Who: Nashville Predators (6-9-4, 16 points, 8th place Central Division) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (9-5-4, 22 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division)
Where: Avicii Arena, Stockholm Sweden (NHL Global Series)
When: 9:00 a.m. eastern (3:00pm local time start)
How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and Fanduel Sports Network South, nationally on NHL Network
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens head back to Pittsburgh and won’t be back in game action until seeing the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints on Friday.
Opponent Track: Nashville found a way to win in Sweden on Friday. The Preds can definitely empty the tank today, they don’t have another game until Saturday.
Season Series: This is the last NSH/PIT game of the season, the Pens could end up taking 3/4 with a win or as little as 1/4 with a regulation loss.
Getting to know the Predators
Filip Forsberg – Ryan O’Reilly – Luke Evangelista
Steven Stamkos – Erik Haula – Jonathan Marchessault
Michael Bunting – Fedor Svechkov – Matthew Wood
Michael McCarron – Ozzy Wiesblatt
Brady Skjei / Nick Perbix
Nicolas Hague / Nick Blankenburg
Spencer Stastney / Adam Wilsby
Goalies: Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen
Potential scratches: Joakim Kemell, Tyson Jost
Injured Reserve: Roman Josi, Cole Smith, Zachary L’Heureux
- You know Saros would sign up for a repeat of Friday’s game. The 17 shots he saw tied a season-low for a game this year. He’s seen 35+ shots four times already.
Bryan Rust – Sidney Crosby – Ben Kindel
Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin – Anthony Mantha
Ville Koivunen* – Kevin Hayes – Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Joona Koppanen
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Goalies: Sergei Murashov and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Danton Heinen, Connor Clifton, Harrison Brunicke, Filip Larsson
IR: Filip Hallander, Tristan Jarry, Justin Brazeau, Jack St. Ivany (lower body), Rickard Rakell (hand), Caleb Jones (lower body), Noel Acciari
- Rutger McGroarty scored a goal in his season debut in the AHL last night. Every member of the third line had a 3-8% single digit expected goal percentage last game. That would be a good place to seek an upgrade.
- The most promising member of the line, Koivunen, left practice early yesterday with “no update”. Heinen could easily slot in if needed there.
- Brunicke could be the next to the AHL, he’s eligible for a 14-day conditioning stint after being a healthy scratch for a series of games. Today looks to be the fifth game in a row he will be scratched. That’s a creative way to buy a little more time which could line up with Team Canada’s World Junior camp. But sooner or later the Pens are going to have to play Brunicke in another game (which will be his 10th and trigger the start of his entry level contract) or send him back to junior to play games.
- The goalie choice will be an interesting one to track. Silovs has played three out of the four games since Tristan Jarry went on the IR, and done well too (.929 save%, 1.94 GAA). Sergei Murashov, to date, has only been used in a back-to-back situation. Will we see Silovs get the opportunity to become the No. 1 goalie? Or will they rotate back to give Murashov a look?
- One other thing to point out: Murashov’s last AHL game was on November 1st, then he got his one NHL game on November 9th. If he doesn’t play today, he won’t get another chance until the next game on November 21st. Suddenly the prized goalie prospect would be going a long time with few starts if he doesn’t get the opportunity to be in net today.
Pens hoping to take energy from yesterday’s open practice
The Pens had an open practice yesterday, hopefully the players can pick up on the energy and come out with a better performance in their second game in Sweden than it was in the first.
