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Penguins Game 30, The Day After: Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Sharks
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- Penguins Game 30, The Day After: Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Sharks
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. San Jose Sharks
The Pittsburgh Penguins' (14-8-7) goaltending situation underwent a major change Friday when the team traded Tristan Jarry and Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers for their struggling goalie Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak (and a 2029 second-round pick). After a rough loss Thursday, the Penguins need to reverse course as they host the San Jose Sharks (15-14-3) Saturday.
The puck drops just after 3 p.m. when Nicole Jenkins delivers the National Anthem.
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The FanDuel NHL odds have the Penguins as solid favorites (-170) on the Moneyline, but the Sharks are a good bet to cover the 1.5 Puckline (180). Props and futures bets are also available, as the Penguins remain +25000 to win the Stanley Cup.
The Penguins' recent hard luck became a bad performance Thursday when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. The team was never in the game, struggling to connect on passes and generate momentum, until the final 10 minutes of the game.
Montreal rookie goalie Jacob Fowler made his NHL debut and stonewalled the Penguins, who produced a lot of shots without a lot of good scoring chances. Fowler stopped 36 of 38 shots for the win, while the Penguins groused amongst themselves at their poor performance.
"It was horrible," Kris Letang said.
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Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson scored for the Penguins. The team is currently in the second wild card spot with 35 points. They are tied with Montreal and the New Jersey Devils , but have one and two games in hand, respectively.
The San Jose Sharks have won two of their last games (1-2-1) and are merely two points behind the Penguins and have one more win. The rebuilding franchise lead by 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith is now a competitive team.
Celebrini has factored into more than 49% of the Sharks' offense, and leads the team with 44 points and 15 goals.
The game will also be the return of Alex Nedeljkovic to Pittsburgh . The goalie spent the last two seasons with the Penguins. This season, "Ned" has appeared in 15 games with a 5-6-2 record and a .902 save percentage.
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The Sharks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime Thursday, 3-2. They tied the game with an extra attacker when John Klingberg blasted a shot through traffic with 1:25 remaining. Then, Alex Wennberg scored the OT winner, which stood after an offside review.
Nedeljkovic earned the win.
San Jose also beat the Carolina Hurricanes on their five-game road trip. Saturday is the final leg. San Jose is in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
**The Penguins activated Rickard Rakell Friday. Coach Dan Muse stopped short of saying he would play, but seemed encouraged by Rakell's progress and performance in practice.
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**The Penguins may or may not have Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak in the lineup Saturday. Arturs Silovs is expected to start in goal, but both Skinner and Kulak have to go through the Visa process. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas was hopeful they would be available. Otherwise, the Penguins will need to make a recall for a backup goalie.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, NHL Network
Radio: 105.9 The X
Possible Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell- Sidney Crosby -Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha- Tommy Novak -Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar-Danton Heinen-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
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Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Brett Kulak -Connor Clifton
Goalie: Arturs Silovs , Expected
Expected Sharks Lines, per San Jose Hockey Now
Follow Sheng Peng and San Jose Hockey Now for the flip side reporting.
Collin Graf-Macklin Celebrini-Will Smith
William Eklund-Alexander Wennberg-Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner-Ty Dellandrea-Philipp Kurashev
Barclay Goodrow-Adam Gaudette-Ryan Reaves
Defense
Mario Ferraro-Shakir Mukhamadullin
Dmitry Orlov-John Klingberg
Sam Dickinson-Timothy Liljegren
Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic , unconfirmed
Special Teams
Penguins' power play: 31.2%, 3rd. Penguins penalty kill: 84.7%, 4th.
Sharks power play: 18.4%, 19th. Sharks penalty kill: 80%, 18th.
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Penguins Game Notes
Sidney Crosby is four points away from tying Mario Lemieux's franchise record for points (1723). Tying Lemieux would also mean Crosby tying him for eighth place among the NHL's all-time scoring leaders.
The Penguins have wins in seven of their last nine games vs. San Jose, and areaveraging 4.44 goals per game.
Despite the recent hardships, the Penguins have points in seven of their last nine games (4-2-3).
Tommy Novak
has 11 points (6-5-11) in eight career games against the San
Jose Sharks.
The post Penguins Game 30, The Day After: Lines, Goalies, & How to Watch vs. Sharks appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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