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Penguins Game 12, The Streak; Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Wild
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- Penguins Game 12, The Streak; Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Wild
Penguins Game 12, The Streak; Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Wild
St. Paul, Minn. —The Pittsburgh Penguins (7-2-2) have earned points in seven straight games, but have lost two of the last three games in a shootout. The Penguins embark upon the second leg of their four-game road trip Thursday against the Minnesota Wild (3-5-3) at the Grand Casino Arena.
The puck drops just after 8 p.m. ET.
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The Penguins suffered through a lethargic effort and chaotic ending on Tuesday in their 3-2 shootout loss to the hated Philadelphia Flyers . The Penguins rallied to tie the game in the third period, but needed a plethora of 10-bell saves from goalie Arturs Silovs to get that far.
Justin Brazeau scored on a sweeping rush from the left wing in the first period. It was his sixth goal of the season. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tied the game in the third period from behind the goal line with a bank shot off a defenseman and into the net. It was Crosby's 57th career goal in just 91 games against the Flyers.
Each team scored a potential game-winning goal in overtime, only to see it overturned. The Penguins first appeared to win the game when Evgeni Malkin scored, but referees easily ruled an illegal substitution as the extra attacker (Malkin) leaped onto the ice well before Silovs got to the bench during a delayed penalty.
Philadelphia celebrated its game winner, but Penguins defenseman Kris Letang raced over to the referees to alert them to a coming challenge for offside. The Penguins were correct, and that goal was also nullified. The final horn of overtime was marred by some rat-like antics by Trevor Zegras , who, amongst other things, punched Noel Acciari in the back of the head after Acciari had gone to the ice to protect defenseman Parker Wotherspoon , who had been outnumbered in a physical clash.
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Silovs only stopped one shootout attempt, and the Flyers won 3-2 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. Silovs also lost the other shootout–a 5-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday.
Evgeni Malkin leads the Penguins with 16 points in 11 games and is tied for fourth in the league. Crosby leads the team with eight goals.
The Minnesota Wild made big news early this season with a monster extension for star player Kirill Kaprizov , paying him $136 million over eight years. Kaprizov, 28, leads Minnesota this season in goals (6), assists (9), and points (15).
Minnesota is 0-2-2 in its last four games, losing in overtime to the San Jose Sharks 6-5 on Saturday, then the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Tuesday.
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One note to watch, if Penguins rookie Ben Kindel plays
How to Watch Penguins Game
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio: 105.9 The X
Possible Penguins Lines
Filip Hallander- Sidney Crosby -Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Justin Brazeau
Tommy Novak-Ben Kindel- Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherpoon- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea- Kris Letang
Owen Pickering-Matt Dumba
Goalie: TBD (Expected: Tristan Jarry )
Expected Wild Lines
Kirill Kaprizov-Marco Rossi- Marcus Johansson
Vladimir Tarasenko-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno-Ryan Hartman-Vinnie Hinostroza
Yakov Trenin-Danilla Yurov-Tyler Pitlick
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Defense
Jonas Brodin-Brock Faber
Ryan Middleton-Jard Spurgeon
Zeev Buium-David Jiricek
Goalie: TBD (Expected Filip Gustavsson)
Special Teams
Penguins' power play: 28.6%, 5th. Penguins penalty kill: 79.4% 15th.
Wild power play: 31.8%, 1st. Wild penalty kill: 62.5%, 32nd.
Penguins Game Notes
The Penguins have points in 11 of their last 13 games vs. the Wild (10-2-1) and are 14-5-1 in the last 20 games played against the Wild dating back to Nov. 4, 2014.
The Penguins have also won five of the last six games in Minnesota.
Kris Letang has a point in eight of his last 10 games against Minnesota (3-7-10) and has 20 points (4-16-20) in 24 career games.
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Evgeni Malkin is even better against Minnesota. He has 12 goals and 15 assists in 22 career games vs. Minnesota.
Philip Tomasino has five points (2-3-5) in eight career games.
Over the last seven games, Erik Karlsson leads the NHL in assists (9).
The Penguins have scored 40 goals over their first 11 games, which ranks second in the NHL.
The post Penguins Game 12, The Streak; Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Wild appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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