Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (31-17-14, 76 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division) @ Carolina Hurricanes (35-22-5, 75 points, 5th place Atlantic Division)
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Local broadcasts on FanDuel Sports Network South and SportsNet Pittsburgh, streaming on ESPN+
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Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins are heading out West later this week to play some late-night games against the Vegas Golden Knights (Thursday, 10 p.m. ET), Utah Mammoth (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET) and Colorado Avalanche (Monday, 9:30 p.m. ET). Then it’s back for a rematch with the Hurricanes in North Carolina next Wednesday.
Opponent Track: The Hurricanes are still on top of the Metro, and they’ve won seven of their last nine, but they’re coming off a loss in Calgary that featured a wild five-goal third period last Saturday.
Season Series: The Penguins won this last matchup 5-1 on Dec. 30. Next up is that road game next Wednesday, followed four days later by a 3 p.m. ET Sunday matinee in Pittsburgh.
Hidden Stat: The Penguins haven’t won in Carolina since March 2019. The visitors are 0-4-4 in eight matchups over that span.
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Getting to know the Hurricanes
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
William Carrier – Mark Jankowski – Eric Robinson
DEFENSEMEN
Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Mike Reilly – Alexander Nikishin
Goalies: Brandon Bussi, Frederik Andersen
Potential scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere (day to day)
Injured Reserve: Charles-Alexis Legault, Pyotr Kochetkov, Nicolas Deslauriers
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Gostisbehere missed the Hurricanes’ Saturday loss to the Flames with a lower-body injury. Mike Reilly will likely slide out of this lineup if he is able to go.
Season stats
via hockeydb
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Nicolas Deslauriers has yet to make his Hurricanes debut since his trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. If the Canes decide to slot him into the lineup Monday night, he would slot into their fourth line.
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The Hurricanes have historically been a tough matchup for the Pens, but the Penguins could take some lessons from the Flames. Calgary got beaten on face-offs (52.5 percent to 47.5 percent) and 5-on-5 scoring chances (24 to 21) while holding strong on hits (26-20) and getting some nice saves from Dustin Wolf to claim a 5-4 win over the Canes on Saturday.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Rickard Rakell – Bryan Rust
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Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Ville Koivunen
Elmer Soderblom – Ben Kindel – Avery Hayes
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Sam Girard / Ilya Solovyov
Goalies: Arturs Silovs, Stuart Skinner
Potential Scratches: Evgeni Malkin (suspended), Ryan Graves, Connor Clifton, Kevin Hayes, Justin Brazeau (day to day)
IR: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander
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Jack St. Ivany is off IR. He’s headed to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan, per Seth Rorabaugh.
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Justin Breazeau’s status is uncertain after he was sidelined against the Bruins on Sunday with a day-to-day upper-body injury.
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Today should also lead to more information on whether Sidney Crosby is joining the team for the upcoming five-game road trip. Dane Muse said Sunday that decision would be made after the matchup against the Boston Bruins.
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Evgeni Malkin is set to miss the third game of his five-game suspension tonight. He won’t be eligible to return until the Penguins rematch against the Hurricanes next week.
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It’s a milestone game for Kyle Dubas, who has served as general manager for 600 career games, per Pens PR. A win tonight would tie him with Steve Yzerman for the 14th-most wins through that milestone with 326 victories.
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