Penguins

Penguins Game 47 vs. Jets: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Published

3 months ago

February 6, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins come off their bye week and All-Star break Tuesday to host the Winnipeg Jets, one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The Penguins (22-17-7) are in the same familiar position of being in a tough race to get into a playoff position, and points become more crucial now that the unofficial second half of the season is kicking off.

The Jets (30-12-5) are in what has shaped up as a three-way race for the Central Division title.

Game Time

The game starts a little after 7 p.m.

Penguins Preview

The Penguins had lost three in a row (0-2-1) and four of six (1-2-3) before they won their final game before the break, a hard-fought 3-2 overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens.

As many as three players will join the Penguins lineup Tuesday. Winger Reilly Smith and defenseman John Ludvig could return from injury, while winger Jesse Puljujarvi could make his team debut after signing a two-year contract on Sunday.

Smith was struggling offensively, with two goals in 30 games, when he got hurt. Ludvig, a rookie who is the Penguins’ most physical player, is coming off his second injury absence but insisted he will not change his style.

Ludvig skated on the third pairing in practice Sunday but was replaced by P.O Joseph in that spot Monday. We will see how that plays out in Tuesday’s lineup.

Puljujarvi, a former first-round draft pick who has played in more than 300 NHL games, had been rehabbing on a tryout basis and then played in the American Hockey League (nine points in 13 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) as a tune-up as he comes off double hip surgery last summer.

Read More:

Kingerski: Penguins Need a Lot More from Reilly Smith; Goals & a Forward Outlook

Molinari: Nice Place. Why Don’t Penguins Win There More Often?

Winnipeg lost three straight going into the break, but reinforcements are on the way.

Injured forward and leading scorer Mark Scheifele is expected to return from a lower-body injury, and Sean Monahan is expected to make his Jets return after coming over in an All-Star weekend trade from Montreal.

Those two are expected to be the Jets’ top two centers Tuesday.

The Jets were 2-3-1 while Scheifele was on the shelf.

Monahan (who faced the Penguins in that last game before the break while he was with Montreal) had 13 goals, 35 points in 49 games with the Canadiens. This was a notable trade, with Winnipeg giving up a first-round draft pick plus a conditional pick.

Expected Penguins Lines

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Drew O’Connor

Rickard Rakell-Lars Eller-Jesse Puljujarvi

Jansen Harkins-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter

Defense

Marcus-Pettersson-Kris Letang

Ryan Graves-Erik Karlsson

John Ludvig/P.O. Joseph-Chad Ruhwedel

Goalies

Tristan Jarry

Alex Nedejkovic

Expected Jets Lines

Kyle Connor-Mark Scheifele-Gabriel Vilardi

Cole Perfetti-Sean Monahan-Nikolaj Ehlers

Nino Niederreiter-Adam Lowry-Mason Appleton

Morgan Barron-Vladislav Namestikov-Alex Iafallo

Defense

Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo

Brenden Dillon-Neal Pionk

Dylan Samberg-Nate Schmidt

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck

Laurent Brossoit

Penguins Special Teams

Penguins power play: 13.1%, 31st

Penguins penalty kill: 81.2%, 12th

Jets power play: 15.7%, 24th

Jets penalty kill: 77.4%, 25th

Penguins Game Notes

Winger Jake Guentzel will be playing in his 500^th career game. He has 219 goals, 463 points.

Coach Mike Sullivan will be coaching his 800^th career game. His record is 429-260-95 with 15 ties, and he led the Penguins to Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017.

The Penguins and Jets – who play again Saturday in Winnipeg – split their two games last season.

Evgeni Malkin has a five-game point streak (1 goal, 4 assists).

Sidney Crosby has 577 goals, one shy of passing Mark Recchi to take sole possession of 21^st all-time in the NHL.