PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Dec. 6: Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1 – Amalie Arena
PIT Goals: Guentzel
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (25 saves, 28 shots)
Key Stats: Jake Guentzel scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh to extend his point streak to seven games.
PP: 0-4
PK: 2-4
Dec. 4: Philadelphia 2, Pittsburgh 1 – Wells Fargo Center
PIT Goals: Crosby
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Nedeljkovic (31 saves, 33 shots)
Key Stats: Sidney Crosby scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
PP: 0-3
PK: 1-1
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
D P.O Joseph Lower-Body 15 15
F Rickard Rakell Upper-Body 8 8
D Chad Ruhwedel Lower-Body 8 8
F Noel Acciari Lower-Body 3 3
F Matt Nieto Lower-Body 3 3
2023-24 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 63
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Panthers: 56-36-11
In Pittsburgh: 33-14-4
In Florida: 23-22-7
OT Record vs. Panthers: 14-5-6
Shootout Record vs. Panthers: 5-2
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh went 2-1-0.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. Panthers:
Sidney Crosby – 47GP, 63 PTS (29G-34A)
Evgeni Malkin – 42GP, 46 PTS (16G-30A)
Kris Letang – 43GP, 35 PTS (11G-24A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
– The Penguins conclude their three-game road trip as they take on the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena (TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh; Radio: 105.9 The X). -Pittsburgh is 4-2-1 in its last seven games versus Florida dating back to Feb. 8, 2020. -The Penguins have points in 19 of their last 24 meetings versus the Panthers (15-5-4 record) dating back to December 20, 2014. -Here at Amerant Bank Arena, the Penguins have picked up points in 10 of their last 13 visits (6-3-4). -The Penguins have points in 11 of their last 16 games (8-5-3).
QUICK HITS
1) Jake Guentzel has points in 18 of his last 20 games (9G-14A). Since this stretch began on Oct. 24, no Penguin has more points than his 23.
2) Last season, Jake Guentzel tallied two goals and and two assists against Florida in three games. In 14 career games versus them, Guentzel has six goals, nine assists and 15 points. He has six goals (6G-4A) in his last eight games against them.
3) Erik Karlsson (19) is on the brink of hitting the 20-point plateau. He is looking to become the fifth player on Pittsburgh to accomplish this feat, joining Jake Guentzel (29), Sidney Crosby (27) and Evgeni Malkin (21) and Bryan Rust (20). Only Edmonton (5), Tampa Bay (5), Los Angeles (5) and Vancouver (5) have more players with 20-plus points.
4) Last season, no player in the NHL had more points against the Florida Panthers than Kris Letang, who tallied seven points (4G-3A) in three games. His four goals versus them trailed only Auston Matthews (5G in 4GP).
5) Reilly Smith has 14 points (7G-7A) in 17 games against his former club. Smith appeared in 162 games with Florida from 2015-17, notching 87 points (40G-47A).
FLORIDA PANTHERS NOTES:
BAPTIST HEALTH INJURY REPORT
– D Josh Mahura | Games Missed: 9
Total Man Games Lost Due to Injury: 62 Games
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
– Dec. 7: F Josh Davies signed to a three-year, entry-level contract
PANTHERS vs. PENGUINS
ALL-TIME vs. PIT: 43-42-4-14
ALL-TIME HOME vs. PIT: 28-20-1-3
2022-23 vs. PIT: 1-1-1
CATS STATS
– The Panthers own a 5-2-0 record in their past seven home games against PIT since Feb. 24, 2018.
TAKING STOCK
The Panthers skated in their 25th game of the season Dec. 6 vs. Dallas, earning their 15th win of the campaign (15-8-2). Florida scored five goals for the seventh time this season, and fourth time at Amerant Bank Arena. Crossing the 25-game threshold, the Panthers rank highly across several league metrics following games played Dec. 6: • Florida’s 2.60 goals against average is tied with PIT for fourth fewest among teams. • The Panthers 34.0 shots on goal per game rank behind only CAR (34.8) for the league lead. • Florida’s 20 third-period goals against this season are the fifth fewest allowed. • The Panthers 39 5v5 goals against are the fourth fewest allowed. Florida Panthers: Media Notes
CATS AND PENGUINS
The Panthers face off against Pittsburgh for the first of three meetings in 2023-24, the lone matchup at Amerant Bank Arena. In the most recent meeting between the two clubs on March 4, Florida downed Pittsburgh 4-1 at home behind 31 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky and two-point outings from Aleksander Barkov (0-2-2), Matthew Tkachuk (0-2-2) and Carter Verhaeghe (1-1-2). Verhaeghe led Florida with three goals and five points (3-2-5) over Florida’s three games against Pittsburgh last season, while Sergei Bobrovsky posted a 1-1-0 record, 2.02 goals against average and .943 save percentage in two appearances.
NOVEMBER NOTABLES
The Panthers faced their busiest month of the season in November, skating in 15 games across 30 calendar days. Despite this challenge, Florida posted a 10-4-1 record in November, leading all teams in wins (10) and points (21) while posting the third-fewest goals against per game (2.27). They also posted a 6-2-1 road record, tied for the league lead in road wins with DAL and matching the club record for road victories in a calendar month (also April 2022, March 2022, March 2021, December 2015). Other notables:
• The Panthers posted a 90.4 penalty kill success rate in November, surrendering just five power-play goals against in the month (47 for 52), the third-best rate among teams. • Florida’s 19 third-period goals in November tied for fourth-most, and while they surrendered just eight third-period goals against in the month, behind only LAK (7). • The Cats led all teams in 4v4 goals (3), while allowing just 22 5v5 goals against across 15 November contests, the fewest among teams with at least 15GP over that span. • Florida averaged 32.7 shots on goal per game, the fifth best among teams. • Oliver Ekman-Larsson tied for the league lead in goals by a defenseman (5), behind only Quinn Hughes (5) for even-strength goals by a blueliner (OEL: 4). • Sergei Bobrovsky led all goaltenders with eight wins (8-3-0) and two shutouts (tied), posting a .918 SV% and 2.11 GAA.
