PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Jan. 2: Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3 – PPG Paints Arena PIT Goals: Rakell, Crosby (PP), Guentzel Multiple Points: Crosby (1G-1A), Guentzel (1G-1A), Rakell (1G1A) Goalie: Jarry (4 saves, 7 shots), Nedeljkovic (14 saves, 15 shots) Key Stats: Rickard Rakell notched his third multi-point game of the season (1G-1A). PP: 1-3 PK: 1-2
Dec. 31: Pittsburgh 3, NY Islanders 1 – PPG Paints Arena PIT Goals: Eller (2), Acciari Multiple Points: Eller (2G) Goalie: Nedeljkovic (36 saves, 37 shots) Key Stats: Lars Eller notched his first multi-goal game in a Pittsburgh uniform. PP: 0-4 PK: 2-2
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
F Matt Nieto Lower-Body 13 13
D John Ludvig Upper-Body 1 12
2023-24 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 99
RECENT TRANSACTIONS Date Transaction
Jan. 3 D John Ludvig placed on injured reserve. D Ryan Shea recalled from WBS (AHL).
Jan. 2 F Bryan Rust activated off of injured reserve.
Jan. 2 F Vinnie Hinostroza and D Ryan Shea re-assigned to WBS (AHL).
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Bruins: 78-117-29
In Pittsburgh: 50-44-19
In Boston: 28-73-10
OT Record vs. Boston: 12-6-3
Shootout Record vs. Boston: 2-2
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh went 0-2-1
TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Penguins hit the road as they head to Boston to take on the Bruins at TD Garden (TV: ESPN; Radio: 105.9 The X). -The Penguins have points in three of their last four road games (2-1-1). -Pittsburgh has dropped three-consecutive games to Boston (0-2-1). The Penguins haven’t lost four in a row to the Bruins since an 0-4-1 stretch from Jan. 7, 2015- Feb. 24, 2016.
QUICK HITS
1) Sidney Crosby has 68 points (18G-50A) in 56 career games against the Bruins, which includes 27 points (6G-21A) over his last 25 contests. No active player in the NHL has more points against Boston than Crosby.
2) Rickard Rakell has 14 points (7G-7A) in 16 games played against the Bruins, which includes four multi-point efforts.
3) Jake Guentzel recorded his 10th multi-point outing of the season on Tuesday (1G-1A). His 10 multi-point outings rank first on the Penguins.
4) Drew O’Connor has three points (2G-1A) in his last five games. O’Connor’s 11 points on the season (4G-7A) tie his career high in points which he set in 2022- 23.
5) Marcus Pettersson leads the Penguins and ranks seventh in the NHL in plus/ minus this season at plus-19.
TEAM NOTES
HEATIN’ UP
Pittsburgh has been playing consistent hockey as of late, picking up points in eight of its last 10 games (7-2-1). Since this stretch began on Dec. 12, only three teams have accumulated more points than the Penguins.
ALL THE STOPS
The Penguins have been one of the league’s most defensively conscious teams this season. Pittsburgh’s 96 goals against and 2.67 goals-against average are sixth in the NHL, and the team’s .913 save percentage is fourth in the league
BLUELINERS VS BOSTON
Defensemen Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson have had success against Boston in their careers. The duo ranks third and fourth in points among active defensemen against the Bruins, respectively.
BOSTON BRUINS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Bruins host the Penguins tonight in the frst of three games between these teams this season and the frst of two Pittsburgh visits to TD Garden this year … The Bruins are 23-7- 6 overall this season and they are 11-2-3 on home ice … They are 14-5-4 in games vs. Eastern Conference teams this season. -The Bruins open a two-game home stand tonight vs. Pittsburgh and continue vs.Tampa Bay on 1/6 … They will then face a four-game road trip to Colorado on 1/8, to Arizona on 1/9, to Vegas on 1/11 and to St. Louis on 1/13.
RECENT GAMES
-The Bruins have won four straight games with a 4-1 win in Buffalo on 12/27, a 5-2 win vs. New Jersey on 12/30, a 5-3 win in Detroit on 12/31 and a 4-1 win in Columbus on 1/2 … They are now 6-3-3 in their last 12 games, and they are 9-6-3 in their last 18 contests.
– 12/30: Bos 5 vs NJ 2 … The Bruins surrendered the frst two goals but came back on goals by David Pastrnak (2-1=3), Kevin Shattenkirk (2G) and Jake DeBrusk (1-1=2) … Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand added 2A each … Linus Ullmark earned the win in goal … SOG: Bos 31, NJ 33 … PP: 2/2 … PK: 1/2
– 12/31: Bos 5 at Det 3 … Trent Frederic (2-1=3 totals) scored twice before equaling the score at the end of two periods … Charlie Coyle broke the tie and Jake DeBrusk and Pavel Zacha scored empty net goals … Charley McAvoy (3A), Hampus Lindholm and David Pastrnak (2A) had multiple assists each … Jeremy Swayman took the win in net … SOG: Bos 24, Det 30 … PP: 0/2 … PK: 1/6and
– 1/2: Bos 4 at Cmb 1 … Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk (1-2=3 totals), Danton Heinen, and Trent Frederic scored and Linus Ullmark extended the team win streak to four games … SOG: Bos 27, Cmb 27 … PP: 1/3 … PK: 0/1
INJURIES (61 Man-games lost)
– Derek Forbort: LTIR
BOSTON vs PITTSBURGH, LIFETIME SERIES
– The Bruins and Penguins are meeting for the 225th time in their histories with a 125-70-21-8 record and a 839-684 scoring advantage in those games. – The Bruins are 77-24-6-4 lifetime in 111 home games with a 455-304 scoring edge in those contests.
SEASON NOTABLES
– The Bruins fnished the 2023 calendar year with the top rankings in wins (59), points (125), points percentage (.772), goals against by game (2.30) and penalty kill (87.8). – The Bruins started the 2023-24 season with a ten-game point streak at 9-0-1 from 10/11-11/2/2023), which was their longest such streak in club history … The Bruins had opened their season at 6-0-0, tying their 1937-38 Bruins for the longest win streak to open a season in franchise history. – The Bruins had a streak of 22 straight penalty kills from 11/27-12/15. – Jeremy Swayman started his 2023-24 season with his longest such win streak at 6-0-0 … That tied Tuukka Rask (2016-17) and Tiny Thompson (1937-38) for second-longest such stretch in club history ahead of Tim Thomas (7-0-0 in 2010-11). – Swayman extended his point streak to nine straight games to start this season at 7-0-2 before falling on 11/24 vs. Detroit. – David Pastrnak fnished the 2023 calendar year as the NHL’s leader with 58 goals and he was fourth overall in points in that span with 113. – Brad Marchand scored fve straight Boston goals from 12/2-7/2023 (OTG 12/2 at TOR, 3G 12/3 vs CMB, 1G 12/7 vs BUF) … The longest goals-scored streak by a Bruin was a six-goal stretch by Glen Murray in 2003-04. – Marchand has passed Bobby Orr into sixth place on the team’s all-time scoring list … Rick Middleton is ffth on the list with 898 points.
FUN FACTS
– The Bruins currently have 22 players on their active roster (1 in LTIR) … 12 were drafted by the team, three were acquired in trade and seven were signed as free agents. – The Bruins play 11 matinees this season (local time 4:00 pm or earlier) … They have a 1-2-0 record in afternoon games so far. – The Bruins play 12 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 4-2-0 in the frst game of those sets and 3-2-1 in the second games. – The Bruins play game 2 tonight of their 14-game January schedule (seven home/seven road, 1-0-0) … They will play 12 games in February (eight home/four road) … They will play 14 games in March (seven home/seven road) … They will play seven games in April (three home/four road) … They played nine games in October (8-0-1); 13 games in November (7-4-2) and 13 games in December (7-3-3) – The Bruins have eight players on the current roster new to the organization this season – Johnny Beecher, Morgan Geekie, Danton Heinen, Mason Lohrei, Georgii Merkulov, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk, Parker Wotherspoon – The Bruins have ten players on the current roster who played college hockey – Johnny Beecher, Charlie Coyle, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, Danton Heinen, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Georgii Merkulov, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk – The Bruins have 11 former frst round draft picks on the current roster – Johnny Beecher, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk, Pavel Zacha
