Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (3-4-1, 7 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Vegas Golden Knights
(7-2-0, 14 points, 1st place Pacific Division)When: 10 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally televised game on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and SCRIPPS, streaming for out of market at ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The road trip continues Monday in Salt Lake City. The Penguins then have two days off before returning to Pittsburgh for a three-game homestand, starting Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
Opponent Track: The
Pens are about to take on one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Golden Knights have won six of their last seven games, most recently including consecutive wins over the Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames in which the team outscored their opponents by a total of 11-4.
Season Series: The Penguins won’t have to wait long for another meeting with the Golden Knights, which are coming to Pittsburgh Nov. 3.
Hidden Stat: Only the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers have spent a higher percentage of their game time in the offensive zone than the Golden Knights so far this season, according to NHL Edge.
Hidden Stat II: The Penguins haven’t won on the road against the Golden Knights since January 2022, when Jason Zucker, Teddy Blueger and Jake Guentzel led the Pens to a comeback victory.
Getting to know the Golden Knights
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly – Tomas Hertl – Raphael Lavoie
Braeden Bowman – Nic Dowd – Marc Gatcomb
DEFENSEMEN
Brayden McNabb / Shea Theodore
Jeremy Lauzon / Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin / Dylan Coghlan
Goalies: Carter Hart, Adin Hill
Potential scratches: Ville Heinola, Parker Wotherspoon (week-to-week, upper body)
Injured Reserve: Victor Olofsson
Season-ending LTIR: Alex Pietrangelo
- Parker Wotherspoon won’t be reuniting with his former teammates tonight. The Golden Knights announced Monday the defenseman is week-to-week with an upper body injury after starting the season on the team’s second pairing alongside Rasmus Andersson.
- The Golden Knights’ top power play unit of Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Tomas Herl and Shea Theodore has been dangerous so far this season. Vegas is one of seven NHL teams that has converted on more than 25 percent of their power play opportunities so far this season.
- Carter Hart has made the bulk of starts for the Golden Knights so far this season. After a rocky 18-game campaign last season he has a .911 save percentage and 2.35 GAA through six appearances in net.
Season stats
via hockeydb
- Mark Stone is heading into tonight fresh off a natural hat trick in the third period of the Golden Knights’ win over the Flames. He has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his first nine games of the season.
- Jack Eichel is second only to Connor McDavid for the NHL production lead with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) through nine games. His latest tally was a shorthanded strike against the Flames.
- The Penguins will need to be alert early. Brett Howden scored the eighth-fastest goal in Golden Knights history when he opened scoring just 25 seconds into Thursday’s game.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Ville Koivunen – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Andrei Kuzmenko – Ben Kindel – Nick Robertson
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Elmer Soderblom
DEFENSEMEN
Declan Carlile / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kaeden Korczak
Spencer Stastney / Kris Letang
Goalies: Sergei Murashov (Arturs Silovs started Friday)
Potential Scratches: Hendrix Lapierre, Ryan Johnson, Egor Chinakhov (?)
IR: Ryan Graves, Justin Brazeau, Trevor van Riemsdyk
- Sidney Crosby made NHL history in Friday night’s loss with his 1,110th career assist.
- Egor Chinakhov was a late scratch ahead of Friday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Penguins said he’s being evaluated for a lower-body injury. If he can’t skate tonight, Ville Koivunen could slot into the lineup again in his place.
- Sergei Murashov is likely slated for the start tonight after Arturs Silovs made 27 saves on 32 shots from the Avalanche.
