Who:
Pittsburgh Penguins (5-9-2, 12 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Los Angeles Kings (5-7-2, 12 points, 7th place Pacific Division)When: 9:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally televised game on ABTV and Sportsnet Pittsburgh, streaming for out of market at ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins have less than 24 hours from tonight’s puck drop before the team’s next game starts at 8 p.m. ET Sunday in Anaheim. The Pens will then stick around on the West Coast for a Wednesday game against the San
Jose Sharks before returning to Pittsburgh to play the Ottawa Senators next Saturday.
Opponent Track: The Kings opened the season on a six-game losing streak but have since gone 5-3, most recently claiming a 7-2 win Wednesday over the visiting San Jose Sharks.
Season Series: The Penguins will see the Kings again Dec. 17 in Pittsburgh.
Hidden Stat: The Kings were the last team in the NHL to record their first win this season after their 0-4-2 opening to the campaign, per The Athletic’s Eric Stephens.
Getting to know the Kings
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Artemi Panarin – Alex Laferriere – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Quinton Byfield – Corey Perry
Andre Lee – Scott Laughton – Martin Chromiak
Erik Haula – Kenny Connors – Joel Armia
DEFENSEMEN
Erik Gustafsson / Brandt Clarke
Joel Edmundson / Drew Doughty
Mikey Anderson / Brian Dumoulin
Goalies: Darcy Kuemper, Anton Forsberg
Potential scratches: Alex Turcotte (day to day), Cody Ceci, Samuel Helenius
Injured Reserve: Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Fiala (LTIR)
- The most dangerous part of the Kings’ lineup is the first line, which has combined for more than a third of the team’s total production so far this season. Adrian Kempe, in his first game back from an absence due to illness, scored his first hat trick of the season in Wednesday’s win against the Sharks.
- Kenny Connors, who was recently called up from the AHL, made his season debut and recorded his first NHL point during the Kings’ Wednesday win over the Sharks.
- There are a few ex-Penguins playing in Los Angeles. Brian Dumoulin, who is in his second season with the Kings, recently skated in his 800th career game. Cody Ceci has appeared in seven games but has become a regular healthy scratch from the roster.
Special teams notes
- The Kings have struggled with one of the NHL’s least effective power plays early this season, but the unit might be bouncing back now that Kempe has returned to the lineup. Los Angeles went 3-for-5 on the man advantage Wednesday against the Sharks.
- Penalty killing is still a problem for this team. The Kings allowed two power-play goals from the Sharks and currently rank last in the NHL with a 62.2 percent success rate on the man disadvantage. The Penguins will hope that sparks some life in their own power play, which has fired at just a 16 percent success rate over this 2-7-1 stretch.
Season stats
via hockeydb
There are a lot of similarities between the Kings and Penguin rosters at first glance. The Kings are one of the oldest teams in the NHL. They’re not getting much production outside of their veteran players. And they’re stuck in the awkward spot between a retool and a rebuild after getting eliminated from the first round of last year’s playoffs.
The Kings might still be hoping this team is one superstar away from contention. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported earlier this week the Kings have “already talked about” a potential trade for Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov and “would be all over it if possible.”
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Egor Chinakhov – Ben Kindel – Evgeni Malkin
Ville Koivunen – Hendrix Lapierre – Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Nick Robertson
DEFENSEMEN
Sam Girard / Erik Karlsson
Spencer Stastney / Kaeden Korczak
Declan Carlile / Kris Letang
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov
Potential Scratches: Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Solovyov
IR: Ryan Graves, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Elmer Soderblom, Bryan Rust
- Jake Livanavage didn’t see any action before he rejoined the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins for their Friday night game.
- Both Penguins goaltenders will likely be in action this weekend given the upcoming back-to-back coming against the Anaheim Ducks.
- Despite the Penguins’ struggles, Nick Robertson has proved to be one of the most effective offseason additions in the NHL. Per Pens PR, he ranks fifth in goalscoring among players that joined a new team ahead of the season.
- The Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks are the only two teams in the NHL heading into Saturday with fewer standings points than the Penguins.
- The Penguins are on their second four-game losing streak of the season. The Pens last lost more than four games in a row last December, when the team went 0-4-4 from Dec. 7 to Dec. 20 before rallying to win seven of their next eight games.
