PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Nov. 11: Pittsburgh 4, Buffalo 0 – PPG Paints Arena PIT Goals: Karlsson (2), O’Connor, Malkin Multiple Points: Karlsson (2G), Malkin (1G-1A), Graves (2A) Goalie: Jarry (35 saves, 35 shots) Key Stats: Tristan Jarry’s league-leading third shutout helped the Penguins to their fourth-straight win. PP: 1-3 PK: 2-2
Nov. 9: Pittsburgh 4, Los Angeles 3 (OT) – Crypto.com Arena PIT Goals: Crosby, Eller (SH), Guentzel, Rust (OT) Multiple Points: Crosby (1G-1A), Karlsson (2A) Goalie: Hellberg (34 saves, 37 shots) Key Stats: Bryan Rust’s sixth career overtime goal helped Pittsburgh go 3-0-0 on their West Coast Trip. PP: 0-2 PK: 3-3
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
G Alex Nedeljkovic Lower-Body 7 7
D John Ludvig Concussion 7 7
2023-24 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 15
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Nov. 11 F Vinnie Hinostroza recalled from WBS (AHL). G Joel Blomqvist re-assigned to WBS (AHL).
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Blue Jackets: 35-10-5
In Pittsburgh: 21-4-0
In Columbus: 14-6-5
OT Record vs. Blue Jackets: 9-3-2
Shootout Record vs. Blue Jackets: 3-2
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh went 3-0-1.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. BLUE JACKETS:
Sidney Crosby – 38GP, 53 PTS (17G-36A)
Evgeni Malkin – 34GP, 42 PTS (15G-27A)
Kris Letang – 32GP, 28 PTS (12G-16A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
– The Penguins head to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena (TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh; Radio: 105.9 The X). -Pittsburgh has points in nine-straight games (8-0-1) against the Blue Jackets dating back to Dec. 12, 2019. -Pittsburgh went 3-0-1 against the Blue Jackets last season. Since the Metropolitan Division was formed for the 2012-13 season, Pittsburgh has dropped the season series with Columbus just once (2014-15). -Pittsburgh is 18-3-2 in its last 23 games against Columbus dating back to Feb. 3, 2017.
QUICK HITS
1) Evgeni Malkin has three multi-point efforts over his last five games and is tied for the team lead in multi-point games (5) with Erik Karlsson (5).
2) Bryan Rust (+8) and Erik Karlsson (+8) both rank second in the NHL in plus-minus in the month of November behind St. Louis’ Pavel Buchnevich (+9).
3) The Penguins have scored three or more goals in 16 of their last 20 games against the Blue Jackets, while 13 of those 20 games have been four-plus goal efforts.
4) Pittsburgh is only allowing 2.62 goals against per game, a figure that ranks sixth in the NHL.
5) Tristan Jarry is 6-1-1 in his career versus Columbus with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
COLUMBUS BUE JACKETS NOTES:
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Tarasov (knee); Placed on Injured/Non-Roster (Oct. 9); Week-to-Week (14 Games)
Roslovic (fractured ankle); Placed on Injured/Non-Roster (Nov. 13); 4-6 weeks
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 34
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 13 Placed Roslovic on IR and recalled Jiricek from Cleveland (AHL)
Nov. 11 Activated Laine off Injured Reserve and assigned Jiricek to Cleveland (AHL)
AGAINST THE PENGUINS
2023-24 Series: 0-0-0 (0-0-0 vs. PIT)
2022-23 Series: 1-2-1 (1-1-0 vs. PIT)
All-Time Series: 15-26-0-9 (11-10-0-4 vs. PIT)
Last 10 (Overall | Home): 2-6-2 | 4-5-1
All-Time GF/GA: 130/161 All-Time SF/SA: 1,528/1,675
All-Time PP: 28-of-177 All-Time PK: 130-of-188
THE LAST GAME VS. PIT: APR. 13, 2023 – CBJ 3 vs. PIT 2 (OT)
CBJ Goal Scorers: Peeke (6), PP – Bemstrom (7), OT – Gaudreau (20)
PIT Goal Scorers: PP – Letang (12), PP – Guentzel (36)
Goalies: CBJ – Hutchinson (34/36; 60:52); PIT – Jarry (31/34; 61:00) CBJ PP: 1/4; PK: 0/2 |
Shots: CBJ: 34 / PIT: 36
3 Stars: 1. Hutchinson, CBJ; 2. Gaudreau, CBJ; 3. Bemstrom, CBJ
Noteworthy: CBJ recorded points for 2nd-straight game (1-0-1) and snapped 4-game losing streak (0-3-1)… CBJ finished season series with PIT going 1-2-1… CBJ earned 14th comeback victory of the season, trailing 1-0 in the 1st period and 2-1 in the 3rd period… CBJ had 4 players make their NHL debut (Angle, Knazko, Pyyhtia, Svozil) – the most to make a debut in a single-game in club history… Gaudreau scored his team-leading 4th game-winning goal and 3rd overtime goal of season… Kuraly collected points in 2ndstraight game (1-1-2)… Svozil and Pyyhtia both notched their 1st career NHL points with an assist each on Bemstrom’s 3rd period goal.
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. PIT)
Teams met in 1st round in 2 playoffs (2014, 2017)… CBJ, who have collected points in the last 2 meetings (1-0-1), snapped an 8-game losing streak to PIT (0-6-2) in most recent meeting on 4/13/23… CBJ have posted points in 9 of the past 15 games at NWA dating back to 12/13/14 (8-6-1)… CBJ have recorded a PPG in last 2 games of all-time series (2-of-6; 33.3 pct.)… Winning team has scored 4+ goals in 9 of the past 12 games of the series… The teams have combined for 70 or more shots in 5-straight and 6 of the last 7… PIT owns all 3 shutouts in all-time series… Each team has recorded 3 hat tricks in all-time series… Most goals scored vs. PIT: 7 (12/22/16)… Most goals allowed vs. PIT: 7 (12/4/10).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. PIT)
Gudbranson skated in his 200th career NHL game on 12/20/14 at PIT… Jenner skated in 400th career NHL game on 2/26/19 vs. PIT… Marchenko made NHL debut on 12/6/22 at PIT… Merzlikins made NHL debut on 10/5/19 at PIT… Severson skated in his 100th career NHL game on 1/26/16 at PIT… Werenski picked up 100th NHL assist on 11/29/19 vs. PIT.
PLAYER NOTABLES vs. PIT
• Bemstrom – 2-1-3 in 8 career GP, scoring a goal in each of his last 2 games against the club (2-1-3)
• Gaudreau – 8-6-14 in 18 career GP, including points in 6 of his last 8 games against Pittsburgh (4-3-7)
• Jenner – 8-5-13 in 29 career GP, including goals in 4 of his past 6 home contests vs. the Pens (4-1-5)
• Laine – 2-6-8 in 13 career GP, including points in his past 2 outings (1-1-2) and assists in 2 of his last 3 home appearances (0-2-2) •Werenski – 2-4-6 in 14 career GP, including points in 4 of his past 6 home games (1-3-4)
BACK AT HOME
The Blue Jackets return home for a two-game stretch after going 0-1-1 in back-to-back games over the weekend (5-4 L at DET and 4-3 OTL at NYR). Columbus will play five of its nine remaining games in November at Nationwide Arena. The team closes out a stretch of eight-of-10 games played against Eastern Conference teams from Oct. 26-Nov. 14 on Tuesday against the Penguins. The only two games against the Western Conference during that stretch were against Dallas (Oct. 30 at Dallas, Nov. 9 at CBJ).
JACKETS ON THE KILL
Columbus has killed off all 21 opponent power play opportunities over the past eight contests dating back to Oct. 28 after denying the Rangers on all three of their attempts on Sunday. It’s tied for the third-longest stretch in terms of games in franchise history (third time), trailing only 11 games from Dec. 31, 2018-Jan. 29, 2019 and nine games from Feb. 21-Mar. 9, 2013. The club ranks third in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season at 89.1 pct. (41-of-46) and lead the League in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 10 (94.3 pct.), killing off 33-of-35 opponent power play chances over the last 12 games.
BLOCK IT LIKE IT’S HOT
CBJ has been credited with 87 blocked shots over the past four games, including the now fifth-highest total in a game this season with 30 in last Monday’s game at Florida. It was also tied for the second-most (third time) blocked shots in a single game in franchise history (stats kept since 2005-06), trailing only 34 blocked shots registered on Mar. 17, 2012 at Vancouver. The club ranks second in the NHL in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (19.38) and second in blocked shots this season (296). Defenseman Erik Gudbranson leads the team and ranks sixth-T among all NHL skaters in blocked shots in 2023-24 with 41. He has posted 1-5-6 and 12 blocked shots in the last six games, including two multi-assist efforts in his last four (0-5-5) after collecting two assists on Nov. 2 at Florida and Nov. 12 at the NY Rangers. He had collected three multi-assist outings in his first 722 career games.
