The Pens are set to face one of the NHL’s hottest teams while down a top-four defenseman.
Who: Los Angeles Kings (18-9-3, 39 points, 2nd place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (13-14-5, 31 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Local broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh, FDSNW for the LA area, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins spend the rest of the week on the road, with trips to Nashville on Thursday and New Jersey on Saturday, before returning to PPG Paints for an Christmas Eve-Eve rivalry game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Opponent Track: The Kings enter tonight’s matchup as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They’ve won seven of their last eight games, with their only loss since Nov. 27 coming in a 3-1 defeat by the Devils last Thursday. Most recently the Kings routed the New York Rangers 5-1 on Saturday.
Season Series: This is the first meeting between these two teams this season. The Pens and Kings reunite when Pittsburgh takes a late-January swing through the West Coast.
Hidden Stat: The Kings enter this game with 18 regulation wins through 30 games, tying a franchise record for the second-most in history (h/t Blake Warye.)
Getting to know the Kings
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Alex Turcotte - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Phillip Danault - Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele - Quinton Byfield - Tanner Jeannot
Samuel Helenius - Akil Thomas
DEFENSEMEN
Mikey Anderson - Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare - Jordan Spence
Kyle Burroughs
Goalies: Darcy Kuemper, David Rittich
IR: Drew Doughty, Trevor Lewis, Arthur Kaliyev
Potential Scratches: Trevor Moore (upper-body injury)
With winger Trevor Moore out with a lower-body injury, Los Angeles went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen during Saturday’s win over the Rangers. The 11/7 lineup has been working for this team, and team reporter Zach Dooley believes the team will go with the same format against the Pens. If the Kings decide to put in a 12th forward, call-up Andre Lee will likely slot into the fourth line.
Arthur Kaliyev, who has yet to play this season, is nearing a return from his training camp injury but won’t be back for tonight’s game. He’s currently on a conditioning loan with the Ontario Reign.
The Kings defense has held opponents to an NHL-low 2.50 goals per game so far this season. The Pens rank 31st with 3.72 goals allowed per game, and the loss of Marcus Pettersson for the near future certainly won’t help.
The Kings’ last victory involved them scoring five straight goals against the New York Rangers and chasing Igor Shesterkin at Madison Square Garden. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently said the Rangers, who already traded former captain Jacob Trouba just before beating the Pens two weeks ago, are “willing to consider all options” after the loss.
Blake Lizotte, who spent the first six seasons of his NHL career in Los Angeles, is facing the Kings for the first time since signing a two-year deal with the Pens this summer. The reunion comes at a good time for Lizotte, who has eight points (4-4—8) in his last seven games and has overall had a positive impact on the Penguins’ ability to control play when he’s on the ice.
Anze Kopitar led the Kings in points during the 2013-14 regular season prior to the team’s run to the Stanley Cup. Eleven seasons later and in his 19th campaign with the Kings, Kopitar is leading his teammates in points once again thanks to his 26 assists through 30 games.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino
Drew O’Connor - Cody Glass - Anthony Beauvillier
Matt Nieto - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Owen Pickering / Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves / Ryan Shea
Goalies: Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic
Potential Scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Kevin Hayes, Marcus Pettersson (injured)
IR: none
Marcus Pettersson, who was injured in the first period of the Pens’ overtime loss to the Sens on Saturday, is “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury, Mike Sullivan said on Monday. The Pens moved Grzelcyk up to the second pairing in his absence and slotted in Shea on the third pairing during Monday’s practice.
Losing the Pens’ most consistent defender will hurt. Pettersson was skating more than 21 minutes and logging a team-high 2:49 penalty kill minutes per game.
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