Who: Anaheim Ducks (18-10-1, 37 points, 1st place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (14-7-6, 34 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Broadcast locally on Victory+,
KCOP-13 and SN-PIT , streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The homestand continues Thursday with a home game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Pens come back to PPG Paints Arena for back-to-back afternoon games this weekend against the San Jose Sharks and Utah Mammoth.
Opponent Tracker: The Ducks have seen some mixed results during a three-game homestand this past week, losing a 7-0 shutout by the Mammoth only to claim a 4-3 shootout win over the Washington Capitals and a 7-1 blowout of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Season Series: The Pens lost this season’s series opener in Anaheim by giving up a power-play goal with just over one a half minutes remaining in a tied game back on Oct. 14.
Getting to know the Ducks
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Chris Kreider – Leo Carlsson – Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier – Mason McTavish – Beckett Sennecke
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston – Ryan Poehling – Mikael Granlund
DEFENSEMEN
Jackson LaCombe / Jacob Trouba
Olen Zellweger / Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov / Drew Helleson
Goalies: Ville Husso, Vyacheslav Buteyets
Potential scratches: Nikita Nesterenko, Jansen Harkins, Ian Moore
Injured Reserve: Petr Mrazek, Lukas Dostal
- The Ducks are currently missing both Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek to week-to-week injuries. Dostal is a particularly major loss, considering he had led the Ducks to an 11-5 record in his first 17 appearances of the season.
- In the absence of both their regular starter and backup the Ducks have turned to third-stringer Ville Husso, who has played well enough to keep Anaheim at the top of the Pacific since Dostal’s injury.
- Mikael Granlund recently returned to the third line after missing 18 games with a lower-body injury he suffered back in October.
Season stats
via hockeydb
- Beckett Sennecke, the No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft, currently leads all rookies in both goals (nine) and points (24) through his first 29 games. He could be an easy player to pick out tonight due to his speed. NHL Edge puts him in the 96th percentile of all skaters this season in speed bursts of more than 21 miles per hour.
- Sennecke isn’t the only young player who’s hitting stride for the Ducks so far this season. Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 pick of the 2023 draft, has 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games.
- Former New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba has five goals in his first 29 games, a huge uptick for a player who totaled just four goals across his two prior seasons. He was also recently under fire for a controversial hit that injured Caps rookie Ryan Leonard last week.
- The Ducks are heading into the matchup ranked second only to the Colorado Avalanche with 3.59 goals per game. The team is also allowing 3.28 goals against per game, the 11th-most in the NHL, but that’s considering that Dostal has been out since Nov. 22. Getting him back will make this team an even more dangerous opponent down the stretch.
- One area of weakness for Anaheim has been special teams. The Ducks rank 18th in the NHL with an 18.8 power play percentage and 28th with a 75.3 percent success rate on the penalty kill. The Ducks had gone 0-for-17 on the power play prior to Sunday’s win over the Blackhawks, but they’ll hope scoring two power play goals against Chicago will be enough to turn that trend around.
- For the first time in eight years, the Penguins are facing what seems likely to be a playoff-bound Ducks team. After finishing sixth or lower in the Pacific for the last seven years, Anaheim is heading into this matchup with a division lead.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Kevin Hayes – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin (?) – Anthony Mantha
Rutger McGroarty – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Boko Imama
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ryan Graves / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Joona Koppanen, Matt Dumba, Harrison Brunicke (AHL rehab assignment)
IR: Filip Hallander, Justin Brazeau, Rickard Rakell, Caleb Jones, Noel Acciari
- Keep an eye out regarding an injury update on Evgeni Malkin, who missed Sunday’s shootout loss to the Ducks with an upper-body injury the Penguins described as a day-to-day issue. If he remains sidelined, Kevin Hayes could once more draw in as the Pens’ second-line center.
- Should he be available to play, Malkin has typically been a tough matchup for the Ducks. He’s put up 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 26 career games against Anaheim.
- Tristan Jarry posted another strong outing against on Sunday against the Stars (notwithstanding the shootout loss). The Penguins are 9-2-1 with him in net so far this season.
- Speaking of shootouts: The Pens have yet to win one in four tries this season. Should tonight’s matchup go to extra time, head coach Dan Muse might have to consider sending out someone other than Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust to try their luck.
