when Crosby scored the team’s only regulation goal and the deciding shootout goal in a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes.

So they have won four of five and need to continue a strong pace if they hope to climb back into playoff contention. A loss against the woeful Senators, who are last in the Eastern Conference, could be the equivalent of a lump of coal in their hockey socks.

One thing to watch is the power play, which went 0 for 5, including one opportunity in overtime, against Carolina.

Another is the goaltending situation. It looks as if Alex Nedeljkovic will start for the third straight game.

Read more:

Kingerski: Crosby and Nedeljkovic to the Rescue

Anderson: Do the Penguins Have—or Need—a Player Having a Breakout Season?

The Senators are reeling. They are 0-2 since former Penguins assistant Jacques Martin replaced D.J. Smith as coach.

In their loss to the Avalanche, they blew a two-goal lead as Colorado scored four straight goals. Nathan MacKinnon had a four-goal night.

How bad are things?

“Don’t think I’ve ever felt worse in my life,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “It’s not fun right now.”

Ottawa goes from trying to contain MacKinnon to facing his long-time friend, fellow Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native and fellow superstar, Crosby.

Penguins Expected Lines

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell

Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Valtteri Puustinen

Radim Zohorna-Lars Eller-Drew O’Connor

Jansen Harkins-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter

Defense

Ryan Graves-Erik Karlsson

Marcus Pettersson-Kris Letang

John Ludvig-Chad Ruhwedel

Goalies

Alex Nedeljkovic

Tristan Jarry

Senators Expected Lines

Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Drake Batherson

Vladimir Tarasenko-Josh Norris-Claude Giroux

Dominik Kubalik-Ridly Greig-Angus Crookshank

Jiri Smejkal-Mark Kastelic-Parker Kelly

Defense

Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub

Jakob Chychrun-Travis Hamonic

Erik Brannstrom-Jacob Bernard-Docker

Goalies

Anton Forsberg

Joonas Korpisalo

Penguins Special Teams

Penguins power play: 13.7%, 27th

Penguins penalty kill: 82.0%, 12th

Senators power play: 18.2%, 20th

Senators penalty kill: 70.2%, 32^nd

Penguins Game Notes

The Penguins are 9-4-3 in their past 16 games against Ottawa.

The Penguins are 7-7-2 on the road.

Sidney Crosby has 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in 47 games against the Senators, one point shy of tying Jaromir Jagr for most points against Ottawa in Penguins history.

Crosby leads the NHL with six game-opening goals and with 14 road goals.

Crosby is three points shy of tying Joe Thornton for 12^th place all-time in the NHL with 1,539. He also is one shy of 400 career even-strength goals.

Erik Karlsson is one assist shy of 600.

Evgeni Malkin has one goal in the past 10 games.

Rickard Rakell is still looking for his first goal.