The Pittsburgh Penguins (10-5-4) are home after their weeklong Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden. They swiped three of four possible points against the Nashville Predators, but now the rest of their season begins Friday against the Minnesota Wild (10-7-4) at PPG Paints Arena.
The puck drops just after 7 p.m.
The Penguins played a terrible game and earned a point in an overtime loss last Friday against Nashville in Stockholm. Sunday, the Penguins started strong and maintained control, earning rookie goalie Sergei Murashov his first win and shutout in a 4-0 win at Avicii Arena.
Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry remains injured, so Murashov will get one of the starts this weekend, as the Penguins have back-to-back games with Minnesota and Seattle.
Friday will see another rookie in the Penguins’ lineup, as the team demoted Philip Tomasino, placed Ville Koivunen on injured reserve, and also recalled Sam Poulin. Despite being drafted in 2019, Poulin still counts as a rookie because he has only played in 13 NHL games and has not played more than six once.
Poulin has skated on the third line at practice this week.
The Penguins are currently in the first wild-card spot, but have one or two games in hand on Metro Division teams that are two or three points ahead of them.
The Penguins beat Minnesota 4-1 on Oct. 30, which was a clunker for Minnesota. Since then, Minnesota has been on a tear, going 7-1-1.
Minnesota features the highest-paid player in the league, Kirill Kaprizov, who has 24 points (11-13-24) in 21 games.
Minnesota has also been lifted by the Wall in St. Paul, 23-year-old rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt. He stopped 42 of 45 shots in a shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday. Wallstedt is 5-0-2 with a .926 save percentage.
Coach Dan Muse confirmed Silovs will start for the Penguins after his stellar performance Friday, stealing a point from Nashville.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Expected Penguins Lines
Connor Dewar-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Kevin Hayes-Evgeni Malkin-Anthony Mantha
Tommy Novak-Ben Kindel-Sam Poulin
Joona Koppanen-Blake Lizotte-Danton Heinen
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton
Matt Dumba-Harrison Brunicke
Goalies: Arturs Silovs
Wild Lines
Kirill Kaprizov-Danila Yurov-Marcus Johansson
Marcus Johansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno-Yakov Trenin-Vinnie Hinostroza
Liam Ogran-Ben Jones-Tyler Pitlick
Defense
Jonas Brodin-Brock Faber
Ryan Middleton-Jard Spurgeon
Zeev Buium-David Hunt
Goalie: TBD (Expected Jesper Wallstedt)
Special Teams
Penguins’ power play: 34.1%, 1st. Penguins penalty kill: 85.7%, 5th.
Wild power play: 25.6%, 5th. Wild penalty kill: 72.9%, 28th.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins have points in 12 of their last 14 games versus the Wild (11-2-1).
Kris Letang has recorded a point in 10 of his last 12 games against Minnesota (3-10-13) and has 22 points (4-18-22) in 25 career games versus them.
Evgeni Malkin has lit up the Wild with 12 goals and 16 assists in 23 career games.
The Penguins’ penalty kill has allowed just two power-play goals against over its last 11 games (29-for-31, 93.5%).
Sidney Crosby is one multi-point game shy of becoming just the sixth player in NHL history with 500 or more multi-point games.
Arturs Silovs’ .917 save percentage is fifth in the NHL.
Penguins-Wild Injuries
Penguins: Tristan Jary, Noel Acciari, Justin Brazeau, and Rickard Rakell are still out weeks, but progressing.
Wild Injury List: Ryan Hartman, Nico Sturm, Zach Bogosian, Marco Rossi, Vladimir Tarasenko
Categorized: Penguins Pregame
