Game Preview: Nashville Predators @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4/15/2024 - Lines, how to watch - PensBurgh

Who: Nashville Predators (47-29-5, 99 points, 4th place Central Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (37-31-12, 86 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 8 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Sportsnet Pittsburgh and Bally Sports South in the local markets, streaming on ESPN+ elsewhere

Pens’ Path Ahead: The road is almost over, the Pens have one more regular season game on Wednesday night on Long Island and that will be a wrap on the 82 games. Will there be any more after that? Stay tuned..

Opponent Track: Nashville is 4-2-1 in April but had a successful weekend beating up on some lesser lights (5-1 win against Chicago on Friday, 6-4 victory over Columbus on Saturday). Their playoff position is more or less locked into the top wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Season Series: The Predators took a 3-2 OT win back on November 28th. Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin each scored a goal for Pittsburgh.

Hidden Stat: From Pens PR: Evgeni Malkin has 21 points (7G-14A) in 19 career games against Nashville. The Penguins are 7-0-1 against Nashville all-time in games that Malkin suits up for here at home.

Getting to know the Predators

Potential lines

FORWARDS

Filip Forsberg - Ryan O’Reilly - Gustav Nyquist

Jason Zucker - Mark Jankowski - Cody Glass

Anthony Beauvillier - Thomas Novak - Luke Evangelista

Jaret Anderson-Dolan - Mike McCarron - Kiefer Sherwood

DEFENSEMEN

Ryan McDonagh / Roman Josi

Jeremy Lauzon / Alex Carrier

Spencer Stastney / Luke Schenn

Goalies: Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen

Possible scratches: Tyson Barrie, Dante Fabbro, Cole Smith, Colton Sissons

IR: none

—With the playoffs clinched and little chance to move up or down, the Preds have started to rest players. Barrie and Sissons were out vs CBJ on Saturday.

—Carrier left the game during the third period for “precautionary reasons” on Saturday. We’ll see about his status for today, but there’s little reason to push him a week before playoffs.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

—Forsberg recently set the Nashville franchise record for most goals in a single season (44) and he’s even tacked a few more on since then to pad the total. He’s three points behind the team’s point record that Roman Josi set a few years ago.

—Nyquist has got to be one of the best free agent signings of last summer period, and certainly one of the best value ones at just over $3 million dollars for two years.

—Mark Janikowski, still in the National. And having a good season this year. His reward was a two-year contract extension at $800k per year.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Drew O’Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell

Reilly Smith - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen

Radim Zohorna - Jeff Carter - Emil Bemstrom

DEFENSEMEN

P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry

Potential Scratches: John Ludvig, Jesse Puljujarvi, Vinnie Hinostroza

IR: Matt Nieto (knee surgery), Jansen Harkins (hand injury), Noel Acciari (lower body injury), Ryan Graves (concussion)

—The Penguins opted for rest and cancelled practice yesterday.

—Mike Sullivan has the unenviable task of picking a goalie for tonight. Nedeljkovic has sputtered after 11 straight starts, Jarry looked not sharp or able to be engaged after three weeks off. Not a clear answer on who might have the best chance of team success.

Offense from the defense

Pens PR gave us this, also including it since tonight’s opponent is in the mix too.

Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson scored goals at even strength in Thursday’s win over Detroit. Pittsburgh’s blueliners have been productive this season at even strength, tied for ninth in the NHL. Letang leads all Penguins’ defensemen and is tied for seventh in the NHL among blueliners with 44 even-strength points (10G-34A).

Most Even Strength Points From Defensemen, NHL

Team EVP from D-Men

Colorado 180
Edmonton 156
Vancouver 153
Columbus 150
Winnipeg 150
NY Rangers 149
Dallas 147
Carolina 146
Pittsburgh 145
Nashville 145

Another one for Sid

Pens PR points out:

Sidney Crosby enters tomorrow’s game just one assist shy of 50 (49). With an assist tomorrow’s, Crosby will become only the 13th player in NHL history to record 11 or more seasons with at least 50 assists.

After his next assist, only eight players in NHL history have more 50-assist seasons than Crosby:

Around the league

The Pens absolutely need to take care of their own business tonight but they are going to need a little help along the way.

Washington hosts Boston tonight, and Detroit are at home to meet Montreal.

The Penguins could be mathematically eliminated tonight with a regulation loss against the Preds and a win by either the Caps or Red Wings.

Or...the Pens could be back in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot if they win and Washington+Detroit both lose in any format.

Hang on tight for the last week of the regular season, or as it’s been known to be said in these parts — buckle up baby!

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2024-04-15 11:00:00Z
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