RSS Penguins Team Notes

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Calgary Flames @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1/10/26

Who: Calgary Flames (18-22-4, 40 points, 7th place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (21-12-9, 51 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 3:30 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and SN/TVAS, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The busy stretch continues tomorrow with a 5 p.m. ET game in Boston. Then it’s back to Pittsburgh for three home games next week, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and followed by division matchups against the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Opponent Track: It’s been a dispiriting stretch in Calgary. The Flames are on a four-game losing skid, and they’ve been held to just one goal in each of their last three games (while getting outscored by a total of 18-3). Calgary most recently dropped a back-to-back set in Montreal and Boston earlier this week.

Season Series: This is the first time the Flames and Pens have met this season. They’ll see one another later this month, when the Pens head to Calgary on Jan. 21 as part of a four-game West Coast road swing.

Hidden Stat: The Flames are heading into this matchup with the worst road points percentage in the NHL, going 6-15-2 (.304 points percentage) in 23 away games so far this season.

Hidden Stat II: Courtesy of Pens PR, the Penguins are 13-1-4 in games where at least one member of the current fourth line (Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari) records a point.

Getting to know the Flames​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee

Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato

Connor Zary – Morgan Frost – Yegor Sharangovich

Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka

DEFENSEMEN

Kevin Bahl / Rasmus Andersson

Yan Kuznetsov / MacKenzie Weegar

Joel Hanley / Hunter Brzustewicz

Goalies: Dustin Wolf, Devin Cooley

Potential scratches: Zayne Parekh (day-to-day upper body injury), William Stromgren, Brayden Pachal

Injured Reserve: Jake Bean, Samuel Honk, John Beecher, Martin Pospisil

• Flames fans haven’t gotten to see rookie defenseman Zayne Parekh since he set a record for Canadian World Juniors defensemen with 13 points in seven games of the 2025 tournament. The 19-year-old was sidelined for Calgary’s back-to-back earlier this week.
• Dustin Wolf has made eight straight starts for the Flames, including in the team’s losses to the Habs and Bruins on consecutive days last week. Backup Devin Cooley has been dealing with an illness, according to head coach Ryan Huska, who admitted it has not been “ideal” to be playing Wolf this much. Whether Wolf (3-5-0 over this stretch) gets a ninth straight start against the Pens could depend on Cooley’s health status.

Season stats
via hockeydb

The Flames are about to hit a crossroads at the trade deadline. Right now, they’re in no man’s land. They’re ostensibly still in the playoff race (six points back of a Western Conference Wild Card spot with 38 games left in the season). They had a resurgent December (9-4-0) before their January slump (0-4).

They’re playing veterans and keeping young players on a tight leash— rookie winger William Stromgren made his NHL debut on Wednesday, but skated just over eight minutes before getting scratched for Thursday’s matchup with the Bruins.

The Flames are also the lowest-scoring team in the NHL with 2.13 goals for per game, and they’re allowing the fifth-most goals against (3.57 per game). The Calgary power play is ticking along at just 12.5 percent.

Blake Coleman has been tied to the Montreal Canadiens by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Rasmus Andersson is an obvious trade chip given that he’s playing on an expiring contract. Whether these players and others ultimately get moved at the deadline could depend at least in part on how soon the Flames can end their ongoing losing streak.

And now for the Pens​

Infographic courtesy of Pens PR

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Evgeni Malkin – Ben Kindel – Yegor Chinakhov

Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Ville Koivunen, Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton

IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones, Rutger McGroarty

• The Penguins had an optional practice Friday ahead of today’s afternoon game and this weekend’s back-to-back set, per Michelle Crechiolo.

Muse called this a "get what you need" day.

"We had things set up for everybody… for guys that felt like they needed to get on the ice, with the afternoon game tomorrow, they had that option. For other guys, it's getting in the gym, getting activation, getting treatments." https://t.co/DnIAfwy7QC

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 9, 2026

• Malkin made his return from injury on Ben Kindel’s wing during Thursday’s win over the Devils. We’ll see if he sticks on the wing or returns to his natural center position for his second game back.
• Only the Tampa Bay Lightning (eight straight wins) are currently riding a longer victory streak than the Pens (six consecutive victories).

Since the NHL's holiday break concluded, the Penguins lead the league in wins (6), points (12), goals per game (4.83), goals against (13) and goal differential (+16). pic.twitter.com/N4ROFPqsri

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) January 9, 2026

• Courtesy of Pens PR: A goal or assist from Erik Karlsson tonight would make him the first Penguins defenseman since Dick Tarnstrom in 2002 to record points in 10 straight home games.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/71451/game-preview-calgary-flames-pittsburgh-penguins-1-10-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Flames @ Penguins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71127/gamethread-flames-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Boston Bruins 1/11/26

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (21-13-9, 51 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division) @ Boston Bruins (24-19-2, 50 points, 5th place Atlantic Division)

When: 5:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and NESN, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens return home next week for games at PPG Paints Arena against Tampa (Tuesday), Philadelphia (Thursday) and Columbus (Saturday).

Opponent Track: The Bruins put a 10-2 beating on the Rangers yesterday in New York, helping them to a fourth win in the last five games. Before that, Boston had lost six in a row (0-5-1) and prior to that they had won the previous four games. Like many other in the East and NHL at-large, the Bruins are riding the waves of alternating good and bad streaks like that as they make their way through the season.

Season Series: This is the first PIT/BOS game of the season. The teams will meet up again in Boston on March 3rd, quickly followed by the Bruins’ only visit to Pittsburgh this season on March 8th for the third and final game.

Getting to know the Bruins​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Murat Khusnutdinov – Elias Lindholm* – David Pastrnak

Casey Mittelstadt – Pavel Zacha – Viktor Arvidsson

Alex Steeves – Fraser Minten – Connor Geekie*

Tanner Jeannot – Sean Kuraly – Mark Kastelic

DEFENSEMEN

Jonathan Aspirot / Charlie McAvoy

Nikita Zadorov / Henri Jokiharju

Mason Lohrei / Andrew Peeke

Goalies: Joonas Korpisalo (Jeremy Swayman played yesterday)

Potential scratches: Jeffrey Viel, Michael Eyssimont, Vladislav Kolyachonok

Injured Reserve: Hampus Lindholm, Jordan Harris

• As is the case coming off a 10-2 win, lots of players riding high lately. Pastranak notched six (count ‘em, six!) assists. Zacha had a hat trick, Khusnutdinov did him one better with a four-goal game. Minten chipped in 2G+1A.
• *Geekie and Lindolm both left yesterday’s game early, both are officially gametime decisions for today. Geekie had a family emergency that coach Marco Sturm said is “all good” now, Lindholm is dealing with a nagging injury.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• Khusnutdinov, who was involved in the MIN->BOS trade for Justin Brazeau last season, is having a sort Brazeau-esque glow up this season, funny enough for two players in the same deal to both improve their lot significantly this year. The 23-year old only had six goals and 16 points in his first 91 games entering this season, he already has blown by both of those totals already (a five-point game yesterday helps there).
• Geekie started out red hot, as late as November 29th his 20 goals in 27 games to start the season were tied for the league-lead. He’s slowed down since then, and in fact has not scored a goal in nine-straight games going back to December 20th.
• The Bruins boast the NHL’s two highest penalty minute leaders so far this season between Zadorov (113) and Jeannot (97).

Key matchup: Pittsburgh offense vs. Boston defense

The Penguins and Bruins are similar in that both have good power plays, they both finish well, their offensive 5v5 process is strong, their goaltending and penalty kills are similar.

The big difference of what stands out is when you get to Boston’s 5v5 defensive outputs. That’s the one major weak link involved, the Bruins will give up chances against. Having Lindholm out as one of their top defenders doesn’t help in that regard. It’s the second game in a row for both teams and presumably the B’s will be playing their weaker goalie, they haven’t shown much by way of insulating him. That opens the door for the Penguins to potentially have an edge.

And now for the Pens​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

Ben Kindel – Evgeni Malkin – Yegor Chinakhov

Anthony Mantha – Kevin Hayes – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Stuart Skinner (Arturs Silovs played yesterday)

Potential Scratches: Bryan Rust (day-to-day injury), Connor Clifton, Rafael Harvey-Pinard

IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones, Rutger McGroarty

• Rust’s injury managed to shake up the lines just enough to seemingly throw them off yesterday. The only goal the Pens generated came from their second line, which was left unchanged. The new lines couldn’t find immediate success, we’ll see if it just needed a day to gel and come together.

Looking for a better start

Over their recent six-game winning streak, the Penguins came flying out of the gates by scoring 13 total goals in the first period. That put them ahead after 20 minutes in five out of the six games. Pittsburgh was losing 1-0 to Calgary yesterday at the first break, managing only six shots and not looking at the start as they have been of late.

That was top of mind for Anthony Mantha yesterday speaking after the game about what the team will be looking to do today.

Mantha on the team's performance tonight: "I don’t think that we came out like we did lately in the first period… Lately, we’ve been doing the opposite of that, and it’s been really good for our team."

More from Saturday's 2-1 loss against the Flameshttps://t.co/q7UhQIoLLd

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 11, 2026

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...iew-pittsburgh-penguins-boston-bruins-1-11-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Bruins Recap: Pens shutout in Boston

Pregame​

Dan Muse hasn’t reacted via lineup changes to losses very frequently this season, however today changes on that front. All three of the top lines are mixed up a bit, Anthony Mantha moves up to the top line, Ben Kindel and Tommy Novak join Justin Brazeau on a new-look line, and perhaps most inexplicably of all Kevin Hayes is going to center Evgeni Malkin and Yegor Chinakhov. It’s the type of lineup that works and Muse looks smart, or it doesn’t and a lot of people will be questioning. Connor Clifton is back for his first game since December 20th and only his second since 12/14 after a long streak of healthy scratches.

Today's lineup in Boston.#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/jAYBMa1Rtf

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 11, 2026

The home Bruins are going with these lines and backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo on the back-half of their b2b.

Elias and Eyssimont are in. pic.twitter.com/G5blhYOL7e

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 11, 2026

First period​

Tommy Novak goes to the box early. Boston appears to score later on but after further review Sean Kuraly punched the puck in with his glove and that isn’t allowed. No goal after all.

Brazeau takes a penalty, Pittsburgh kills it off without much trouble. Soon after, the Bruins score a good goal. Viktor Arvidsson chops a backhander while not even facing the net after a scramble that slips under Stuart Skinner.

SNEAKS IT THROUGH pic.twitter.com/mUjw7e5IKi

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 11, 2026

The period comes to a close much like it did throughout; with a Penguin in the penalty box. This time Evgeni Malkin for high-sticking. Pittsburgh again stays strong down a player.

Decent first but the Pens were in penalty trouble too much and couldn’t get off to the start they were looking for. 1-0 Boston after one with an even 10 shots for each side.

Second period​

Pittsburgh kills off the short carryover and gets a few looks at the Boston net but can’t beat Korpisalo. Kulak bobbles the puck and play goes the other way, Kulak has to hook Mark Kastelic to obstruct the breakaway and it’s yet another Penguin penalty to kill off, which they do.

The frequent trips to the penalty box continues, Kulak flipped the puck over the glass for the delay of game call with another job well done for the Pittsburgh PK.

The worm turns, Kastelic is given goalie interference penalty. Kastelic is none too pleased with Skinner for falling back in animated manner but given the situation it was bound to happen for the Penguins to finally get a shot with their power play for the first time on the night. It barely gets setup, though Brazeau does ring a deflected shot off the post shortly after the power play expires.

Both teams trade chances in the late stages, Sidney Crosby puts a couple of nice backhand shots that Korpisalo is right there to match.

Still 1-0 Boston with Pittsburgh either getting in their own way or failing to get a lot going through 40 minutes.

Third period​

Brazeau is back to the penalty box early on, lucky for him the Bruins take a penalty 30 seconds into their power play to negate it.

The rest of the period trickles away without much going on. Pittsburgh pulls Skinner with about two minutes to go, they use the time with 1:24 remaining to regroup and give a breather. Doesn’t help and time ticks to 0:00 without the Pens finding a goal today.

Some thoughts​

• Malkin hasn’t taken any faceoffs in the three games he’s been back from his shoulder injury, noticed in this one that Hayes got kicked out of the circle by the linesman and Malkin didn’t react even a little to move a muscle and let Chinakhov take it instead. Might speak to the status of that shoulder right now for him to be completely out for taking draws.
• It was a bad-good-bad situation with the Pittsburgh penalty kill today. The bad was taking five penalties in the first half of the game (to a curious 0 for the opponent). The good was the PK was very effective to only allow a handful of shots, very few of which were dangerous. The ultimate effect was bad to have 32% of the first 31 minutes of the game being spent as Boston power play time, making it impossible for the Pittsburgh skill players to get in a rhythm and get a lot going for themselves.
• There’s a stat floating around social media with the Pens record with Hayes out of the record (something like 15-4-2) and with him in the lineup (now 6-10-7). Similar, but opposite to the record with Lizotte being very good, there’s some correlation issues there, but maybe not as many. Everyone likes Hayes who is a good guy and all, not sure why he needs to be on the ice with Malkin’s line. Many a person got hung up as Hayes as “second line center” this game, which was technically his placement but with only 10:19 of icetime Hayes was the player with the least amount of action today. The line is attached to doesn’t matter so much as the fact that if he’s in the lineup at all it’s creating a disadvantage for the Penguins.
• It’s always startling how in the NHL there’s little difference between being in a groove turning into getting stuck in a rut. Last weekend at this time the Pens were coming off a win vs Detroit scoring four goals on Saturday and then a thrilling OT win against Columbus that produced five goals. Fast forward to this time, they score one against Calgary (hardly a defensive giant, and on their backup goal) and then have another backup goalie throw out a great performance today. Sometimes it do be like that with the highs and lows of a long season cresting and falling like waves in the ocean.
• The bummer is that Boston didn’t have that much going on, just four shots in the second period and four more in the third. It wasn’t like they were sitting on a 1-0 game, the Bruins were about in the same boat as Pittsburgh besides getting what turned out to be a fortunate break to score early on.

The Pens will head back home and try to shake off the doldrums they find themselves going through right now. They’ll likely need to do so soon since the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning are up next.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-recaps/71521/penguins-bruins-recap-pens-shutout-in-boston

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Penguins @ Bruins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71267/gamethread-penguins-bruins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins re-sign Blake Lizotte for three years

The Penguins made a signing on Monday, extending the contract of center Blake Lizotte for three seasons.

THREE MORE YEARS OF LIZZO!

The Penguins have re-signed forward Blake Lizotte to a three-year contract extension.

Details: https://t.co/Z2UNB3d1LN pic.twitter.com/fz3L4OvnCJ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 12, 2026

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Blake Lizotte to a three-year contract extension, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

Lizotte is signed through the 2028-29 season and his contract carries an average annual value of $2.25 million.

Lizotte, 28, is in his seventh NHL season, and second with Pittsburgh, and has tallied five goals, five assists and 10 points in 35 games this year. Lizotte leads all Penguins forwards with 2:32 minutes of shorthanded time on ice per game this season, helping the team to the seventh-best penalty kill in the league, including an 85.6% success rate with him in the lineup. This season, the Penguins have earned points in 26 of the 35 games that Lizotte has dressed in, going 20-9-6.

Since the beginning of his tenure with Pittsburgh, the 5-foot-9, 176-pound Lizotte ranks fifth on the team in goals (16) and eighth in points (30). Last season, he tied his career-high goal total with 11 tallies in 59 games played, originally set in 2022-23 with Los Angeles in 81 games.

Through 414 career NHL games with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, Lizotte has recorded 53 goals, 83 assists and 136 points. The forward has also skated in 15 career playoff games with the Kings, tallying two points (1G-1A).

Prior to turning professional, the Lindstrom, Minnesota native played two seasons at St. Cloud State University from 2017-19 and recorded 69 points (22G-47A) in 76 career collegiate games.

Lizotte has been a key member of the fourth line, a role he has been in since the start of the 2024-25 season when signed as a free agent. The current contract provides a modest boost off his current $1.85 million cap hit, which will be easily absorbed in the coming years of expected NHL salary cap increases. The good news for Lizotte is securing a three year commitment for his services after pulling in a two-year deal in free agency in 2024.

Lizotte leads Pittsburgh forwards by averaging 2:40 shorthanded per game as a key cog in the penalty kill. He’s won 51.4% of his faceoffs and his offensive contributions and high-energy play are always welcome sights for the Pens, so they elected to lock him up for the future where he should be a staple on that fourth line that can handle a heavy dose of defensive zone starts and still be able to tip the ice back in Pittsburgh’s favor.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71566/penguins-re-sign-blake-lizotte-for-three-years

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

The week ahead: Penguins need to bounce back after missed opportunity weekend

The Pittsburgh Penguins opened the past week with an impressive 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, extending their winning streak to six consecutive games and continuing to play their way back into playoff contention. It also set the stage for a potentially big weekend against two pretty mediocre teams — the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins.

Expecting wins in both games in a weekend back-to-back, with travel, and while already on a six-game winning streak is probably expecting a lot. It would have been impressive to win both. But they probably needed to win at least one of them, and both of them were there for the taking.

They allowed just three goals in the two games.

They entered the third period of Saturday’s game against the Flames tied.

They ended up getting zero points, losing both games in regulation, and scoring just a single goal in the process. It felt like a big missed opportunity to stack a couple of more points in the standings and keep building toward a playoff spot.

The absence of Bryan Rust certainly took the wind out of some sails, while inserting Kevin Hayes back into the lineup (and oddly enough, in a second-line spot on Sunday) threw off some of the line combinations that had really been starting to work. It is not that either game was a total no-show or embarrassing loss, and they mostly pushed the pace of play in both games. They just simply could not generate much offense or finish their chances.

Their overall play and process are both still trending in the right direction, and even with the back-to-back defeats this weekend they still enter the week in a playoff position if you look at points percentage instead of raw points (as you should).

Having said that, they can not let a two-game losing streak turn into another extended losing streak. They need to bounce back with some wins this week, and that is going to be a challenge with the schedule they are facing. At least early in the week.

The week begins on Tuesday night against a Tampa Bay Lightning team that has not only climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference, but enters the week on a nine-game winning streak and is just absolutely crushing teams. Entering play on Monday they have scored 46 goals during that nine-game winning streak, never scoring less than four goals in any one game. That includes five games with at least five goals, three games with six goals and two games with seven goals.

That is the bad news. The good news is the Penguins have consistently faired pretty well against the Lightning in recent years, while the Penguins will also have a big scheduling advantage in that game. Tampa Bay will be coming into Pittsburgh on Tuesday in the early stages of an extended road trip, while also playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Penguins will be home and rested.

That game sets the stage for a massive meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Given how close the two teams are in the standings, and how jumbled the Eastern Conference playoff race currently is, that is a classic four-point game in the standings. The Penguins have split the season series so far, with their loss against them coming in a shootout. The second-meeting in Philadelphia was one of the Penguins’ best and most complete wins of the season. That is another game where the Penguins are getting a massive scheduling advantage. Like the Lightning, the Flyers will be playing the second half of a back-to-back, with travel, while the Penguins are home and rested the day before.

The week and home stand conclude for the Penguins on Saturday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Penguins have played three games against the Blue Jackets this season, with all of them going to overtime. The Penguins have won two of them. This will be their final meeting with the Blue Jackets this season, and of their games on the schedule this week it is the most winnable on paper in terms of talent for talent.

Given the scheduling advantages the Penguins have in their first two games, and given the home-ice and talent advantage they should have over Columbus, this feels like a week where at least four points in the standings is a must-have. Or at least a like-to-have. That would really go a long way toward keeping them in the playoff race and solidifying a spot.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...-bounce-back-after-missed-opportunity-weekend

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Lightning @ Penguins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71270/gamethread-lightning-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Predicting the Penguins in 2026-27

The Penguins took a step in setting their future lineup for next season and beyond by giving Blake Lizotte a three-year contract extension earlier this week. Kyle Dubas has been extremely active on the margins of the roster by making a constant stream of transactions that send players coming in and out of the team, as well as up and down to Wilkes-Barre of the AHL. All the while external rumors about veteran players being traded are always out there in the ether, though the names of Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson on the national trade front have settled down mightily compared to where that was six or 12 months ago when those players were constantly being mentioned and referenced as potential trade targets.

These factors make projecting next year’s lineup a difficult exercise and one surely with a range of error. We’ll give it a shot anyways.

On the roster

Forwards (7): Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Tommy Novak, Blake Lizotte, Justin Brazeau, Ben Kindel
Defense (3): Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Parker Wotherspoon

This looks like the core of the team, as far as the players who are already under contract next season and also are established in their roles. Given the nature of Dubas’s frequent flipping it wouldn’t be a major surprise if a phone call with another GM sends just about anyone besides Crosby away.

Free agent decisions or fringe players

Forwards (7): Evgeni Malkin, Egor Chinakhov, Anthony Mantha, Connor Dewar, Noel Acciari
Defense (5): Brett Kulak, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany, Ryan Graves, Caleb Jones
Goalies (2): Stuart Skinner, Arturs Silovs

This category is for players that the team will still need to make decisions on. Of them all, restricted free agent Chinakhov could be considered the most likely to come back since his future is more of a formality than anything at this point. Dubas will famously be checking in with Malkin’s camp at the Olympic break to see what the future could hold there, it was widely believed the Pens would move on coming into this season but after a strong first half that calculation may have shifted. Beyond that, there are various cases for and against any of these players ending up on the Pittsburgh NHL roster next season. Some (like Graves and St. Ivany) have an edge by having a contract for next season, though I wouldn’t consider either absolute locks at this point. Others like Kulak and Mantha may be players the team wishes to retain, however they must weigh that against the force of expiring contracts and the chance for those two looking towards a depleted free agency market for what could be sizeable contracts ahead out there from some NHL team. Acciari and Dewar have done well individually and collectively on the fourth line with Lizotte and will merit consideration of retention for decisions that could go either way.

Expiring contracts

Forwards (1): Kevin Hayes
Defense (2): Matt Dumba, Connor Clifton

These are the players likely to be wished well in their future endeavors without much extra thought when their contracts end after this season. Some might have Acciari or even Skinner in this category, but I don’t think the Penguins will. Which isn’t to say either are going to be back, more a matter of perception and placement. Clifton could still play his way up a category with an exceptional second half, though to me he looks like a player who gets traded or sent out to free agency more than retained for next season.

Young players knocking on the door

Forwards (5): Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty, Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, Fillip Hallander
Defense (2): Harrison Brunicke, Owen Pickering
Goalies (2): Sergei Murashov, Joel Blomqvist

Surely the team will be hoping that young players like Koivunen and McGroarty are ready to be full-time NHL players by 2026-27 but a lot remains to be seen from how they finish this season to figure out just where they’re going to fit moving forward. From there, the next young wave of talent could be provided.

With all that in mind, here’s a current day outlook of a potential roster for the Penguins at the start of the 2026-27 season.

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Evgeni Malkin – Justin Brazeau
Ville Koivunen – Ben Kindel – Tommy Novak
Rutger McGroarty – Blake Lizotte – Avery Hayes

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
(external add) / Kris Letang
(external add) / (external add)

Stuart Skinner and Sergei Murashov

—

Given Dubas’s history and tendencies, we’d bet at least one of Rakell/Rust/Brazeau/Novak are swapped out to create a change at forward that can’t accurately be forecasted at the current moment. It’s tough to think that all 12 of the opening night forwards are already within the organization, some level of change will be coming but from this point in time it’s throwing darts blindfolded to try and guess where that might be coming from. So we’re beholden at the moment to hold current contracts in their spots for now, even while knowing that some level of change will knock that off track.

Our biggest swings are in the free agent category, where Skinner and the Pens look like a decent match for one another in a short-term deal to give Pittsburgh a veteran in net while bringing along Murashov as the feature goalie of the future. The Pens also look to keep Malkin for one more year, because why not at this point? It’s also a projection that Koivunen and McGroarty will both anchor down NHL jobs given their respective rocky first halves of this season, though that’s one we’re willing to make given organizational interest and skill levels involved.

Defense is where a lot of change should happen, the Pens have proven that they’re not going to keep Graves on the NHL roster simply because of his contract, his days in the regular lineup look over until injury forces him back in. Otherwise, Dubas will need to find the next wave of Wotherspoon/Brazeau signings to round out the lineup. It would also be a nice added point if Pickering and/or Brunicke are ready to fill in on the third pair and change one of those external slots over to something already on hand, though projecting the progress of young defenders has proven to be a challenge to this point given the various ups and downs that go along with it.

Of course, someone like Kindel last year at this time was 99.99% unknown to all hockey and Penguin fans, now he’s a mainstay. Surprises lurk around every corner, with new information and decisions like the one to extend Lizotte coming in all the time to shake up the outlook of what next year’s team will look like. Some of the blocks are in place but only time can tell what kind of wheeling and dealing that Dubas will perform as he continues to shape what the Penguins will look like in 2026-27 and beyond.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/71689/predicting-the-penguins-in-2026-27

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Wilkes Weekly: Murashov bounces back

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins played the same opponent at the same place, to even the same score in both games last week. WBS and Charlotte were on each side of a 5-1 game.

Nick Hart at WBSPenguins.com fills us in on the details.

Friday, Jan. 9 – PENGUINS 5 at Charlotte 1
Four points by Tristan Broz helped spearhead the Penguins’ offense and snap the team’s three-game losing streak. Broz’s linemates, Atley Calvert and Valtteri Puustinen, also had one goal and one assist each. Sergei Murashov made 21 saves.

Saturday, Jan. 10 – PENGUINS 1 at Charlotte 5
The Checkers flipped the script for the first home win in the season series, beating the Penguins by an identical score to Friday. Ryan Graves buried Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lone goal on the power play with assists to Ville Koivunen and Valtteri Puustinen.

It’s good that Sergei Murashov responded with a win on Friday, it was almost time to have a conversation about the young goalie who had his two worst performances of the season in the prior two outings to this week — Murashov allowed a season-high five goals in each game against Charlotte on 12/30 and Syracuse on 1/3 while getting pulled in each game. Prior to that Murashov had only given up a maximum of three goals in a game, and 12 out of his 14 games he allowed two or less goals. The recent bump in the road looks behind him and more like an aberration but serves as a reminder for his young age and experience level that he still has some experience to gain in the minor league while he grows.

The ironic part might now be some concern about the form of the other goalies on the team, Joel Blomqvist. Blomqvist, who returned from injury and had his season start in mid-November, was lights out immediately — only giving up 10 total goals in his first six appearances this season. His play has slipped a bit as time has gone up (giving up one, two, two, three and four goals over his last five appearances).

Overall the two goalies still carry similarly impressive stats on the season (a 2.10 GAA for Murashov, 2.14 for Blomqvist, a .925 save percentage for Blomqvist and .922% for Murashov), it’s just standing out recently that the performances lately have started to become more scattered between good and bad outings, and it’s become newsworthy when either has a bad outing at all since those have been so few.

The rest of the team, as always, continues to fluctuate. Rafael Harvey-Pinard earned his first call-up of the season to Pittsburgh, then was replaced in the NHL by Tristan Broz just as Broz recorded a four-point game last week, resulting in some yo-yo’ing for the AHL roster go gain and lose their best forward of the moment.

Caleb Jones will shake off the rust on a conditioning stint. Ville Koivunen is back in the AHL, scoring one point (an assist) so far in two games back with WBS. Ryan Graves has again been called back up to Pittsburgh. Matt Dumba continues to hang around.

That’s led to offense by committee this season, no one on Wilkes has more goals than 11 (Broz), who isn’t even with the team now. Nine players have at least six goals on the season, which has come with some surprisingly and perhaps unexpected stints in Northeastern Pennsylvania this season like the departed Danton Heinen.

One thing that Wilkes can depend on despite the changes has been Valtteri Puustinen. In some regards it seems like he just launched his career but Puustinen has been a staple for WBS since 2021-22, other the times he’s been called up to Pittsburgh. Now Puustinen is closing in on some scoring records in franchise history.

Valtteri Puustinen: All-time WBS great, and he isn’t done yet…

As of today, Jan. 2, 2026, Puusty ranks
• 5th in points
• T-4th in assists
• 8th in goals
across all skaters that have played for the #WBSPens. pic.twitter.com/uJe70pXTPi

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 2, 2026

Puustinen has scored three more points since the graphic to get up to 170. Second place is Tomas Surovy and Toby Petersen (a pair of great ‘remember some guys’) at 177, which looks to be achievable barring some kind of future transaction. No one’s ever likely to touch Mr. WBS Tom Kostopolous’s career totals for the AHL Pens in a very long time, kinda odd to think of Puustinen as potentially the second most productive WBS Penguin.

—

Those tangents aside, WBS has remained comfortably in second place in the division.

This week the Penguins play at Providence tonight, which is always a massive game. Then WBS goes home for the weekend when they’ll host last place Hartford in two games and look to fatten up on some points as a result.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/wbs-weekly/71649/wilkes-weekly-murashov-bounces-back

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Lightning Recap: Malkin’s late goal earns a point, Pens fall in shootout

Pregame​

Mixed news in changes for the Penguins; the bad is Erik Karlsson being out of the lineup with injury to send the blueline into a myriad of changes. The good is Bryan Rust returning from an injury of his own to restore balance and order to the forward groups. Arturs Silovs gets his turn in net.

Tonight's lineup vs. the Lightning.#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/4ModvH3eoc

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 13, 2026

The Lightning have a tough injury update of their own with star forward Brayden Point getting hurt in last night’s game against Philadelphia. They didn’t use starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy last night, he’s good to go for this one.

A look at the lines #GoBolts | #TBLvsPIT pic.twitter.com/erDS5AezqV

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 13, 2026

First period​

It wasn’t a period to remember for Nikita Kucherov, who entered the night on a nine-game multi-point streak. As in, more than one point in all of his last nine games. In the first he has to settle for multiple tripping penalties, though the new-look Pittsburgh power play without Karlsson looks a lot like they are as far as an out of sync group.

Brandon Hagel hits the post in the interim, that’s about it by way of scoring chances in the early going.

Shots are 9-8 TB through the first period.

Second period​

Pittsburgh gets a third straight power play via Erik Cernak tripping a player before tripping up himself and sliding into the boards. This one looks a lot more cohesive with puck movement and generating shots but it still doesn’t score.

The penalty calls swing the other way, Clifton gets whistled for interfering on Jake Guentzel. The Tampa power play snaps the puck all around the ice with a frightening amount of ease. Darren Raddysh rings one of his 90+ mph bombs off the cross-bar, it stays out.

Sidney Crosby is the next to go to the penalty box after elbowing a guy in the head. It’s a much more aggressive and effective PK for the Pens in their second attempt at it.

Well, it’s been good goaltending on both sides so far. No goals through 40 minutes.

Third period​

It almost looked like first couple of periods were a warmup for Tampa, who took things to the next level to start the third period buzzing around and really turning up the temperature.

Big moment came a few minutes in, Clifton made a great play to break up a Kucherov pass. Later in the shift, Clifton boards Hagel. Anthony Cirelli takes offense to that and gets in a kerfuffle with Clifton. The refs don’t know what to make of it, at first they only charge Clifton with a 5-minute major for boarding and pin an instigator and fighting major to Cirelli. It takes another review and then the refs work it out all over again and get Clifton for fighting as well. It shakes out to be a 4-on-4 situation for two minutes, then a Tampa power play.

The refs still don’t really get it right since they don’t put a Penguin in the box to serve the penalty and come back on the ice, but luckily there’s a whistle before it gets that far to finally get things straightened out.

Tampa scores with 5:47 to go. Silovs makes a stop on Yanni Gourde and thinks he has the puck, but he doesn’t have the puck. JJ Moser notices and pokes it in. The rest of the Penguins had let up, but none of them would have made it in time to defend Moser anyways. Weird one, 1-0 Tampa.

J.J. Moser with quite the goal.
This has been such a good game, crazy way for someone to get on the board.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are hoping to tie their longest winning streak in franchise history at 11 with a victory tonight. #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/Lv8QyCrTpI

— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) January 14, 2026

Pittsburgh pulls Silovs with 3:17 left to go – and wouldn’t you know who won the pony? Kris Letang pinches up the wall and pulls the puck away from Guentzel and gets it to the middle for Evgeni Malkin. Malkin snaps a shot over the pad, under the blocker, perfect shot to beat a great goalie. 1-1 game with 2:16 to play.

WELCOME TO MALKAMANIA pic.twitter.com/JCq00hEYgt

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 14, 2026

Silovs stands tall with a late save on Guentzel. That plus Malkin’s goal forces overtime and puts one point on the board for the standings.

Overtime​

Kindel-Malkin-Letang are the opening trio for the Pens. They mostly hold the puck but don’t do much with it. Crosby hits Bryan Rust with a stretch pass but Vasilevskiy is there to stop it.

Kucherov gets in behind the defense and tries to lift a shot over Silovs, stopped again. The Pens get the better of the chances in the closing sequence, Vasilevskiy has Rust’s patented power move to the forehand scouted well and takes away the bottom.

Shootout​

Rakell starts things off, he tries to pick a spot and shoot but Vasilevskiy stops him.

Gage Goncalves about mimics what Rakell did but hits his mark and scores.

—

Crosby is next, he tries to deke and doesn’t even get a shot attempt away when the puck rolls off his stick.

Guentzel goes for Tampa, he comes in with speed and tries to go low, Silovs stops it.

—

Egor Chinakhov has to score to keep it alive, he does with a fast release and low shot.

Kucherov has the chance to win, he makes it look easy dekeing to the forehand and flipping the puck into the net.

Some thoughts​

• The Karlsson injury is a big, big chance for Connor Clifton. Clifton’s played two games in the last month entering tonight, he’s found a way to have more staying power on the roster than some others who have been jettisoned previously (Ryan Graves, Matt Dumba, Harrison Brunicke), that ability to cling to a roster doesn’t last forever. Clifton should be a regular for the next little bit, no small opportunity at this point of the season. The boarding hit was dicey and luckily partially nullified by Cirelli going at him.
• Decent start to that highlighted by that big-time shift in the third. Never want to see a full on boarding hit, yet it’s an example of the physical edge that Clifton will bring to the table. The Pens are nothing if not more rugged with him in the lineup, and they’re going to need to be scrappy and have that kind of blue collar mentality at this point of the season where they and their opponents are all deep into the grind.
• On Saturday a ton of Penguin streaks got broken. Tonight, it was Kucherov multi-point streak disappearing but Pittsburgh failed to stop the Lightning’s winning streak. Hard to imagine they’ve done it without Victor Hedman and a lot of it without Ryan McDonough (also tonight Cernak played a reduced role after suffering an injury falling into the boards, further depleting their blueline). Hockey teams can be pretty resilient like that to lose stars and keep chugging, thinking back even to the Penguins over the years for when Malkin and/or Crosby have been out of the lineup. Helps, of course, when you have as much to fall back on as TB does with their forward group and goalie.
• It was a goalie duel all night long, yet also one where the class difference between was on display between “five-time Vezina finalist” and “24-year old trying to figure out it”. The score remained equal for 54 minutes and then again at the final horn, the way it got there was a much different story.
• One goalie was making everything look easy, the other got bailed out by a couple of posts, left rebounds regularly and generally fought the puck a lot more. Not that it’s a knock on Silovs as to why the Pens lost (though I suppose his two goals allowed on three shots also counts), it’s just that it looked like Vasilevskiy had it in cruise control all night long. If you watched these two goalies for 53 minutes and were told “one of these goalies is going to lose a puck and cough up a goal”, based on the performance 10/10 objective observers could have predicted it wasn’t going to be Vasilevskiy making the miscue.
• Officially now on the NHL pages it’s displaying as Egor Chinakhov, no longer a “Yegor” in an apparent correction, not a sudden urge to spell it differently. Hey, writing these notes deep into a 0-0 game at this point, trying to come up with some tidbits for the people.
• As a part of their preseason media, BFF’s Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon had a chat about MacKinnon’s favorite player to watch, which Crosby of course knew was Kucherov. It’s a good pick by MacKinnon, they complimented Kucherov on being so smooth, a great word to choose in describing him. Everything Kuch does almost lulls you to a false since of security because it looks like he’s not in a hurry until — bam — he creates a lot of power in a shot or pass with a quick flick of the wrists almost out of nowhere. Smooth indeed, just unbelievable how he could come into today having produced 24 points in the last nine games. Tommy Novak’s having a pretty decent season and he’s got 20 points all year — that’s about the last two weeks for Kucherov!
• Despite the big loss of Karlsson missing his first game of the season, the Pens still have been pretty lucky on the injury bug this season. They’ve had a few key players miss some games, they also have seven others who have dressed for all 45 games so far this season.
• Guentzel has now played six career games against the Penguins, he hasn’t scored a goal yet against his old team (he does have four assists). It’s not for a lack of trying with 22 shots on goal in those six games. Given his goal scoring rates per game and with his shooting ability that’s an odd and growing anomaly.
• One player we didn’t see a lot of was Justin Brazeau tonight, who only played 9:28 total, including just three shifts and 2:47 of ice time in the third period and naturally nothing in the 3v3 OT. It didn’t look like Brazeau ever left the bench via injury but for whatever reason wasn’t taking a regular in this game. That’s notable if only because this season under Dan Muse just about all players on all lines have very much been rotating in with regularity. Might be interesting to see if he’s dinged up or it was simply a coaching decision in not liking the level of play he’s bringing to the table.
• Honestly, this game should make everyone feel just a little bit better about all the blown leads in December that the Pens suffered. It looked like they were not going to score a goal all night long, until the 6v5 situation paid off (just as so many 5v6’s where the other team pulls their goalie have bit Pittsburgh so frequently). To get a point out of this game given they only scored only goal almost 58 minutes in is some good fortune. Most nights that would result in a regulation loss with such a weak offensive output.
• Chinakhov is nice on the shootout, the Pens need that kind of young skill that are effective at that craft. As written before and sure to be repeated again, shootouts are always going to be an issue until the team acquires players more proficient in that skill. It’s impossible to knock selecting Crosby, even though he hasn’t been coming through very often lately, but that didn’t work out again. It’s a step in the right direction to have Chinakhov. The next optimization is put Chinakhov earlier in the shootout — Tampa had the opportunity to end the game before he even got to take his turn by virtue of being a third round choice. That would have been a disaster and is a lesson that should be learned sooner than later, the best shooters need to be placed as early as possible in the order.

All things considered, the Penguins competed well and every point is crucial so it was nice to not come up completely empty. They still see their losing streak move to three games however at least they can take some positives by scoring late and can hopefully use that to set their sights on a massively important game coming up on Thursday against the Flyers.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...late-goal-earns-a-point-pens-fall-in-shootout

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Flyers @ Penguins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71273/gamethread-flyers-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Roster improvements paying off for the Penguins

It’s been a little over a month since the trade with Edmonton sent Tristan Jarry for Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner and a second round pick. To add a little more commentary on what was touched on earlier on this website today, the trade has been aging better by the day for the Penguins. What started out as a nice escape to clear the troubling contract of Jarry (who went back to the IR soon after the trade) turned out to enhance the Pens quite nicely so far on the ice.

There’s the future second round pick, which has no short-term relevance besides beefing up the reserves. Kulak’s addition to Pittsburgh has finally provided them with a second top-four caliber left-side defenseman and served to make Kris Letang look the best he has looked in…quite a while. Much has been made of Letang’s decline — and to be fair, time waits for no one and the 38-year old has looked every bit of his age recently. Then again, last season Letang’s most common defense partner was Matt Grzelyck, this season it was Ryan Shea prior to Kulak joining the team. It’s about 14 months overdue, but finally Pittsburgh has a partner for Letang with an above-average defensive impact, so it’s probably no wonder that the results the Pens have seen on the ice out of Letang have drastically improved once the blueline was addressed.

That alone would probably make the Edmonton trade enough of a success, but the headline-grabbing focus is naturally going to be on the goalie-for-goalie swap. It’s not every day in the NHL these days that you see two teams exchange starting goalies for one another. Skinner can a polarizing figure, although so far the Pens have to be thrilled. Skinner has five quality starts out of eight per hockey-reference, so far easily out-pacing Jarry’s one quality start for Edmonton. Jarry does have that IR stint working against him there, but as Beau Bennett taught us the best ability is availability and that’s another point in favor of the deal working out favorably.

Skinner can tend to ride extreme highs and lows, right now he’s caught a groove with a 4-1-0 record since the Christmas break that features a .941 save% and only allowing seven goals in those five games. In that stretch, the Penguins have commanding wins over three division rivals (Philadelphia last night, New Jersey last week, Carolina back on 12/30). In all of those games Skinner was not only one of their best players on the ice, he was a driving factor in every victory.

Trades often live on in relitigation for months and years afterwards so it surely is early to plan a parade or anything, but what a short-term boost that deal has provided for the Penguins to this point. The Oilers, despite Jarry’s injury, are 9-5-2 since the deal in their own right, so they’re probably not too mad about how things have gone lately either — since in an indirect way the move served to open a path for Connor Ingram’s return to the NHL where he has looked fairly sharp.

—

Speaking of decisions paying instant dividends, Kyle Dubas has to feel assured about locking Blake Lizotte up for three more seasons earlier this week, not that he likely had many doubts about it in the first place. The length of the term isn’t back-breaking but it’s still a sizeable and notable one for a 28-year old with fourth line upside. It’s well-worth the commitment when a player is as capable as Lizotte to make an imprint on a game like he did last night against Philadelphia.

Lizotte scored a goal that ended up standing as the game winner and later threw a massive clean hit that triggered a response fight where he handled himself nicely (albeit, against a non-fighter in Matvei Michkov).

BLAKE LIZOTTE ABSOLUTELY LEVELED DENVER BARKEY

No love lost in the Battle of Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/6QmyIAbneq

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 16, 2026

The supporting cast players for the Pens has been a massive issue dating back to the start of this decade. In 2021, perhaps Pittsburgh’s last best season where they won their division, Pittsburgh saw a +18 mark in goals for vs goals against at 5v5 when neither Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin were on the ice. By 2022-23, the first time they missed the playoffs, the Ron Hextall built team had slumped to -24 in that same category.

This season, the Pens are back strongly in the playoff hunt over halfway through the season and thanks to players like Lizotte and his frequent fourth linemates of Noel Acciari and Connor Dewar who have been on the ice for more goals for than against. When a team’s fourth line is not getting outscored despite the harsh defensive starts, that’s a good sign that they are going to be doing at least alright. Overall in the 5v5 category the Pens still have some work to do to with the performance of their mid-lines (players like Ben Kindel, Justin Brazeau, Kevin Hayes, Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen have all been out-scored at 5v5) but so far they’ve definitely found something to work with and some major improvements from their depth, to which Lizotte will continue to be a key piece for the foreseeable future.

In previous early years of Dubas’s stint with Pittsburgh, a veteran on an expiring contract like Lizotte would have been traded away by the deadline. Whether this re-signing indicates a significant step into a phase of retaining key contributors or is a one-off remains to be seen, though it certainly is a strong piece of evidence that the Penguins are looking to hold what they can instead of defaulting into strictly selling off all parts when the time comes.

—

Furthering the theme of improving the current roster, the acquisition of Egor Chinakhov has shown promise as an upgrade as well. Chinakhov’s stat-line with Pittsburgh isn’t overwhelming (three goals and an assist in eight games), his impact has been notable with his speed, shot and even a contribution of a shootout goal. Chinakhov is still something of a reclamation project coming off his stint in Columbus (he only manufactured three goals in 29 games at the start of the season with the Blue Jackets) yet there’s been encouraging early returns with the change of scenery.

In some ways, Dubas and the Pens have to hope this could be a case of “you get what you pay for” when comparing Chinakhov to a similar last year acquisition of Philip Tomasino. Chinakhov cost a fair bit more (a second+third round pick, compared to just a fourth rounder for Tomasino) and that is due to having a little bit more to work with. Last night’s short-side goal on the rush demonstrates an example – Chinakhov has the tools to generate game-breaking ability. Whether or not he has the consistency will be a lingering open question for a while. Finishing ability like this is worth the price, now it’s just about seeing how often he can deliver.

MALKIN CHINAKHOV pic.twitter.com/v8dIP7naUg

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 16, 2026

Fit in the frame of the big picture, it might also be pointed out that the move from adding second round picks — which Pittsburgh did under Dubas in every year in a stretch for the 2024-29 drafts (besides jockeying for draft positioning in 2025) — into now sending out a second round pick to bring in an NHL caliber player is some evidence of a sea change in the current organizational strategy. Whether it was trading away Jake Guentzel, Conor Timmins, Anthony Beauvillier, Luke Schenn, Tristan Jarry and Reilly Smith or taking on the bad contracts of Kevin Hayes and Matt Dumba, the Penguins operated for a couple years in a way of strictly accumulating second round picks. Now, in one instance at least, the worm turned the other way and Dubas acted on previously stated intentions to turn a pick into a current contributor.

The takeaway at this point shouldn’t be a drastic shift into an expectation of full-on spending, though it does seem notable that the tide could be starting to change in this regard depending on the inputs of the team. In the end, Dubas might get the best of both worlds where his ample cap space allows him to scour the league for future 22-25 year old players with potential while retaining more draft capital than just about everyone else in the league to use to select more than his fair share for the future too.

Because, ultimately, responding to the team’s inputs has been Dubas’s role in the past few years. He threw some caution to add/retain players like Erik Karlsson, Ryan Graves and Tristan Jarry in year one, when that didn’t work out in the standings, management shifted gears accordingly to pare down on players like Guentzel and Marcus Pettersson who needed new and expensive contracts, without dealing away quality performers like Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell who didn’t. The Pens got younger and suffered a bit to take lumps in losing key contributors without immediate replacement. Now that the team is in the hunt, it makes the situation appropriate for the manager to make moves that dovetail as good for the present while being good for the future, a fitting category for all three of the team’s transactions of the last month.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/71732/roster-improvements-paying-off-for-the-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Early returns on Tristan Jarry trade have been promising

When the Pittsburgh Penguins traded Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers earlier this season, my immediate reaction was that it was probably a trade that needed to happen and had a good chance of working out for the Penguins. Perhaps in multiple ways.

It was a great time to move Jarry’s contract, it opened the position in the future for Sergei Murashov to eventually take the spot, they got a solid future asset in a second-round pick (even if down the road a few years) and were also getting some short-term NHL help.

Brett Kulak seemed like nothing special, but he is a legitimate NHL defenseman that has had some success in the league. The Penguins do not have a lot of depth at the position, and every viable NHL player you can get there can help.

Stuart Skinner has had the same inconsistencies and highs and lows of Jarry, but carries them on a significantly cheaper salary cap rate for this season and with no commitment beyond this season.

At the time, I argued that it would be nearly impossible to project which goalie would end the season with a higher save percentage from that point on, and no answer to that question would surprise me.

After Thursday’s win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Skinner has now appeared in eight games with the Penguins and has seen his save percentage climb from .891 with the Oilers, up to .901 with the Penguins. He is also on a little bit of a roll that has seen him win four of his past five starts, allowing just seven goals in the process.

Jarry, meanwhile, has only appeared in four games with the Oilers (due to injury — which was always another concern with him) and in that limited sampling has seen his save percentage drop from .909 with the Penguins down to .878 with the Oilers.

I am making no proclamations on either number. They are both insanely small sample sizes and my original point on both of them remains the same — they are largely the same goalie with the same inconsistencies and both of their performances are going to fluctuate and vary wildly throughout the season. You can split hairs on them, but the contract situation and long-term outlook beyond this season is the most important one.

But I also think Kulak has been a useful addition.

He is by no means a difference-maker, but he has at the very least given the Penguins a competent NHL defenseman, something they have not really had enough of from the start of the season. He has not only seemed to be a good fit next to Kris Letang, the Penguins as a team have been playing better defensively over the past month. It has been a steady upward trend to begin with for them going back to the start of the season, but things have really improved over the past 15 games.

The primary focus behind the trade itself was almost certainly financial and cap-related. But getting a couple of useful players in the short-term is also a nice bonus. Especially when both of them should be movable by the trade deadline if things go south with the season and the playoff race between now and then. If things keep progressing in a positive direction and the Penguins have a couple of useful players that might be able to help in that push.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/71733/early-returns-on-tristan-jarry-trade-have-been-promising

 

[Zedster]

Really encouraging stuff across the board here. The Skinner acquisition is looking better by the week - that .941 save percentage stretch since Christmas is exactly what this team needed. Having a goalie who can steal you a game against divisional opponents like Jersey, Carolina, and Philly is huge when you're fighting for playoff positioning.

The Kulak-Letang pairing has been quietly solid too. I know people have been down on Letang (understandably so given some of the defensive lapses), but context matters. When your partner options are Shea or Grzelcyk versus an actual top-four caliber guy like Kulak, that's going to show up in the results. Not saying Letang is back to his prime or anything, but the improvement has been noticeable.

Lizotte's extension makes a lot of sense. That fourth line with Acciari and Dewar being a net positive at 5v5 is something this team hasn't had in years. The depth scoring and physical presence they bring is exactly what you need in March and April hockey. That hit on Barkey was clean and absolutely massive - love seeing that kind of edge in a rivalry game.

Chinakhov is the interesting one to watch going forward. The skill is obviously there when you see goals like that short-side snipe against Philly. Columbus wasn't getting that out of him at all. Sometimes a change of scenery and different linemates really does unlock something. Playing with Malkin probably doesn't hurt either.

The bigger picture shift from accumulating picks to actually spending them on current contributors is notable. Feels like management is finally reading the room that this core still has something left in the tank if you surround them with the right pieces.

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Crosby still has that baton as Pittsburgh rolls past Flyers

Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…​

The Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed the Philadelphia Flyers to Pittsburgh on Thursday for a rather meaningful Metropolitan Division clash. Two minutes into the game, the Penguins claimed a 1-0 lead via a Justin Brazeau tally and never looked back. Sidney Crosby recorded another goal and assist, as Pittsburgh earned an easy 6-3 win. [Recap]

Heading into Thursday night’s game, rookie forward Ben Kindel hadn’t recorded a goal in 14 games. That’s a noticeably long drought for someone who has been one of Pittsburgh’s better players to this point in the season, but it’s important to remember that, for an 18-year-old rookie, a drought like this is quite common. [PensBurgh]

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Tristan Broz and goaltender Sergei Murashov were selected for the American Hockey League’s All-Star Classic event. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL…​

As of Thursday afternoon, the New York Rangers were sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference, with many wondering if they will shape up to be sellers by the March 6 trading deadline. If they continue to sit well out of contention, how will that affect Artemi Panarin’s future in the Big Apple with unrestricted free agency looming? [TSN]

I guess the media dubbed Thursday’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights the Mitch Marner Bowl, with this being Marner’s first game against his boyhood squad after leaving in a trade that signaled the end of the “Core Four” era. [Sportsnet]

The Boston Bruins retired Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 jersey on Thursday, honoring the 6-foot-9 Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman who led the franchise to a 2011 Stanley Cup victory. [Associated Press]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/7171...lyers-kindel-nhl-rangers-panarin-bruins-chara

 

[JJ]

LOL okay I gotta give credit where credit is due here even though it physically pains me to say anything nice about the Penguins.

That Skinner trade is actually looking pretty solid for you guys right now. I mean the dude was a MESS in Edmonton - watching him play there was like watching a rollercoaster that only goes down. But .941 since Christmas? Against divisional opponents? That's legit. Still think he's gonna have one of those classic Skinner meltdowns at some point because that's just who he is, but ride the hot hand while you got it I guess.

The Lizotte extension makes total sense. Fourth liners that actually contribute positive value are CRIMINALLY underrated in this league. Everyone wants to talk about the superstars but when your bottom six is getting caved in every night that's how you end up like... well... like the Rangers apparently LOL dead last in the East, you love to see it.

That hit on Barkey was absolutely DISGUSTING by the way. Clean as a whistle but the kid got absolutely TRUCKED. That's the kind of stuff you need in playoff hockey. Physical presence matters when games get tight in March and April.

Chinakhov's an interesting gamble. Columbus is basically where offensive talent goes to die so the change of scenery could unlock something. Playing with Malkin definitely helps - say what you want about the guy but he still knows how to find guys in space.

Still think the Sabres would beat you in a seven game series though. Just saying.

Any word on when Murashov might get a look at the NHL level? That AHL All-Star selection is encouraging.

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1/17/26

Who: Columbus Blue Jackets (21-19-7, 49 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (22-14-10, 54 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Locally televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh and FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: This is the last game the Penguins will be playing in Pittsburgh for almost two weeks. The Pens are about to take off on a West Coast road swing through Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver over the next eight days, starting with a 5 p.m. ET Monday game against the Kraken.

Opponent Track: The Jackets are heading into the weekend on a three-game win streak. Elvis Merzlikins had a succinct answer when asked Thursday what’s changed for the Jackets:

3 wins in a row what’s different for the Blue Jackets?

“New coach.” – Elvis Merzlikins pic.twitter.com/vKvUdIOkK1

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 16, 2026

Season Series: This marks the last time the Jackets and Pens will meet this season. All three prior games in this season series have gone to overtime, with the Penguins losing in a shootout in October but winning in overtime in November and earlier this month.

Hidden Stat: The Penguins are in a playoff spot in no small part thanks to their success against division opponents this season. Including their 2-0-1 record against the Blue Jackets, the Pens have gone 9-1-3 against teams in the Metropolitan Division so far this season. (Last season, Pittsburgh missed the playoffs after going 9-13-4 against division opponents).

Getting to know the Blue Jackets​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Cole Sillinger – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko

Boone Jenner – Sean Monahan – Kent Johnson

Dmitri Voronkov – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier

Danton Heinen – Brendan Gaunce – Mikael Pyyhtia

DEFENSEMEN

Zach Werenski / Dante Fabbro

Ivan Provorov / Damon Severson

Jake Christiansen / Erik Gudbranson

Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Jet Greaves

Potential scratches: Denton Mateychuk (day-to-day), Egor Zamula, Zach Aston-Reese

Injured Reserve: Brendan Smith, Isac Lundestrom, Miles Wood, Mason Marchment

• Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk is day-to-day after taking a hard hit from Brandon Tanev during the Jackets’ Sunday win over the Utah Mammoth. Columbus general manager Don Waddell said the team doesn’t expect the injury to be long-term.

Coaching change in Columbus: The Blue Jackets fired former coach Dean Evason last week after one and a half seasons and a 19-19-7 start to the 2025-26 campaign. Evason told The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline he was “blindsided” by his dismissal.

The switch allowed the Jackets to bring in Rick Bowness, 70, who had most recently coached the Winnipeg Jets for two seasons from 2022 to 2024. He hasn’t been with the team for very long— he got the job offer Monday afternoon and joined the team Tuesday morning, per ESPN— but he’s since led the Jackets to wins over the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

Bones got the boys ready to go

CBJ x @PNCBank pic.twitter.com/tJ0gjt6C8V

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 14, 2026

Season stats
via hockeydb

• Kent Johnson played a season-high 20:55 during his first game with Bowness. The Jackets could be hoping to see some more production from the second-line winger if he keeps getting more playing time going forward.
• Like the Penguins, the Blue Jackets have at times had a problems with holding on to late leads through the first half of the season. They blew third-period leads 15 times in their first 47 games, per Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. When asked about that habit after the Jackets held on to a comfortable lead in Thursday’s win over the Vancouver Canucks, Bowness said, per Portzline: “I don’t even worry about it. It was before I got here. I’m just not worried about it… That’s in the past. I know how I want us to play, so that’s the bottom line. And we’re building on that.”

And now for the Pens​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin

Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Parker Wotherspoon / Jack St. Ivany

Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Ryan Graves, Kevin Hayes

IR: Erik Karlsson, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones, Rutger McGroarty

• The Penguins had an off day Friday after Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Flyers.
• Sidney Crosby has 69 points (24 goals, 45 assists) in 48 career games against the Blue Jackets, which ranked behind only Patrick Kane for the most among any active NHL player. Kris Letang meanwhile leads all NHL defensemen with 14 goals against the Blue Jackets, his highest total against any single team, per Penguins PR.
• The Penguins are 14-1-4 in their last 19 games against the Blue Jackets, and they’re 16-0-2 in their last 18 games against the Jackets at home, per Penguins PR.
• The Pens’ special teams have been thriving lately. They’re heading into Saturday’s matchup having gone 16-for-16 on the PK over their last four games, and they’re currently ranked second in the NHL with a 29.4 percent power-play success rate.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/7...mbus-blue-jackets-pittsburgh-penguins-1-17-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Blue Jackets Recap: Crosby scores late but Columbus wins shootout

Pregame​

The Penguins use what they have been lately, Arturs Silovs gets his turn in the goalie rotation.

Lined up and ready for hockey pic.twitter.com/kaOXCpKag7

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 17, 2026

First period​

Columbus gets the first goal of the game, a shot from Zach Werenski hits Noel Acciari and drops right to Zach Aston-Reese. Aston-Reese is quicker than Silovs as his quick shot slides on in. 1-0 CBJ to open things up 2:42 into the proceedings.

Back in his old stompin' grounds!

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/xdHYYBFzt9

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 18, 2026

The Pens answer back in short order, matching the unlikely goal-scorer of Aston-Reese with a player scoring his first of the season for himself in Connor Clifton. Nice job by Clifton to stay activated deep in the offensive zone and finish off the goal to tie the game.

Cliffy nets his first as a pic.twitter.com/Uyz5ke23GE

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 18, 2026

A Columbus turnover in their own end happened at the wrong place at the wrong time, and to the wrong guy. Sidney Crosby is there to grab a misplayed puck, he quickly centers the puck for Rickard Rakell to direct on net just as fast. 2-1 lead for the Penguins.

BRB WATCHING THIS ON REPEAT pic.twitter.com/vel3tKI3JM

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 18, 2026

Good reaction from Pittsburgh, Columbus only had two shots after their goal in the last 17+ minutes of the period.

Second period​

The Blue Jackets make a strong response early, the Pens get a power play but do little with it and the Columbus momentum keeps building up. They strike when Kirill Marchenko fires up out of no where in the neutral zone to grab a puck on the rush and shoot it in. 2-2 game.

MARCHY BROUGHT THE MAGIC TO PITTSBURGH!

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/MKT9jHpEz5

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 18, 2026

Things don’t get much better for the Pens, most of their opportunities are few and far between. It looks like both teams might get to intermission tied but Danton Heinen redirects an Erik Gudbranson point shot late in the period and Columbus is back in front, 3-2.

DANTON BURIES ONE

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/H8F8Okmzqp

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 18, 2026

Bad period for the Pens, can’t say it was undeserved. Columbus outshot Pittsburgh 13-8 in the period, most of the Pens’ chances were one-offs and not much in the way of consistent pressure.

Third period​

Pittsburgh starts the period well by killing an overlap of a second period penalty, Clifton and Crosby flash to get chances that narrowly miss out on hitting the back of the net.

The aggressive play leads to some CBJ chances, Silovs does well to stop Adam Fantilli on a breakaway and fight off a 2-on-1 rush.

The Pens get a glorious opportunity with a late power play with 7:49 to go, still looks bad and doesn’t help.

It takes until about the 1:35 mark to get Silovs out of the net for the extra attacker, it doesn’t take long for the Pens to make it count with another 6v5 goal against Columbus late. Kris Letang shoots for a deflection, Crosby obliges with a typically outstanding redirect into the net past Elvis Merzlikins. 3-3 with 1:01 to go.

SIDNEY. CROSBY. pic.twitter.com/08THs500bC

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 18, 2026

Overtime​

Crosby-Malkin-Letang start it out for the Pens. Ben Kindel sneaks on the ice and gets a shot, Merlikins stops him.

Merzlikins keeps the game going with two point-blank stops on Evgeni Malkin. Silovs does his part with a stop on Charlie Coye from righti n front.

Crosby and Novak get really good looks at the net too before time expires but no one scores.

Shootout​

The Pens go first, it’s Rakell. Merzlikins stays with the dekes and pokechecks the puck away when Rakell gets too close.

Kent Johnson takes the first turn for Columbus, dekes to the backhand and scores.

—

Crosby is picked to shoot second, he goes with his move to shoot for the glove, but only hits the glove and can’t score.

Fantilli gets the chance to win the game, Silovs makes the stop on the low shot.

—

Egor Chinakhov has to score against his former to keep the game going, his shot to the blocker side hits the net.

Marchenko could win it for CBJ, he was 5/5 on the season but Silovs comes up huge with a stop.

—

Bryan Rust leads off Round 4 with the teams even. He bobbles the puck near the net and doesn’t get much of a shot off.

Coyle goes for the Blue Jackets with yet another chance to win, and this time they do after a strong forehand deke outmaneuvers Silovs.

Some thoughts​

• A cool little aspect of Malkin playing the wing these days is that sometimes his shift can bleed into when Crosby comes on the ice. That can’t happen when both are centers and change onto the ice for one another. Malkin extended a shift in the first period while the puck was in the offensive zone and got to generate a bonus chance out of it. Fun wrinkle about his move to the wing.
• Dan Muse and the Pens look loyal to their goalie rotation, which you can’t knock too much given how well things are going across the board and how condensed the schedule is in this Olympic year. That said, if the concept of rotating goalies is going to stay, the question might shift to how long the team will stay loyal to Silovs being a part of that rotation? That’s a bigger picture question for a different day but one that might be worth asking when Silovs has won eight out of 22 decisions with a GAA over 3 and save percentage under .890% when Joel Blomqvist (.925 save%) and Sergei Murashov (.923%) are performing well and a phone call away for an alternative that could be performing better.
• To that end, Moneypuck had Columbus with a 1.4 expected goal total at the point Silovs had surrendered a third goal.
• One area Muse has remained too stubbornly loyal to is the shootout order and picking veterans who aren’t performing (Crosby) to go ahead of players who are (Chinakov). Once again, Chinakhov very nearly never even got an opportunity to shoot, the game could have been decided before Round 3 since neither Crosby or Rakell were able to score. This is a very correctable area, maddening to see it continue tonight, and know it’s probably not going to change next time either. It’s tough enough to win shootouts (where the Pens are 1-7 this season) since the goalies aren’t very good at stopping shots, failing to put the shooters in the proper alignment is makes the odds of success even slimer.
• This was a sneaky tough position for Pittsburgh to be in, seeing Columbus days after a coaching change (and 2-0-0 coming into the night under Rick Bowness). The former coach seemed to be somewhat unpopular among the players, there’s always that period of revitalization, extra energy and a boost from a new voice coming in. That doesn’t make for an easy opponent, even if it’s not exactly a stacked lineup to deal with. The Pens probably don’t have room to complain too much in the sequence of the schedule since they’ve seen so many opponents in b-2-b situations lately (plus the good fortune of facing Philadelphia last way in full-on collapse mode) but that uncontrollable element worked against them tonight.
• Cool to see Clifton get a goal, he played with confidence the rest of the night after that. As mentioned before, the Karlsson departure from the lineup makes for a great opportunity for Clifton to play regularly for the first time in a while. He hasn’t been poor so much as just lacked for the chance. Now it’s here. Clifton was probably one of the more noticeable better players on the ice for the Pens. And yes, I do mean that as a sort of backhanded compliment towards most of the rest of the team that should not have that be the case.
• The Pens’ power play (0/3 on the night) might not be the singular reason they didn’t win, but it’s high on the list. Looking back, that early second period power play where they did nothing and Columbus only took off from there was a huge turning point in the game from the dreaded ‘what could have been’ type of thoughts. Then getting a chance to tie the game in the third period and get back in it disappeared without much coming of it. Big turnaround from Thursday night when the power play was incredibly effective (albeit, against a majorly struggling Philadelphia PK played a part in that discrepancy as well).
• I don’t have the statistical backup at the moment but boy it sure feels like the 6v5 goals at the end of regulation where a goalie is pulled is way up this season. If not for the whole league, then certainly for the games Pittsburgh has been involved in. Luckily for the Pens, Columbus has been as allergic as they have this season when it comes to preserving third period leads.
• Things you don’t see every day is eight total OT shots (and no goals). It usually doesn’t take that many looks at the net to end a game in a 3v3 format.
• This game is tough to reconcile the question on if Pittsburgh got a fair shake or not at the end of the day. In some respects, maybe not: the expected goal count was 5.25 – 2.6 in the Pens’ on Moneypuck. On the other hand, the Pens were bad on the power play and had large stretches of unimpressive play. They certainly deserved getting something out of this one, all things considered it would have been pretty nice if someone could have scored in OT. Certainly enough players (Kindel, Malkin, Crosby, Novak) took great shots and had the chance. They couldn’t do that so taking the old school equivalent of a tie (one point) is ultimately fitting.

The next game is about 44 hours from when this one ended, which isn’t too bad. The part about it being, what about 2,500 miles away in Seattle might be the more daunting aspect.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...crosby-scores-late-but-columbus-wins-shootout

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Blue Jackets @ Penguins

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71538/gamethread-blue-jackets-penguins