Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (34-18-15, 83 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ Carolina Hurricanes (42-19-6, 90 points, 1st place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and FanDuel Sports Network South, streaming on ESPN+
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Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins are coming back to Pittsburgh for a three-game homestand, starting with a weekend back-to-back (Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets, Sunday against the Hurricanes, again) followed by a Tuesday rematch with the Avalanche (again).
Opponent Track: The Hurricanes had won four of their last six games before dropping a 5-1 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Season Series: The Pens and Canes have split this season series so far, with the Pens taking a 5-1 win at home on Dec. 30 before their 5-4 shootout loss back last week in Raleigh. This season wraps up with a rematch in four days in Pittsburgh.
Hidden Stat: The Penguins lead the NHL in goals from players who were new to the team this season with 81. The next closest is the Anaheim Ducks with 63.
Getting to know the Hurricanes
Projected lines
FORWARDS
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Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
Nikloaj Ehlers – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
William Carrier – Mark Jankowski – Nicolas Deslauriers
DEFENSEMEN
Jaccob Slavin / Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller / Sean Walker
Mike Reilly / Alexander Nikishin
Goalies: Brandon Bussi / Frederik Andersen
Potential scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body injury), Eric Robinson, Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Injured Reserve: Pyotr Kochetkov
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Brandon Bussi started last night against the Blue Jackets (he had 25 saves in the 5-1 loss), so it seems likely the Pens could be facing Frederik Andersen tonight.
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Andersen is riding a three-game win streak, most recently making 17 stops in the Canes’ 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. He has an 8-6-0 record in 16 career matchups against the Penguins, with a .919 save percentage, 2.53 GAA and two shutouts.
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Trade acquisition Nicolas Deslauriers made his Hurricanes debut on Tuesday night against the Blue Jackets. He lead the Canes with six hits and recorded a fight in the loss.
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Shayne Gostisbehere suffered a lower-body injury on March 6 and has yet to return to the Canes’ lineup.
Season stats
via hockeydb (does not include last night’s game)
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Andrei Svechnikov, who recorded the shootout winner last week against the Pens, has also scored in two straight games heading into Wednesday. He’s six goals shy of a new career goalscoring high.
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The Canes took a few early penalties and conceded a pair of power-play goals early in Tuesday night’s matchup with the Blue Jackets and were never able to recover from that early deficit. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the game the Canes needed to do “everything” different against the Penguins.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Anthony Mantha – Rickard Rakell – Bryan Rust
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Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Ville Koivunen – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ilya Solovyov / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner
Potential Scratches: Sam Girard, Ryan Graves, Kevin Hayes, Jack St. Ivany
IR: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander, Blake Lizotte
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A few bad pieces of news for the Penguins on Tuesday. First, that Blake Lizotte will miss the rest of the regular season:
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Second piece of bad news: the out-of—town scoreboard. The Columbus Blue Jackets won, the New York Islanders won, and the Boston Bruins went to overtime with the Montreal Canadiens.
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Sidney Crosby traveled with the team on this trip, so there’s still some hope he could get back in the lineup for the last game of the road swing tonight. Keep an eye out for who he’s taking line rushes with today in Raleigh.
Read the full article here
