RSS Penguins Team Notes

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Seattle Kraken 1/19/26

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (22-14-11, 55 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division) @ Seattle Kraken (21-17-9, 51 points, 3rd place Pacific Division)

When: 5:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and KONG, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Today starts another three-in-four stretch; the Pens will be in Calgary on Wednesday night, followed by a quick turn to Edmonton on Thursday. Then the team gets two days off before playing in Vancouver on Sunday at which point they head home and get three more days off until another homestand begins late next week.

Opponent Track: Seattle is returning home today for the first time since an eastern swing. It wasn’t a successful one, the Kraken only had a 1-3-1 record with the lone win coming against the disheveled Rangers. On the other hand, the Kraken have been pretty decent at home lately, sporting a 3-0-2 record in their last five home contests.

Season Series: The Kraken took a 3-2 OT win over Sergei Murashov and the Pens back on November 22nd, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored the goals for Pittsburgh on that day.

Hidden Stat: Pittsburgh is looking to snap a four-game losing skid against the Kraken (0-3-1), per Pens PR. Overall, the Pens have won just two out of nine all-time matchups against Seattle (2-5-2).

Getting to know the Kraken​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle

Berkly Catton – Shane Wright – Kaapo Kakko

Eeli Tolvanen – Chandler Stephenson – Frederick Gaudreau

Jaden Schwartz – Ben Meyers – Ryan Winterton

DEFENSEMEN

Vincent Dunn / Adam Larsson

Ryan Lindgren / Brandon Montour

Ryker Evans / Jamie Oleksiak

Goalies: Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord

Potential scratches: Tye Kartye, Max McCormick, Cale Fleury, Josh Mahura

Injured Reserve: Matt Murray

• In some ways this looks like a platonically ideal, perfectly average lineup. No standouts, no anchors. Nothing that strikes fear in an opponent, but still one decent enough to put up a solid effort on any given night to not be chalked up ahead of time as a sure win.
• The second line features some young players with potential. Catton just turned 20-years old last week and is embarking on his rookie season. Wright only turned 22 earlier this month and the once-presumptive number one overall pick in his draft class looks like he’s still trying to figure things out. Kakko, a former second overall pick by the Rangers in 2019, might never live up to that lofty draft billing but has become a decent enough player.
• The above is only tepid praise, there isn’t room for much more just yet. Even a player like Berniers, a former second overall pick himself, is in his fourth full season and hasn’t topped his rookie total of 57 points (he’s on pace for 54 points this season). Seattle took a patient approach with their expansion strategy, so far the former top-10 picks haven’t really gone supersonic in their developments, to steal a Seattle-centric term. The franchise is young and some of those players are still young but to this point that seems to be a theme of waiting to see some tangible progress or get impressed by something or someone.
• Matt Murray is nearing a return from a lower body injury suffered in late-November. A hip surgery and rehab from that took him out of the NHL picture for a while, it seemed like this fall he was just getting back into a good place fighting for a backup spot with the Kraken and performing well in early looks before going down again.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• Not much impressive going on here, though long injury absences to McCann and Schwarz don’t help the season total numbers. Not a lot of game-breaking forwards to be found, Seattle ranks just 25th in offense by averaging 2.74 goals/game. No one under them is in a playoff position, tough to be good without having a potent offense in this league and Seattle’s major problem is they don’t have a lot of players that are going to consistently generate points.
• Eberle’s name alone is enough to cause a chill up the back of a Pens’ fan. Would you believe he only has 14 goals and 19 points in 35 career games against Pittsburgh? Certainly seems like more, and maybe that’s because there is more. Playoff trauma (6G+3A in 10 games, including one goal in each of the four games in the 2019 series) is definitely a helping hand in his reputation.

Key to the game: Can the Pittsburgh defense have another good night?

There are a lot of the small aspects that are tantalizing for the Penguins in this matchup. You could go with Pittsburgh’s third ranked power play against Seattle’s 32nd ranked penalty kill. Focus could go to Seattle ranking 32nd in 5v5 Corsi allowed while the Pens have been hovering in the lower top-10 for 5v5 expected goals and Corsi for as another potential turning point.

However, we’re going to lean into the other direction, where the Kraken have been poor in their 5v5 process offensively (in addition to defensively, the advanced stat models are not very fond of Seattle’s work to say the least). The Kraken have generated very little in terms of Corsi and Fenwick for shot attempts, they’re last in total expected goal production and unimpressive in actual goals.

Match that up against a Pittsburgh team that has only allowed 23 total goals over their last 11 games (a 2.09 GAA that ranks tops in the NHL in this stretch) and that stands out as a weakness versus strength matchup that the visitors will need to keep going for best odds of success. The Penguins’ franchise has never really been thought of as a defensive juggernaut – and perhaps they’re even performing over their own abilities right now – but how long they can play a simple kind of road game and keep shots and goals down in the next week will be a topic to monitor. They’ve been great in this area since Christmas, the results have followed to the tune of a 7-2-2 record.

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, Joona Koppanen

IR: Erik Karlsson, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones

• Karlsson participated in a non-contact jersey during yesterday’s practice and is travelling with the team on this four-game road trip. The exact phrasing of his injury announcement (“Karlsson is out with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.” Pens PR, January 13th) implied an ominous tone. He may well require that time or longer before he can return to the lineup but seeing him at least on skates so soon after the injury and going on this trip has to be an encouraging sign at this point.
• From the ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ files: the Pittsburgh PK has killed off the last 18 shorthanded opportunities they’ve faced, dating back five games now.
• Evgeni Malkin has six points in six games since his return from injury (2G+4A).
• Should the goalie rotation hold, with no reason to think that it wouldn’t, the net would be Skinner’s tonight.

The road dogg

Sidney Crosby is looking to move up the rankings on this road trip by passing Mario Lemieux in yet another category this season.

Today will be Crosby’s 1,400th NHL game and fittingly enough for the perfectly balanced player, he will make it an even 700 of those games played on the road. It remains personally astounding that Crosby “only” has 782 road points in the 699 games to this point (1.12 per game) compared to the 958 points he’s scored in 700 home games (1.37). Favorable matchups, more predictable environments, ability for familiar routines and not traveling are very real factors that naturally make home games easier, it’s just the discrepancy involved will never not be eye-catching.

[And, in the games played category, if curiosity tingled: Alex Ovechkin has 770 career road games (1.11 points/game). Lemieux only had 443 road games (1.77).]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...ew-pittsburgh-penguins-seattle-kraken-1-19-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Kraken Recap: Pens pull away to start road trip with a win

Pregame​

Pittsburgh gets Ryan Graves into the lineup and gives Jack St. Ivany a night off. Stuart Skinner gets the start in goal.

Hockey ! pic.twitter.com/3hDsUUwtul

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

First period​

It’s not the smoothest start for the Penguins, though you wouldn’t know if from the scoreboard. Skinner has to stop Eeli Tolvanen on a clean breakaway early. Pittsburgh gets the game’s first power play but don’t do much with it. Soon after it expires they score anyways. Blake Lizotte sends a pass back to Parker Wotherspoon and it glides on into the net in no small part to the large frame of Anthony Mantha taking goalie Joey Daccord’s vision away. 1-0 Pens out of nowhere. Who needs a power play when you have Lizotte and Wotherspoon?

SPOONS SERVING TOP SHELF pic.twitter.com/pawUaZ9pRL

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

The Kraken are awarded a power play, yet it’s the Pens who score. Connor Dewar knocks the puck away from an opponent and has a step right by them for a breakaway. Dewar makes it count by blowing a shot by the glove of Daccord. 2-0.

Connor Dewar, picking pockets on the PK pic.twitter.com/1Y5UnolDWR

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

Seattle is the next on the board, Skinner and Brett Kulak can’t smoothly handover a transition play, the next thing they new Ben Meyers had the puck going to the net and lifted a beauty of a shot to the top corner.

these kids are all right, aren't they?! pic.twitter.com/zFAfsY2Swa

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 19, 2026

That’s the end of the first. The Pens are up, though they didn’t have a great start. Pittsburgh only managed three shots at 5v5, seven total in the period. They made the most of some chances as they popped up but there was a lot of downtime in between. The Kraken didn’t do much better posting five 5v5 shots of their own and six total in the first 20 minutes.

Second period​

Lizotte gets sent off for a minor penalty, the Pens kill it off.

The period becomes heavy on the wall battles, Seattle wins one of those battles when Justin Brazeau can’t clear the defensive zone on his backhand along the boards. A couple of passes later it’s a tie game when Ryan Winterton makes a short pass for Ryan Lindgren to chip in. 2-2 game.

you know what they say, kids… always clean up after your rebounds! pic.twitter.com/gzE1EEubMB

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 19, 2026

Pittsburgh finds an answer, Sidney Crosby wins an offensive zone faceoff back to Brett Kulak. Kulak pulls the puck towards the middle of the ice as he drifts backwards and tosses a long-range shot on goal. There’s enough traffic again to foil Daccord. 3-2, Pens back in front with five minutes to go.

KULAK'S FIRST AS A ! pic.twitter.com/adEQ4djLcT

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

Ben Kindel gets needlessly driven into the ice late in the period by Lindgren, Pittsburgh gets their second power play of the game, but again are held off the board by Seattle’s 32nd ranked penalty kill.

Both teams scored in the second period, the Pens were able to handle the shot count by a tidy 15-8 margin in the middle frame. That’s more of what was expected coming into this game for Pittsburgh to take advantage in that department.

Third period​

The Pens start out strong, Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov nearly team up for a goal but are denied on a nice save by Daccord. Daccord’s got nothin’ for Brazeau top-shelf shot off a drop pass from Anthony Mantha that hinders the goalie’s vision yet again. 4-2 Pittsburgh, still 17:39 to go.

Justin Brazeau makes it 4-2. Joey's had a hard time with shots through screens today. This time, it goes through Oleksiak's legs. pic.twitter.com/jm19hxbnBK

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 20, 2026

The pressure continues, Kulak hammers a shot on net with a ton of traffic in front, Daccord fights it off but leaves a rebound that Noel Acciari knocks off the post.

Kulak takes his second minor penalty of the game, Seattle makes them pay. Holy cow does Tolvanen hammer a slapshot. Lotta power on that one. 4-3 game, the Kraken still have 12:13 to work with.

Eeli Tolvanen puts it right to the top shelf pic.twitter.com/h4274FJs2p

— NHL (@NHL) January 20, 2026

Brandon Montour gets a penalty called on him and the Pens have a chance for a potential dagger but they can’t score on the power play. Instead the dagger comes a little later from Rickard Rakell. Crosby wins the puck back off the wall and quickly passes it back to Rakell who jams one in front the front of the net. 5-3 game.

67 FINDS THE BACK OF THE NET

And that makes it a multipoint night for Sid in game no. 1400 pic.twitter.com/Ly6gFCkFin

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 20, 2026

Seattle pulls the goalie but there’s no late-game dramatics to be found today. Dewar shoots from way back to extend the score to a 6-3 final.

Some thoughts​

• The early start wasn’t the best, perhaps for understandable reasons considering the long plane flight yesterday combined with an odd 2pm local start. Body clocks must have been going haywire, tough to get the legs freed up- which shown through in the Pens’ game in the early going. They got better and grew stronger in their play as the game went along.
• Have to give Seattle some credit though, they clogged things up as much as possible and made Pittsburgh play a hard game along the boards. We all know Crosby doesn’t mind getting in the trenches and muckin’ it up but that makes for a long night at the office when the puck is along the wall so often and a player has to fight for and earn every inch out there.
• To that end of making the game tough, the Pens had their share of moments too. Daccord’s eyes were taken away with bodies in front of him, that strategy brought success for the visitors to score on a couple of innocent enough long-distance shots, had the goalie been able to see them.
• Dewar’s shorthanded goal was only Pittsburgh’s second of the whole season, now 48 games into the season. That’s a bit of a surprise with how generally good the PK has been and even how productive many of the typical PKers have been at even strength.
• It was also only the second game of the season for the Pens that two defenseman scored in the same game (the other being 10/25 vs CBJ).
• You can tell how dissatisfied the coaches were with St. Ivany by opting to dress four left-handed defensemen instead, a rarity for them to select these days. The move also got Graves into his first NHL game in over a month. Shame there for St. Ivany, how long will he stay in the doghouse?
• While one right-handed defenseman in St. Ivany is stock down in recent days and games, Connor Clifton would have to be the opposite for stock up. These last five games were the first time this season Clifton has gotten picked to play five in a row, he’s been making the most of the opportunity with his physical play (as to be expected), the more surprising inputs have been his skating and puck moving being noticeable these days. And if you haven’t seen the #content Clifton produced from the team’s jet, spend the next 3:17 of your day on it. A star is born?
• The Pittsburgh PK gave up their first goal in 21 tries against them in the third, took one heck of a blast from Tolvanen to break the streak. Considering the Pens’ PK scored a goal for themselves they found an unconventional way to keep it even.
• The power play was hardly as good, though. Aside from picking on a weak Flyer PK last week that group hasn’t been performing that well lately, perhaps the one area where Erik Karlsson’s injury absence has been felt the most.
• Casual two point night for Crosby in his 1,400th career NHL game. Such a satisfying career to watch unfold, especially since becoming the 45th player in league history to hit this many games looked more a longshot at times. Instead, only Wayne Gretzky had more points through 1,400 games. Maybe Connor McDavid has something to say about that one day, for now that speaks to how great Crosby has been.

The Pens will now head north of the border for a bit, next game is in Calgary on Wednesday to try and repay the Flames for winning in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...-pens-pull-away-to-start-road-trip-with-a-win

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins trade Valtteri Puustinen to Colorado for Ilya Solovyov

The Penguins announced a trade on Tuesday, sending forward Valtteri Puustinen and a seventh round pick to Colorado in exchange for defenseman Ilya Solovyov.

The Penguins have acquired defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round draft pick.

Details: https://t.co/ETEr66md0M pic.twitter.com/5oVOWRubYa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 20, 2026

Puustinen, as mentioned in the last Wilkes Weekly, was climbing the ranks of the all-time WBS scoring list but will see his progress stopped with 101 career AHL points with the Penguins. The 26-year old former seventh round pick in 2019 has been a part of the Pens’ organization professionally since the start of the 2021-22 season, scoring 24 points in 66 career NHL games with Pittsburgh. His place in the organization peaked with 20 points in 52 games during the 2023-24 season before sliding into a role more of organizational depth over the last two seasons.

Pittsburgh picks up 6’3”, 208 pound left handed defenseman Solovyov. Similar to Puustinen, Solovyov has been playing mostly in the AHL since the start of the 2021-22 season, though he has played 16 NHL games with the Avalanche this season scoring three points (1G+2A) in a limited role that saw him average 11:13 of ice-time per game. Solovyov had been something of a regular for the Avs, playing seven games since January 4th and even stringing together a three-game point streak from 1/6 – 1/10. Solovyov played for the Avs just last night in their win over the Capitals, although for only 8:34.

The Penguins, who have dressed 12 different defensemen through 48 games, are still seeking answers on their bottom part of their blueline in what’s been a season-long search. Jack St. Ivany was made a healthy scratch yesterday, Ryan Graves has bounced between the NHL and AHL on another erstwhile season, Harrison Brunicke has been assigned back to junior and Caleb Jones recently suffered an injury in his AHL rehab stint coming back from a lengthy injury.

It remains unclear where Solovyov fits into that mix, especially since the team has some decent LHD options in Brett Kulak, Parker Wotherspoon and Ryan Shea. Pittsburgh has never been shy about shuttling bodies in and out to see what may happen, Solovyov could be the next short-term opportunity to see what ability he has coming off his recent time in Colorado.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/71933/penguins-trade-valtteri-puustinen-to-colorado-for-ilya-solovyov

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

The Penguins fourth line is doing exactly what you want a fourth line to do

The Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday evening was a pretty great team win. They carried play for most of the game, got some big saves from starting goalie Stuart Skinner when they needed them, quickly responded whenever Seattle pushed back, and had extremely balanced scoring from the entire lineup.

They received two goals from defenseman (Parker Wotherspoon and Brett Kulak).

They had a shorthanded goal.

The top line scored.

The third line scored.

The fourth line pushed play and had multiple members of it contribute points. Connor Dewar scored two goals (including the shorthanded goal), Blake Lizotte had two assists, and Noel Acciari was a plus-3 and nearly added a goal of his own when he rang a shot off the post in the third period.

The play of that fourth line is what I want to talk about today, because it has been a big part of the Penguins’ success this season. Certainly not the biggest part, but definitely a big part. It is definitely a positive asset and contributor to the Penguins’ current standing in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

The trio of Lizotte, Dewar and Acciari has become something of a sparkplug for this team and continues to post strong numbers for itself almost every night.

During Monday’s game they were on the ice for more than eight minutes of 5-on-5 play, and controlled 72.4 percent of the expected goals during that time.

For the season, they have played 218 minutes together and own a 10-6 goals advantage, a 52 percent shot attempt share and a 54.6 percent expected goals share. By pretty much every objective measure, they have been one of the Penguins’ most effective trios on a per-minute basis. What makes it stand out so much more is they have done it while taking on some of the hardest minutes on the ice, at least in terms of where they are being asked to start their shifts. They have started just 23 shifts (only 16 percent of their zone starts) in the offensive zone, and have primarily been set up with defensive zone draws. Just based on proximity to the nets you would expect a line with that sort of deployment to be getting crushed in terms of shots and chances. Not the case with these guys. They have consistently pushed play and flipped the ice in the Penguins’ favor.

They have also played incredible lock-down defensive hockey, and in those 218 minutes the Penguins are allowing just 2.00 expected goals per 60 minutes. Just for perspective on that, the top team in the NHL this season in preventing expected goals on a team-wide level is allowing 2.27 per 60 minutes.

Across the board they have been outstanding, and it is some nice complementary team-building from general manager Kyle Dubas and his staff to piece that together. That is at least a promising sign because it was a blind spot for him during his time in Toronto.

Lizotte and Accairi were both free agent signings, while Dewar was added at last year’s trade deadline in a deal that was pretty much an afterthought at the time. It has turned into a nice little win, especially when you consider the added components to it, and how Dewar seems to be the element that brings that group together.

Keep in mind, Lizotte and Acciari were on the Penguins roster since the beginning of the 2024-25 season. When they have played with a third player that is not Dewar they are not anywhere near as effective togther. Adding Dewar into the mix is where things really took off for that group.

Just before last year’s deadline the Penguins sent a fifth-round pick to Toronto for Dewar and defenseman Conor Timmins. Timmins was then flipped this offseason, along with Isaac Beliveau, for a second-round pick and defenseman Connor Clifton.

So far the Penguins have turned a fifth-round pick and Isaac Beliveau into a excellent fourth-line forward, a second-round pick (No. 39 overall in 2025 — defenseman Peyton Kettles) and a depth defenseman that could probably be flipped for another pick that is at least comparable to that fifth-round pick they originally gave up at any time.

Dubas has not hit on all of his big NHL moves, and the jury is obviously still out on the draft picks, but the one thing that has consistently impressed me with his Penguins tenure is the way he has managed assets and salary cap space.

Turning a fifth-round pick into Dewar, Kettles and Clifton is shrewd business.

A bunch of little mistakes add up into big problems.

But a bunch of little wins can add up into big advantages and big wins.

Whenever I hear a team or its fans raving about their fourth line as being their identity I immediately get a red flag. All I can think of is some of those New York Islanders teams that just weren’t particularly good, trotting out Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck to check people for 10 minutes a night. That is not to say a good fourth line is not important — it is. But if that is the first line you talk about involving a team, that is probably not a good sign for that team’s overall upside. You need a good fourth line to win. The fourth line can not be the biggest reason you think you are winning.

This fourth-line, however, is legitimately good. It is also not the Penguins’ identity. That still sits with the superstars at the top. This fourth line simply is exactly what you want to see for a good team. Complementary hockey. Knows its role. Not asked to do too much. Helps win the minutes and come out ahead when the superstars are sitting on the bench. It is not the reason this team is in a playoff position and competing for a playoff spot. It is just one of the reasons.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...ing-exactly-what-you-want-a-fourth-line-to-do

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Calgary Flames 1/21/26

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (23-14-11, 57 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division) @ Calgary Flames (21-23-5, 47 points, 7th place Pacific Division)

When: 9:30 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh, SN1 and TVAS in Canada, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The road trip continues tomorrow night in Edmonton, then an uncharacteristic two-day break gives the chance for some team bonding until the trip finishes up in Vancouver on Sunday. After that the Pens get a few days to regroup after heading home, not playing again until next Thursday Jan 29th to start their busy run to the upcoming Olympic break.

Opponent Track: Since we last saw the Flames in Pittsburgh on January 10th they went on to finish their eastern road trip with a loss to Columbus and win over Chicago before returning home to split another pair of games with a win over the Islanders last Saturday followed by a loss (in overtime) to the Devils in their last game on Monday. Thus continues an up-and-down stretch where they’ve won six out of the last 12 games (6-5-1).

Season Series: The Flames took a 2-1 decision in a rough and tumble game a couple weeks ago, Devin Cooley made 27 saves to break Pittsburgh’s then six-game winning streak. Egor Chinakhov scored the lone goal for the Pens, Matthew Coronato’s third period goal to break a 1-1 tie helped Calgary secure the win.

Hidden Stat: Rickard Rakell is on a three-game point streak. Pittsburgh is 12-2-2 this season when Rakell records a point (h/t Pens PR).

Getting to know the Flames​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Matvei Gridin

Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Joel Farabee

Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato

Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka

DEFENSEMEN

Kevin Bahl / Zach Whitecloud

Yan Kuznetsov / MacKenzie Weegar

Joel Hanley / Hunter Brzustewicz

Goalies: Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley

Potential scratches: Dryden Hunt, Brayden Pachal

Injured Reserve: Blake Coleman, John Beecher, Samuel Honzek, Jake Bean

• The biggest change to the lines from the last recent PIT/CGY game is the trade departure of key defenseman Rasmus Andersson and the addition of Whitecloud from that transaction. It’s a big loss to the current squad – Anderssen had 10 goals and 30 points this season for the Flames, ranking third on the team in both categories.
• The 21-year old Brzustewicz has replaced Anderssen on the top power play. Despite only having one career NHL point in 16 games, he has an offensive profile with a 92 point season in the OHL in 2023-24 and 44 points in the AHL since the start of the 2024-25 season.
• Coleman, who was on IR back for the Jan 10th game, has dropped his no contact jersey in practice and may be nearing a return.
• Perhaps luckily for Chinakhov, Brayden Pachal has been a scratch lately.
• Wolf has been Calgary’s primary goalie, but lately there’s been more of an even split due to Cooley playing really well lately (including, as mentioned, in Calgary’s recent win over the Pens). The two Flames goalies have each played three out of the last six games, Cooley did play their last game. He picked up the loss in OT, but stopped 29/31 shots to get there. Given how well he did against Pittsburgh in the recent past, it’ll be interesting to see if the Flames go back to Cooley for this game or turn the net back over to their usual starter in Wolf, who is only 1-5-0 with a .891 save% and 3.71 GAA in the calendar year of 2026 (compared to Cooley’s 2-0-1 record, .951 save% and 1.33 GAA stat line).

Season stats
via hockeydb

• The size and ruggedness of the Flames really stood out in their last game against the Pens. Klapka at 6’8” and 235 pounds is a menace and was getting under the skin of several Penguin players. Klapka’s 172 hits this season ranks 4th in the entire NHL, he’s going to throw the body on the forecheck on every available opportunity. Kevin Bahl at 6’6”, 230 has been a force averaging over 21 minutes per game this season, and has four assists in his last six games. Yan Kuznetsov presents another big body on the blueline, Pachal laid one of the biggest hits of the season last game. Mackenzie Weegar isn’t a huge frame, but a stout one with 117 hits this season. That game had a lot of tempers raised with post-whistle scrums and physicality throughout, surely that fresh memory will be at the top of everyone’s minds for tonight.
• Generating offense has been a real struggle for the Flames. Their 2.55 goals/game mark is only 29th in the NHL, their power play at 14.9% is a dreadful 31st. It’s not for a lack of trying (28.9 shots/game ranks 12th) but the lack of skill and overall ability has hindered them in a major way.

Key to the game: Penguins vs. goalie

This one is pretty cut and dry; while the Flames have been impotent offensively and don’t have a lot going for them these days, the one area they are getting great inputs from is the play of their goalies. Early in the season that was Wolf, lately it’s been Cooley as the hot hand.

The Pens ran up a 2.75 expected goal total against Calgary on January 10th, yet Cooley only gave up one actual goal and the Flames won a 2-1 game almost entirely due to the strong play of their goalie. The Flames low overall talent level gives them a very narrow path towards winning games, they’re going to need a goalie to steal it for them more often than not. That presents a clear challenge for Pittsburgh in this game: overcome the Flames’ strongest suit in the goalie factor (whether it ends up being Cooley or Wolf) and the rest ought to be right there for the taking. A performance for the Pens similar to the last game against Seattle (where Pittsburgh scored 5 non-empty net goals on 2.88 expected) would be the ideal in this game, as it would in just about any game. Given Calgary’s unimpressive defensive metrics, that should be on the table, though Pittsburgh (at 9th in expected 5v5 goals and just 21st in 5v5 actual goals) will need to execute on their chances in ways they didn’t in the last meeting.

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 / Ryan Shea

Ryan Graves / Connor Clifton

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Kevin Hayes, Ilya Solovyov

IR: Erik Karlsson, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones

• All eyes will be on Letang after he missed practice yesterday and was deemed day-to-day with an upper body injury by the team. Letang’s potential absence or lack of being 100% is a huge blow for an already depleted blueline that doesn’t have Erik Karlsson.
• Karlsson has said he’s feeling better but won’t play tonight, though it’s hard to tell when he’s being serious or not. You would think he’s not playing tonight, but who knows.
• The current goalie rotation would mean Silovs plays tonight, though in game strategy with a very tough matchup looming tomorrow against Edmonton, does Dan Muse make a departure from that in hopes to put the goalie in better form out for the first game of the b-2-b where presumably the team has a better chance of a positive result? If not, Must may be bet Skinner can raise his levels against his former team tomorrow, though they already have seen Skinner play against the Oilers and it didn’t go well (5 goals against on 22 shots) which also can be a data point for the current decision.
• Found it curious when early yesterday the Pens somewhat quietly sent Joona Koppanen back to the AHL, which didn’t make much sense on a long road trip like this. Turns out that was a precursor move to open up an NHL roster spot for the trade to bring in Ilya Solovyov and then it made perfect sense.

The multi-point master

Sidney Crosby is riding a streak of three-straight games with multiple points. Last game pushed him past Gordie Howe, the next one will tie Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne. Seemingly every game Crosby is approaching and/or passing legendary names in any number of categories – the two points last game vs. Seattle tied Mario Lemieux’s total of 784 road points.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...ew-pittsburgh-penguins-calgary-flames-1-21-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Flames Recap: Malkin’s line stands out, Pittsburgh defeats Calgary 4-1

Pregame​

Kris Letang can’t go in this game due to an upper-body injury so go ahead and just don’t look at this blueline group tonight.

Tonight's lineup in Calgary.#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/WKjxSbX1ME

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 22, 2026

First period​

Pittsburgh gets the first power play, Ryan Shea is out there with all the big guns. He looks nervous and loses the puck over his stick twice for no reason. They do get a few chances down to the net a little after that.

Shea looks a lot more comfortable at 5v5, feathering a shot in that Evgeni Malkin can deflect. Dustin Wolf overplayed the angle and gets caught leaning a little while the puck trickles on in to the far side. 1-0 Pens thanks to Malkin’s 11th goal of the season, 7:49 in.

Attn: Flames country

HE WILL BE FIRE pic.twitter.com/Yz2lrP5k5N

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 22, 2026

Rest of the period scoots on along. Calgary is a nothin’ happenin’ team to start things off, generating only five shots on goal. Pittsburgh gets 11 and carries a 1-0 lead

Second period​

Connor Dewar comes close to scoring a couple of times but can’t keep his hot hand going.

The second line comes through again, Malkin enters the zone and passes across the middle for Tommy Novak. Novak touches a pass over for Egor Chinakhov who pulls the puck back to change the angle catches Wolf with a hard shot, even though his body momentum is falling back from the net he still gets a lot of velocity on his seventh goal of the season. Pittsburgh pushes their lead to 2-0.

TIC. TAC. TOE.

WHAT A RELEASE FROM CHINNY pic.twitter.com/IhxQE5XZeU

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 22, 2026

The Flames find a way to get a goal back juuust before the final buzzer. Zach Whitecloud takes a point shot that doesn’t look like much trouble until Yegor Sharangovich makes his way to the middle of the ice and puts a deflection on it. Ends up in the net with 2.7 seconds on the clock.

Buzzer beater! pic.twitter.com/zswPSPmpEt

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) January 22, 2026

It was almost all systems under control, right up until the very last bit. Calgary gives themselves more of a chance and something to believe in heading into the third. Shots in the second were 9-8 in favor of CGY but Skinner was making it looks easy right up until a shock out of no where beat the buzzer.

Third period​

Pittsburgh comes out the gates strong and responds to Calgary’s late-period goal. Bryan Rust gets down low and throws the puck to the net. Sidney Crosby is right out in front and hacks at a puck that leaks through Wolf and to the back of the net. 3-1 game 50 seconds into the third.

Our captain

Sidney Crosby has surpassed Mario Lemieux for the eighth-most road points in @NHL history (785). pic.twitter.com/duCIEKdUbR

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 22, 2026

Dewar trips a Flame on the following shift to allow the first Calgary power play of the night, his teammates take care of business and keep the PK going strong.

Calgary has a great chance a little later when Pittsburgh’s defensive structure breaks down a little and an unmarked player in the middle of the ice takes a big shot. Skinner makes a great save with the glove that he can’t control but that ends up working out just as well. Jack St. Ivany plays the puck up for Novak and the Pens have a 2-on-1. The defender completely ignores Novak to take away the pass, so Novak skates the puck all the way in makes a slick backhand deke and casually flips the puck top shelf on Wolf. Pretty stuff for Novak’s ninth goal of the season and extend the lead to 4-1.

HERE COMES TOP SHELF TOMMY! pic.twitter.com/hDNBlRpeVd

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 22, 2026

That capped off most of the notable moments. Calgary beat Skinner but glanced a shot off the post and from there it was just about riding the game out until the clock reached 0:00.

Some thoughts​

• The Malkin line with Chinakhov and Novak are a super-fun watch. There’s obviously the production element on a night like tonight where each member of the line scored a goal. Even beyond those contributions they are playing exciting hockey, working off one another very well and growing in chemistry in the offensive zone as they get more time together. All have some speed on the puck all can handle the puck and are unafraid to carry it in and through opponents when they drive up the ice.
• Sidney Crosby took a Bryan Rust centering pass to what looked like the side of the leg above the knee on the first shift of the game. Looks like the worst was avoided save for a moment of pain that had the captain instantly doubled over and smarting for a bit. That’s all the Pens needed at this point when key players have been dropping like flies lately.
• Our key to the game for the Pens from the preview was out-scoring the expectations to improve over where they stumbled against Calgary two weeks ago in a 2-1 loss. Chinakhov’s second period goal (to make the score 2-0) on 1.04 total expected goals from Moneypuck. It was looking good at that point and continued from there. Crosby’s early third period goal extended that race to 3 actual goals vs 1.52 expected. In the end it shook out to be four goals on just over two expected, which is precisely what was needed. In the last Pens/Flames matchup the Pens weren’t getting the finishes. They had it tonight, leading to a fairly drama-free game of being out in front for most of the contest. That’s a good way to live.
• The developing story of the day for the Pens was breaking the goalie rotation to play Skinner again. Turned out to work very well, Skinner only saw 19 shots but did more than his part in allowing only one goal on 1.77 expected from the Flames.
• Another angle was that bare bones blueline for the evening. Gotta factor in quality of opponent (low!), also gotta tip a cap to those guys for a great effort. It was shades of the 2017 playoff run with an undermanned crew stepping up and doing what it takes to get the job done. Wotherspoon was breaking up plays all over the ice. Connor Clifton, as always, made his presence known with some big hits. Shea pitched in as he could on the one power play of the night. Even Ryan Graves blocked three shots. Forwards, especially centers like Ben Kindel and Blake Lizotte, were drifting way back defensively and appearing mindful to make themselves available as options for quick bail outs.
• One of the few times the Pens got trapped in their defensive zone for a long shift happened during the second period. Wotherspoon was almost 2:30 into his shift and still had enough vinegar in the tank to put Morgan Frost on his wallet twice. I don’t know if you want to call Wotherspoon the most improved player or maybe just the one who has had the opportunity to emerge this season and show his stuff, but my goodness he’s impressed at every turn. What a solid player he is.
• Speaking of that blueline, Kris Letang was only briefly on the ice for the morning skate, taking basically a quick lap around the rink and then leaving. That doesn’t sound like it bodes well for his chances to play tomorrow night against Edmonton. Erik Karlsson has been on the ice much more in recent days, though he couldn’t go today he did make a comment yesterday about not being a “mascot” for this road trip. Wouldn’t expect him to rush into a return three weeks prior to the start Olympics yet it would be a massive benefit if Karlsson can answer the bell tomorrow or at least on Sunday in Vancouver.

So that’s that, another impressive win in the books. Now the Pens move on quickly to Edmonton and get ready to take on an Oiler team that has been quite the boogeymen for them in recent years.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...ine-stands-out-pittsburgh-defeats-calgary-4-1

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Penguins @ Flames

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71544/gamethread-penguins-flames

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Oilers Recap: Pens explode, light up Jarry, win 6-2

Pregame​

There’s nothing better than an unexpected return to the lineup, each team has a good one tonight. Nine days ago, Erik Karlsson wasn’t to be re-evaluated for two weeks. He’s back tonight. Arturs Silovs starts in goal.

Tonight's lineup at the Oilers pic.twitter.com/ONaXhjdPXK

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Edmonton gets a welcome return of their own, Leon Draisaitl is back from Germany on a family business in time for the game. Former Penguin goalie Tristan Jarry faces his old team for the second time.

Leon Draisaitl returns to the #Oilers lineup vs. the Penguins & Tristan Jarry starts against his former team. @PlayAlbertaCA | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/mW6EHiVzTc

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 23, 2026

First period​

The Penguins strike early, Anthony Mantha gets behind the defense and Justin Brazeau gets the puck to Mantha with a really nice pass that Mantha steers over Tristan Jarry. But wait – Mantha might have been off-side on the rush. Edmonton takes their timeout to give it an extra long look, they ultimately decide to not challenge it, goal stands.

GOOD START, PART I pic.twitter.com/Fk9g68A7Bo

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

It only takes 22 seconds for another Mantha goal. He again gets behind the defense, this time in the neutral zone. Again Brazeau feeds Mantha the puck, this time for a breakaway. Jarry’s defense was to fall belly first to the ice, didn’t work as he still gets beat low. 2-0 goal.

GOOD START, PART II pic.twitter.com/Do9P2uZQ1G

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

The Oilers look stunned, they’ll take another big shot only 15 seconds after that goal. Ryan Shea throws a puck on net, Sidney Crosby curls out of no where into the middle of the ice to deflect the puck. It’s another goal, three of them coming 37 seconds across. Jarry doesn’t know whether to cry or wind his watch.

GOOD START, PART III pic.twitter.com/CY6AIFwWne

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Luck may have turned, Connor Dewar hits the post and the puck stays out. Silovs makes a nice save at the other end. The Pens get the first power play, Bryan Rust takes a nice shot but Jarry stops it. Connor McDavid rockets up the ice, Crosby tries to stay with him, he also gets his stick into McDavid’s hands a few times and the refs even up the penalties by sending Crosby off. The Pens kill the penalty.

The fireworks continue, Evgeni Malkin sets up Egor Chinakhov in front, a sprawled out Jarry keeps the puck out the net with 20 seconds left. The play goes right back down the other end, Zach Hyman beats Silovs but not the post. The puck falls right to the goal-line however it miraculously stays out in a scramble.

WHAT A PLAY. https://t.co/tDSvXDH8WE pic.twitter.com/6KYgQ0dHZY

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Connor Clifton heats tempers up by slamming Mattias Janmark into the boards from behind.

An exciting, shocking and thrilling period. Three goals in a 37 second span ripped it open early, not much settled from there. Pittsburgh’s up 3-0 on the scoreboard, Edmonton out-shot them 13-9, yet somehow did not score.

Second period​

McDavid takes a penalty for slashing Erik Karlsson’s stick. It’s the Oilers who score, Jake Walman takes off on the rush. 3-1 game.

Jake & bake #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/KU1uTrYpv6

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 23, 2026

On a delayed penalty call against the Oilers the Penguins worked their 6v5 group. Malkin makes a beautiful pass from behind the net through about three sticks to get to Rickard Rakell. Rakell measures his shot and wires an equally nice wrister past Jarry. 4-1 game, no penalty on the Oilers after all since the Penguins scored. That’s one way to shield the struggling Pittsburgh power play.

A RICKY ROCKET GOES UPSTAIRS! pic.twitter.com/xZj3ZMzIYI

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Bouchard kisses a shot off the crossbar, it stays out. A little later in the sequence Malkin pokes the puck away from McDavid and even though he’s at the end of a 1:21 long shift the big guy races down the ice on a breakaway. Malkin moves to his backhand, it looks like he runs out of room but he pulled so much lateral movement out of Jarry that there was enough room for the puck to slide in. 5-1 game.

OH MY WORD, GENO!

That was disgusting. pic.twitter.com/4jv3CufVxc

— NHL (@NHL) January 23, 2026

Ben Kindel hurries and accidentally shoots the puck over the glass with 3:03 to go, giving Edmonton a power play. The Oilers take a ton of offensive zone time, the Pens PK holds strong with Silovs standing tall on a few big stops.

Say it in your best Doc Emerick voice: “what action!”. Another incredible period of hockey, highlighted by two insanely skilled plays by Malkin. The Pens head into the third period up by four goals.

Third period​

The Pens keep pourin’ it on. Novak gains a zone entry and dishes a routine looking pass over for Egor Chinakhov. There’s nothing routine about Chinakhov’s release that scorches in and out of the net so fast Malkin shoots the rebound. 6-1 lead.

Raise your hand if you're happy Chinny is a Penguin pic.twitter.com/VNWnBvdiqa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Edmonton gets one in garbage time, Matt Savoie unleashes a top shelf snipe from the right faceoff circle with about six minutes left making the score 6-2.

Savvy snipe #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/AzDVMZVgox

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 23, 2026

The rest of the game plays out quietly, Pittsburgh gets out with a convincing win and another strong effort.

Some thoughts​

• If we’re in the trust tree, I’m pretty sure Mantha was offside on that first goal. The Edmonton video team no doubt had a better look and more technology to stop and pause it and look at all the angles, so maybe he wasn’t or was just too close to call with the on-ice decision saying it was good. Kinda looked like he was off from what I could see with his back leg getting into the offensive zone just a little bit before the puck did. A little too close for comfort though all is well that ends well.
• Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak got a nice ‘welcome back’ video and a big standing ovation during the first TV timeout. At 3-0 at that point, you know a lot of people were thinking in that moment and over the course of the night about just why that trade had to be made for the Oilers, if only for one night.
• 3 goals in 37 seconds? You don’t see that type of goal explosion every day.
• The competitiveness in Crosby was on display turning on the jets to not let McDavid skate away from him. Crosby even started in a trail position, not too many are going to go the full length of the ice with McNasty in that situation. The competitiveness went over the line for the refs with the series of little slashes along the way but in that moment there was just no way Crosby was going to allow McDavid gain separation.
• Jack St. Ivany took the full brunt of a ‘Bouch bomb’ slapshot from Evan Bouchard, he can really bring it. St. Ivany was hobbled to the the extreme. Naturally, he was back for the start of second period and able to shake it off like it was nothing.
• A lot was made, here included, about the goalie usage decisions. At the end of the day, no choice is a bad one when both goalies are playing extremely well. Silovs’ performance might not draw a lot of attention, which is a shame because it deserves it. 29 stops on 31 shots and anytime a goalie holds McDavid (and Draisaitl) off the scoresheet they probably had a great night. Silovs certainly qualified for that praise.
• The final score said blowout, the way it ended up there was anything but one-sided. As mentioned above, the first goal was a whisper away from being overturned which could have butterfly effected the whole night. It truly is a wonder that Wotherspoon helped keep the puck out of the net when the puck was laying literally on the goal-line and no less than Draisaitl right there to jam it in with Silovs out of commission seconds after it hit the post and stayed out by the narrowest of margins in the first place. Then, at 4-1, Bouchard narrowly misses scoring only to almost immediately have Malkin create and convert a breakaway in a turn of fortune that salted the game away. It’s not to say the Penguins were necessarily lucky because a team still has to make their luck through their own efforts, more like it was very close to swinging in a different direction. A blowout game can still have its precarious moments.
• To that end the final score wasn’t completely indicative of how the Pens played, which wasn’t perfect. They were a bit reckless up 3-0 when it came to some decisions with the puck and when it came to pinching up, willing to trade chances with Edmonton when they didn’t have to. They gave up a goal while on the power play. They didn’t have an even strength shot for well over 10 minutes in the second period. Obviously when you get a huge goal outburst it doesn’t have to be a flawless 60 minutes, the Pens were very good and certainly flexed enough offensive muscles to deserve a big win; there just was more to the story than simply the score at the end of the night.
• How about the 39-year old Malkin A) having the burst to stay ahead of Ekholm chasing him at the end of a 1:21 shift, B) keeping a rolling puck on old ice in his possession and C) converting a very wide deke. Outstanding effort, everyone in this matchup obviously hones in on Crosby and McDavid, Malkin gave what should be a needless reminder that those two aren’t the only special, special players involved.
• This was the Pens first win in Edmonton since December of 2019. Back then Dan Muse was an assistant coach in Nashville working with Nick Bonino as a player, Justin Brazeau was in the ECHL, Yegor Chinakhov was playing in a lower-tier Russian league having gone undrafted in the NHL a few months earlier. Ben Kindel was 12 years old! It had been a while.

Certainly one of the more thrilling, satisfying and biggest wins of the season for the Pens to shake off what had been a house of horrors for them, win a third game on this road trip on a back-to-back effort. The Penguins have definitely had much lower high water marks of their whole seasons the past few years then this, even though at this point they still have high hopes to keep the momentum going to finish the trip strong on the last leg coming up in Vancouver.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...ers-recap-pens-explode-light-up-jarry-win-6-2

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Gamethread: Penguins @ Oilers

Talk about the game with Pens fans here!

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-open-threads/71547/gamethread-penguins-oilers

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

It is time to start talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins trade deadline plans

It may not have been their best overall performance of the season so far, but the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night is certainly high on the rankings. They had every reason to lose that game just simply based on the schedule and the matchup.

The Oilers have dunked on the Penguins pretty much every time they have played them over the past four or five years, the Oilers were rested, the Penguins were playing the second half of a back-to-back and their fourth game in six days, they are three games into an extended road trip and they did not have one of their top defenseman in the lineup (Kris Letang). They were also playing their backup goalie.

When the week began I had that game penciled in as a loss just based on all of that. Not only did the Penguins win, they did to the Oilers what the Oilers have recently done to the Penguins and just dunked all over them. They gave up some chances, but Arturs Silovs was great and the Penguins feasted on their former goalie (Tristan Jarry). Anthony Mantha scored two goals, Evgeni Malkin showed he still has the juice, and Egor Chinakhov scored another goal on a shot so ridiculous nobody even saw it actually go into the net.

It has the Penguins in the second spot of the Metropolitan Division after 50 games and starting to very much look like a playoff team. Not just in the results, but also in the process behind the results.

They have a top-10 points percentage in the NHL, tied for the fifth-best in the Eastern Conference and are only two points back (with a game in hand) of the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference.

They are also a top-10 team league-wide in pretty much every underlying 5-on-5 metric when it comes expected goals and scoring chances, while also consistently improving their overall defensive metrics.

If it looks like a duck, and if it quacks like a duck….

This is all important to keep in mind because the Penguins have just 11 games before the 2025-26 NHL Trade Deadline, and general manager Kyle Dubas and his staff have to be having a lot of discussions right now. Not only about potential trades, but also simply what their overall plan is going to be.

Buy? Sell? Stick to the plan? All of the above? It is going to be fascinating to watch.

Just for laughs, here is where the Penguins have been (and ranked) after 50 games over the past eight seasons in terms of their place in the league standings, and their overall ranks in 5-on-5 goal differential, expected goal share, scoring chance share, high-danger scoring chance share and expected goals against per 60 minutes.

Season	Games Played	Record	Points	Points Percentage	5-on-5 GF%	5-on-5 xGF%	5-on-5 SC%	5-on-5 HDSC%	xGA/60
2025-26	50	25-14-11	61	.610 (9th)	51.2% (10th)	51.4% (9th)	51.2% (9th)	52.7% (10th)	2.65 (14th)
2024-25	50	20-22-8	48	.480 (26th)	43.7% (29th)	50.2% (17th)	48.7% (23rd)	50.1% (18th)	2.63 (26th)
2023-24	50	23-20-7	53	.530 (19th)	53.1% (8th)	52.4% (8th)	52.2% (10th)	52.7% (7th)	2.62 (19th)
2022-23	50	25-16-9	59	.590 (14th)	49.5% (19th)	52.3% (9th)	50.9% (15th)	52.0 (13th)	2.65 (19th)
2021-22	50	31-11-8	70	.700 (7th)	55.3% (8th)	53.4% (8th)	52.8% (7th)	53.5% (8th)	2.25 (6th)
2020-21	50	32-15-3	67	.670 (9th)	55.1% (8th)	49.4% (18th)	51.3% (11th)	48.3% (19th)	2.19 (13th)
2019-20	50	31-14-5	67	.670 (4th)	54.8% (5th)	53.8% (3rd)	53.1% (5th)	54.0% (3rd)	2.06 (2nd)
2018-19	50	27-17-6	60	.600 (11th)	54.4% (5th)	51.4% (10th)	51.5% (11th)	52.1% (11th)	2.49 (23rd)

This is the Penguins best record and best placement in the standings since the 2021-22 season, which was also their most recent Stanley Cup Playoff appearance. It is also one of the few times over the past eight years where they have consistently been in the top-10 across all of the scoring chance and expected goal metrics. They are 13 points ahead of where they were at this point a year ago and significantly better in terms of where they rank in their underlying metrics. The 2023-24 team had similar rankings in those metrics, but were not getting the same results and were eight points back of the current pace. That team missed the playoffs by just three points. They are two points ahead of the 2022-23 pace, but that team was much worse with its process. That team missed the playoffs by one point.

This team does not just simply have a better record than their most recent teams. It is also playing better. Significantly so.

This is not a Stanley Cup contending team right now. Not this season. It might be a pretty good team. It is starting to look like it is a pretty good team. Even during that losing streak back in December they were still carrying and controlling games for the most part. They have certainly left some points on the table, and that might end up looming large, but they have also picked up a lot of points. There is a lot to be said for that response. There is a lot to be said for how they have played, how they are playing and perhaps more importantly, how (and where) they are improving.

The forward group has no real weaknesses. There is not a single line you do not want to see on the ice at any point in any game. They can roll four lines and keep controlling the game with any of them. The goaltending has been inconsistent at times, but winnable. Erik Karlsson is playing the way they expected Erik Karlsson to play when they originally traded for him a few years ago.

So how do the Penguins play this over the next month-and-a-half? There is obviously going to be a wait-and-see element to this and how those 11 games go. The most sensible approach is stay the course and let these guys show what they have. Whatever happens, you have a full season sampling here and can make your adjustments and changes as needed in the offseason.

Mantha is going to be the curious case because I always imagined he was signed with the intention of being this year’s Anthony Beauvillier. Cheap contract, hope for some production in the top-six of the lineup, then flip him at the trade deadline in March for some additional future assets. He has been better and way more productive than Beauvillier, and should not only bring a comparable return (a second-round pick), but perhaps even more given how much more he has produced. He is also the big-body presence that NHL general managers love at this time of year. Trading him could also open up a roster spot for one of the young kids in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton right now like Rutger McGroarty or Ville Koivunen.

If this group keeps playing the way they are, however, it would be difficult to disrupt that. They deserve a chance to take a kick at the can and see what happens.

The Penguins still have more draft capital, and especially in the first three rounds, than any other team in the NHL over the next three-or-four years. They could certainly use more of those assets, but it is also not a huge necessity.

Strategic buying is certainly within reason. The Penguins should not trade anything significant for a short-term rental, but if you can find a player that has long-term value beyond this season, that should be in play.

Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson has been the big name kicked around given his contract status, and the Penguins certainly have the salary cap space to pay him what he wants in the future, but that does not seem like a trade deadline move. That is an offseason move. The option for that discussion will almost certainly still be there then when Dallas might be more inclined (or likely) to make a move involving him.

The ideal trade option would be trying to find a young defenseman (or some sort of young high-level talent) that has upside and term/team control remaining. Depending on the player, the contract and the upside, I would not be opposed to being aggressive if it is a true hockey trade. The Penguins have salary cap space and assets to move, and given how active Dubas and the Penguins have been over the past year-and-a-half I can not imagine they are going to just sit and do nothing.

Even if it requires a young forward or one of those draft picks, if you can find somebody that fills that need you should not ignore it. Even if the cost is high. As long as it is a hockey trade and fits in to the long-term plan, it can work.

With that in mind, I am going to say something controversial here: I do not think the first-round pick should be off the table *in the right move.*

There should be lottery conditions attached to it. It should only be for a player that fits for multiple seasons. Do not trade that pick for a rental. That would be outrageously stupid. But keep something in mind here: If the Penguins do end up as a playoff team, that first-round pick is going to be in the back half of the round. The Penguins still have that Winnipeg Jets second-round draft pick that is very likely to be very high in the second-round. At that point the difference between, let’s say, pick No. 22-25, and perhaps pick No. 34, is not overly significant. You also still have plenty of assets to potentially move up from that spot high in the second-round if you needed or wanted.

Even thinking about moving that pick is obviously only something you do for somebody in their early-mid-20s, and somebody that is a high level player. That is a difficult trade to find, and chances are you will not find it, but it is definitely something to keep an eye out for given where the team is, where the pick could end up being. and what you still have to work with in terms of assets. This is why stockpiling assets the way Dubas has is so important. It gives you flexibility. It gives you options. The Penguins certainly have a lot of them. This will be fascinating to watch.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...-the-pittsburgh-penguins-trade-deadline-plans

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Egor Chinakhov has been making a difference for the Penguins

Egor Chinakhov has made an instant splash since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 24-year old has been able to unlock his talents, which are readily apparent. Chinakhov has scored five goals and added one assist in his 12-game stint with the Penguins. On the surface that isn’t overwhelming. With more context, it stands out since all of his goals and points so far have come at even strength. It’s a small sample to date, though the data is encouraging; Chinakhov’s 2.17 goals/60 at even strength with the Pens is a massive number (tops in the NHL this season with a longer run of data is Brad Marchand with 1.89, Nathan MacKinnon is second at 1.70).

What makes the figure stand out even further is that is this isn’t a player going to the net and knocking in loose rebounds or deflecting pucks or even building his sample largely off of teammate’s passing plays that leave a goalie vulnerable for back-door tap ins. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with gaining results that way either, but Chinakhov is producing in a way that is more tantalizing and excites on a deeper level. Chinakhov is doing most of his work on the rush and using his overpowering shot and fast release to torch goalies. He’s shown a knack to pick corners and tendency to snipe on the shortside, hallmarks of a quality NHL goal scorer.

MALKIN CHINAKHOV pic.twitter.com/v8dIP7naUg

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 16, 2026

Raise your hand if you're happy Chinny is a Penguin pic.twitter.com/VNWnBvdiqa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

The full mastery of his ability was on display in this goal against Calgary, drawing the puck in prior to releasing it, changing the shooting angle in the type of advanced move that differentiates a normal shooter from an exceptional one in today’s NHL.

TIC. TAC. TOE.

WHAT A RELEASE FROM CHINNY pic.twitter.com/IhxQE5XZeU

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 22, 2026

There’s no doubt Chinakhov has had a boost in the classic ‘change of scenery’ to enter a new situation by coming to the Penguins. Given normal stat rates, we can’t expect him to carry 2+ goals per 60 for the long haul, though the current production will undoubtedly open doors for more opportunity to increase actual totals despite the decline in the rate of time it takes to get there. Chinakhov has played with the second power play group, getting an average of 1:14 per game often coming from short shifts as the power play is expiring. The potential of an increased role and an eventual promotion to the top power play could be the next step to unlock even more total production. The most important thing for now is he has proved his shot can’t be denied, now it will be up to the coaches to figure out how they can maximize his abilities.

The other absolutely apparent standout skill for Chinakhov is his skating ability. Per NHL Edge, his max skating speed is right up there with anyone in the league, his ability to have 20 or 22+ mph bursts are incredible. The only thing holding down his percentile ranking on 18-20 mph bursts has been a lack of playing time and opportunity relative to the other players in the league.

The raw tools of being a lightning fast skater with an absolute rocket of a shot are standing out with the Pens as the player gets a chance to show what he can do.

In a sense, the challenge of maximizing the abilities has been the ready made story of Chinakhov’s career. It was a frustrating one for both him and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first chapter. He couldn’t find much in Columbus, being moved all over the place and given limited opportunities in a rapidly changing cast of linemates couldn’t have helped matters.

Egor Chinakhov in CBJ:
22 different linemates & 21 Different Line Combos in 204 GP

Egor Chinakhov in PIT:
3 Different Linemates & 3 Different Combos in 11 GP

His career has been riddled with being unable to find chemistry, but it seems him and Malkin have found it.

Amongst…

— ARAnalytics (@ARAnalytics) January 22, 2026

If a team wants a player to bring consistency, it stands to reason the team should return the favor. It’s not hard to see that the Blue Jackets failed in that regard, resulting in failing to unlock the player as a whole into his full potential.

The Penguins have been able to provide more steadiness, since Evgeni Malkin returned from injury he’s been a constant with Chinakhov. Tommy Novak has been there all along. The results have followed as the trio continues to grow in chemistry with their complimentary offensive skills and proclivity to get on the rush fitting Chinakhov’s strengths of skating and shooting ability like a glove.

That’s made for a great first impression with his new team and shown an instant ability to impact games in special ways. The Penguins have a lot to be excited about in the coming days, weeks and months to see just how much more Chinakhov can add.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...has-been-making-a-difference-for-the-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Evgeni Malkin makes his case for a contract extension from the Penguins

Evgeni Malkin has been crystal clear in his comments to the media about two two subjects this season that he’s openly talked about, at times unprompted.

1. He doesn’t want this 2025-26 season to be his last in the NHL
2. He doesn’t want to leave the Pittsburgh Penguins for a different team

There’s been nothing in the way of smokescreens or subtext with the messaging. What you see is what you get. Malkin has mostly gotten his way professionally in the last 20 years but the team hasn’t been as quick to get on that page.

Kyle Dubas and company have slow-played the situation. Dealing with a 20-year franchise legend can be a delicate process, as seen in Malkin’s last contract negotiation in 2022 where it took until the 11th hour to get an agreement for a four-year contract that the team almost reluctantly handed to him.

Pittsburgh’s stance this time around was understandable. Malkin will turn 40 this year, he was coming off his worst full season in 2024-25, producing only 50 points in 68 games. He’s had a couple of knee surgeries. That’s not a case where a team is going to rush into a signing, especially one like the Pens who have a stated goal to get younger. There wasn’t any movement on the contract this summer. Dubas addressed the matter at the start of training camp:

“He’s in a great mood every day,” Dubas said. “No change on [the contract] front. I spoke with him and [agent J.P. Barry] in the summer when stuff started percolating there. At the time in every one of their careers, I’ll sit when time permits….The [Olympic] break provides a key opportunity for that…I expect him to have a great season.”

With that stance, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Dubas essentially added to the list of his recent accomplishments in a subtle way by stoking the competitive fires in Malkin. That shows a crafty impact as a manager to go beyond a major trade or free agent move to enhance performance. Sometimes pulling a lever like “go have a great season and we’ll touch base with your agent at the Olympics after we see how things are looking” can help a team as much as anything. Dubas didn’t rush to re-sign Malkin, yet he also didn’t close the door completely either. He just made Malkin do the work to walk through it.

It was a challenge Malkin took to heart, accepted and has made his mission to complete. Despite missing time with a shoulder injury, he has been sensational this season when he’s been in the lineup to the tune of 39 points in 35 games, often performing as one of the best players on the ice on any given night.

Those performances included last night’s 6-2 win over Edmonton where Malkin produced a goal and an assist. He playfully shrugged off retirement notions again:

“I never say I want to retire. It’s all you. I feel great, and I like how we play. It’s always fun to win.”

It’s not difficult to see the goal constantly in mind to not have this year be his final one has inspired Malkin. He’s played his normal center position, then willingly shifted to the wing while jokingly volunteering to line up at defense or even goalie if that was what it took for the team to be successful.

Turns out his forward position has more than sufficed. Any doubts on whether or not he’s still got it were emphatically wiped away last night in the sequence where Malkin poked the puck away from no less than Connor McDavid, took off down the ice (despite being at the end of a shift lasting 1:20) and scoring on the breakaway.

Watch out… GENO'S LOOSE pic.twitter.com/oX6X2OTjOH

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 23, 2026

Malkin would continue in the post-game:

“But I hope you see…it’s not easy. I try to do my best because I knew I wanted to play one more year. I want to show I’m still a good player. I want everybody to see that I can play next year. It’s my goal right now.”

At this point it ought to be an open and shut case. Pittsburgh is going into the offseason with over $50 million in salary cap space. It doesn’t truly matter to anything beyond the bottom line whether they pay him $5, 10 or $15 million next season, they can easily fit him at any price (though here’s betting an extension will be closer to the lower-end of that spectrum).

Malkin’s season has been an inspired effort to prove himself all over again, to meet a challenge and earn a spot with the Pens in 2026-27. He’s passed those tests with flying colors. The NHL’s Olympic break starts in two weeks, it’s almost time for Dubas and the Pens to hold up their end of the bargain and reward the icon with a well-earned ticket to play in Pittsburgh next season.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...se-for-a-contract-extension-from-the-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins unveil plans to celebrate 2016 Stanley Cup team

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced plans to celebrate the team’s 2016 Stanley Cup championship later this month.

When the Penguins host the New York Rangers on January 31, the team says it will be having a reunion to mark the 10-year anniversary of the organization’s fourth Stanley Cup championship.

A decade later, the memories still hit the same.

The Penguins will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 Stanley Cup Championship team on Saturday, January 31.

Details: https://t.co/xRkRd9cbhE pic.twitter.com/t8P9tfaDl7

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 20, 2026

The team is encouraging fans who attend the game to be in their seats early for a special pre-game ceremony. Fans in attendance will also receive a commemorative championship ring.

The Penguins said that all players, coaches, and management listed on the Stanley Cup from the 2016 championship team have been invited back from the celebration and that former players including Marc-Andre Fleury, Jeff Zatkoff, Matt Cullen, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Fehr, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Tom Kuhnhackl, Chris Kunitz, Trevor Daley, and Ben Lovejoy are all expected to attend.

Former Penguins general manager and architect of the 2016 Cup team Jim Rutherford is also scheduled to be in attendance.

Puck drop for the Penguins game that day is set for 3:30 p.m. and doors will open at 2:00.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/71955/penguins-unveil-plans-to-celebrate-2016-stanley-cup-team

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: A Western Canada sweep

Here are your Pens Points for this Monday morning…​

The Pittsburgh Penguins completed their Western Canada swing on Sunday evening, facing off against the Vancouver Canucks. It was a homecoming for rookie forward Ben Kindel, who led the way with two goals as the Penguins won 3-2. [Recap]

However, in the dying moments of the game, amid a Vancouver push for the tying goal, forward Bryan Rust hit Vancouver’s Brock Boeser on the ice as time expired Sunday. Video shows Rust appearing to hit Boeser up high with an extended elbow, an action deemed “dirty” by Vancouver players. [Sportsnet]

Big Justin Brazeau has been one of the many positive revelations this season. The winger has career highs in goals (14) and points (25) in 37 games after Sunday. He’s been able to cash in on his offensive opportunities by “playing the right way.” [Trib Live]

Every club in the league would take 13 goals and 40 points in 36 games for a 39-year-old forward who is set to be an unrestricted free agent at year’s end. However, those statistics belong to an NHL and franchise icon in Evgeni Malkin, who has now publicly said he is willing to take a discount to return to the Penguins next season. General manager Kyle Dubas, with his seemingly infinite pool of cap space, should listen and reward Malkin with the extension he has rightfully deserved. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL…​

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander has apologized after he was seen on camera flipping the middle finger during Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. [TSN]

The Seattle Kraken are open to hearing trade offers for 22-year-old center Shane Wright, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. [theScore]

The NHL may have gained a new fan base as viewers go crazy for the viral HBO streaming hit “Heated Rivalry.” The show, which centers around a romance between two hockey players, has driven a “noticeable spike” in demand for NHL tickets and revenue for the league, according to ticket website SeatGeek. [CBS News]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/7218...kin-nhl-heated-rivalry-nylander-middle-finger

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

The week ahead: Penguins keep stacking points

Even though they almost let it slip away on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins won all four games on their Western Conference road trip and mostly did so in impressive fashion. They beat the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers by multiple goals, with all three games being rather convincing wins, and then had a 3-0 lead on the Vancouver Canucks going into the third period. They needed goalie Stuart Skinner to stand on his head a little bit to secure that win, but the bottom line is he did, they got the two points, and they remain one of the best teams in the NHL since the holiday break with an 11-2-2 record in their first 15 games since then.

What that means for the standings:

• The Penguins are tied for the seventh-best points percentage (.618) in the entire NHL.
• Their goal-differential is tied for the sixth-best in the NHL.
• They are tied for the fourth-best points percentage (.618) in the Eastern Conference.
• They are four points ahead of the New York Islanders for the second spot in the Metropolitan Division in the same number of games played.
• They are on a 101-point pace for the season.
• The current playoff cut-off line in the Eastern Conference is 98 points in the wild-card race and 94 points in the Metropolitan Division.

Overall, they have put themselves in a pretty good spot.

They have a chance to keep it going on this upcoming three-game home stand against the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators.

The home stand begins on Thursday night against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks. The Penguins won the first meeting this season, 7-3, back on Dec. 28 in Chicago to kickstart this recent strong stretch of play.

While Bedard is a blossoming superstar in the NHL, the Blackhawks as a whole are still not particularly good. They enter the week having won just three of their past nine games, have the sixth-worst record in the NHL and some of the worst 5-on-5 scoring chance and possession metrics in the NHL.

They are 30th in 5-on-5 expected goal share and 28th in expected goals against per 60 minutes. That should be a winnable game.

On Saturday the Penguins host former head coach Mike Sullivan and the Rangers for a celebration of the 2016 Stanley Cup team. Several former players will be in the house, and it should be another chance to collect some points against a Rangers team that is currently, by far, the worst team in the Eastern Conference. They are even worse due to the current injuries to top defenseman Adam Fox and starting goalie Igor Shesterkin. Aside from the injuries, the Rangers simply have a lack of offensive talent that limits their scoring ability and ability to push play during 5-on-5 hockey. It is a poorly constructed team that is currently without two of the players it could least afford to be without. The Penguins and Rangers have split the first two games this season, with the Penguins getting a 3-0 win in New York in the season opener, and the Rangers getting a 6-1 win in Sullivan’s first return back to Pittsburgh as an opposing coach.

Even the Monday against the Senators is a winnable game. Ottawa is probably better than its record indicates and has been ruined by awful goaltending all season, but there is still a chance there for more points.

The two big wild cards this week for the Penguins are going to be the availability of forwards Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin seemed to be in pain at the end of Sunday’s game when he was bumped on the bench in celebration of the win.

Rust, meanwhile, could be facing a potential suspension for a hit to the head late in Sunday’s win against the Canucks.

Any potential absence of either player (or both) would disrupt the line chemistry the Penguins have really started to develop over the past few weeks.

Even so, given the way the Penguins are playing, and given the teams on the schedule this week, it would be a bit of a disappointment to not come out of this week with four points. That should be a realistic expectation and goal.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/72204/the-week-ahead-penguins-keep-stacking-points

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Bryan Rust to face discipline from NHL for hit?

The league is reportedly looking into a hit thrown by Bryan Rust at the end of the game against the Canucks. Vancouver-based broadcaster Rick Dhaliwal went as far to say that “the expectation is that supplement discipline will be coming”, which would include a fine or suspension.

The Department of Player Safety is closely reviewing the Bryan Rust hit on Brock Boeser last night and the expectation is that supplemental discipline will be coming here.

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 26, 2026

Rust leveled Brock Boeser with a high hit in the game’s closing seconds in a play that went unpenalized during the action in the scramble for Vancouver’s attempt to find a buzzer beating tying goal.

Bryan Rust get the elbow up on Brock Boeser late in the third.

: Sportsnet | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/ykovrXFuTp

— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) January 26, 2026

The Canucks were not happy with the hit in their post-game.

“I think it’s a pretty dirty play, to be honest with you.” – Jake DeBrusk on Bryan Rust’s blindside hit on Brock Boeser at the end of the game. #Canucks @Sportsnet650

— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) January 26, 2026

Teddy Blueger also said he thought it was a dirty hit, though he doesn’t believe Rust is a dirty player. #Canucks @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/fO8IDpEj8A

— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) January 26, 2026

Rust has 18 penalty minutes in 48 games this season, last season he had 18 PIMs in 71 games and has never recorded more than 31 PIMs in a season with a clean discipline record with the NHL.

Of course, you never know what the NHL’s supplemental discipline team will rule. Florida’s Brad Marchand received a two-minute penalty but no fine or suspension for a similar hit last month on Montreal’s Mike Matheson, and Marchand carries a much longer rap sheet for questionable plays. Then again, since Marchand was penalized on the play and Rust’s hit wasn’t addressed during the game that could open Rust up for some sort of action from the league in the form of discipline.

There was no update on Boeser’s status after he was helped off the ice at the conclusion of the game. The Penguins held on to win 3-2 for their fourth straight win, now they’ll be hanging on a bit longer to hear from the league about the status of one of their top line wingers for their next game at home against Buffalo on Thursday.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/72206/bryan-rust-to-face-suspension

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Evgeni Malkin-Egor Chinakhov duo has been one of NHL’s best so far

When the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Egor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets a little more than a month ago, it seemed like a worthwhile bet. Far from a guarantee to work out, but it was taking a talented player that had shown some goal-scoring ability in the NHL that may have simply needed a fresh start and change of scenery. Sometimes things just click for those guys. Especially if you put them into a good situation. Maybe you catch lightning in a bottle.

So far, things are clicking for Chinakhov and the Penguins.

More specifically, they are really clicking for Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin.

Since that duo has been put together on the Penguins’ line, they have been one of the most productive duos in the NHL from a goal-scoring perspective.

In more than 100 minutes together the Malkin-Chinakhov duo has outscored teams by an 8-1 margin during 5-on-5 play. Take it down to a per minute basis, and they are averaging 4.34 goals per 60 minutes and 3.09 expected goals per 60 minutes. Those are elite numbers.

When you add Tommy Novak into the mix that trio also becomes one of the best in the NHL with a 7-1 goal differential and more than five expected goals per 60 minutes. Also elite numbers.

How much so? Here are the goal-differential leaders for the best forward trios in the NHL this season with a minimum of 75 minutes played together:

Now their rank in goals scored per 60 minutes.

Those rankings are out of 216 different line combinations.

They are still relatively small sample sizes (both for Malkin and Chinakhov, and Malkin-Chinakhov-Novak), but they are extremely promising results, both in terms of production and process.

While so much of Chinakhov’s game revolves around his shot and ability to score goals, he has impressed in a lot of other areas beyond that. The goals obviously get the attention, but he has also demonstrated playmaking skills and not been a total liability away with the puck. I do not know that anybody is ever going to confuse him with a Selke Trophy candidate, but his all-around game has been better and more impressive than originally thought. He has simply done everything well so far and been an instant fit on that second line.

It has all just further balanced out the Penguins’ forward lines and made them a really tough team to defend. You know the Sidney Crosby line is going to produce. The fourth line has been a spark plug for the team in terms of its ability to tilt the ice, and even contribute some goals. The Ben Kindel line seems to have found some chemistry with the two big veteran forwards (Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha). Now you have a second line with a future Hall of Famer that is still playing at a high level, and two shrewd additions in Chinakhov and Novak complementing him. Not only are they complementing him, they are making a huge impact. Individually and as a group.

There are no liabilities here. There is not a single line you do not want on the ice. It is an encouraging development to watch.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/...hinakhov-duo-has-been-one-of-nhls-best-so-far

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins wait for injury updates ahead of Olympic break

The upcoming Olympic break could potentially be coming at a good time for a few banged-up Penguins players.

The biggest concern likely involves Evgeni Malkin, who appeared to be in pain on the bench Sunday night following a seemingly light shoulder tap from Anthony Mantha.

When asked about that moment after the game, head coach Dan Muse said there was “no update” regarding Malkin.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski reported that Muse told reporters afterward when asked again about Malkin’s injury status: “No, there’s nothing there.”

There’s less reassuring than it might have been otherwise given that Muse described Malkin as “day-to-day” shortly before he was sidelined for a month with a shoulder injury in December.

Malkin said earlier this month he felt normal immediately after the Dec. 4 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in which he was initially injured, but woke up in pain the next morning. After a Feb. 5 game at the Ottawa Senators, the Penguins don’t play again until Feb. 26.

The upcoming schedule break could be a problem for the Penguins in terms of disrupting their momentum, but could also provide some respite if Malkin is dealing with any lingering issues.

Speaking of potentially injured players: Jack St. Ivany left Sunday’s win over the Vancouver Canucks with an upper-body injury. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe identified it as a left hand injury and said St. Ivany “is expected to miss sometime.”

That one could sting for the Penguins. After some struggles earlier this season, St. Ivany has been part of the reason for the blue line’s success while missing Erik Karlsson and/or Kris Letang during this recent stretch.

The Penguins didn’t provide any updates on either player’s status Monday, so it’ll be something to keep an eye out today. Injury updates will at least come before Thursday’s home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Penguins will also be looking out for news regarding Bryan Rust. NHL Player Safety said he is scheduled to have a hearing for his hit on Canucks captain Brock Boeser this morning.

The Canucks placed Boeser on injured reserve Monday.

Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust will have a hearing tomorrow morning for an illegal check to the head against Vancouver’s Brock Boeser. https://t.co/K8cMz139Hz

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 26, 2026

The Penguins have five games remaining before the Olympic break, starting with a three-game homestand against the Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Senators and finishing out with a two-game road trip against the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres.

Potential updates today on Malkin, St. Ivany and Rust will determine if the Penguins are missing any starters for that stretch.

The Pens will especially hope to have as healthy a lineup as possible against the Islanders and Sabres, two teams who could possibly be in direct competition for a playoff spot down the stretch.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/72254/penguins-wait-for-injury-updates-ahead-of-olympic-break

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Jack St. Ivany has hand surgery, will miss extended time

The Penguins will be without defenseman Jack St. Ivany for at least the next two months after undergoing hand surgery.

The team announced that St. Ivany underwent successful hand surgery on at UPMC Mercy Hospital.

Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany underwent successful surgery on his left hand. The expected recovery time is up to eight weeks.

Details: https://t.co/GnMQJ6bSPR pic.twitter.com/965aNpM6y5

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 27, 2026

St. Ivany left Sunday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks and did not return.

According to a release from the team, the surgery was performed by Dr. John Fowler alongside Penguins team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas.

St. Ivany’s recovery time is expected to be eight weeks.

So far this season, St. Ivany has recorded a career-best 7 assists in 17 games for the Penguins.

The Penguins are back in action tomorrow night at PPG Paints Arena after sweeping a western Canadian road trip last week with wins against Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

Pittsburgh has won four straight games, have not lost in regulation in over two weeks, and currently sit six points behind Carolina for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Penguins have five games remaining before the NHL’s Olympic break for the Milano Cortina Winter games.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/72321/jack-st-ivany-has-hand-surgery-will-miss-extended-time

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Wilkes Weekly: Broz, Koppanen injuries test center depth for WBS

It’s a two-fer with two weeks since our last check in on the AHL affiliate out in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Nick Hart’s recap of the early games from WBSPenguins.com and most recent. WBS posted a 4-2-1 record over the past two weeks worth of games.

Wednesday, Jan. 14 – PENGUINS 4 at Providence 1
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton usurped first place from Providence with a clinical performance and an AHL career-high 36 saves from Sergei Murashov. Tristan Broz scored twice, and other tallies came courtesy of Joona Koppanen and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.

Friday, Jan. 16 – PENGUINS 3 vs. Hartford 4
Time ran out on a fiery comeback attempt, as the Penguins fell in their first of back-to-back games against the Wolf Pack. Gabe Klassen scored twice, but a three-goal second period by Hartford spelled doom for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Saturday, Jan. 17 – PENGUINS 4 vs. Hartford 1
The Penguins bounced back in a big way, scoring thrice in the first period and never looking back. Harvey-Pinard notched three points (1G-2A) in that explosive opening frame. As insurance, Finn Harding scored his first AHL goal in the second period.

Monday, Jan. 19 – PENGUINS 3 at Springfield 2
Rutger McGroarty returned from the NHL and Avery Hayes returned from injury as offense from Valtteri Puustinen, Chase Pietila and Klassen led the Pens to their second-straight victory.

Wednesday, Jan. 21 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Belleville 3 (OT)
A goalie duel between two old friends took place, as Joel Blomqvist and Leevi Meriläinen went save-for-save in a starry display. However, Meriläinen’s 25 saves in the first two periods kept his team in it, leading to an OT win for the B-Sens. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Atley Calvert both scored for WBS.

Friday, Jan. 23 – PENGUINS 4 at Hershey 3 (SO)
A back-and-forth thriller at Giant Center ended with the Penguins surviving in a shootout. Owen Pickering and Ville Koivunen lit the lamp in the first period, and Avery Hayes forced OT with his late, tying goal. Rutger McGroarty posted an assist on all three goals. Koivunen scored again in the shootout, while Sergei Murashov thwarted all three of Hershey’s attempts.

Saturday, Jan. 24 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Charlotte 5
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wrapped its eight-game season series with Charlotte with a loss. Gabe Klassen and Aidan McDonough found twine for the Penguins, but Blomqvist’s season-high 35 saves weren’t enough. Charlotte won each of its for visits to Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza this season.

It’s been a test lately for WBS, seeing prior stalwarts like Sam Poulin and Valtteri Puustinen leave the organization via trade, and some bonus AHL participants in Danton Heinen and Philip Tomasino moving on to their next teams as well. That’s opened the doors for players on AHL contracts like Gabe Klassen, Aaron Huglen, Aidan McDonough and Atley Calvert to step into bigger roles. Those aren’t the sexiest names when it comes to surefire NHL prospects or big picture items for the organization at a whole but will be critical to the WBS season.

Klassen is especially standing out with his 10 points (8G+2A) in the last 11 games. The 22-year old is in his second season with the Pens organization, having spent most of 2024-25 in Wheeling. Klassen is a guy who has popped a little in events like the September prospect challenge, it’s been nice to see him go from a bit player at the AHL level and turn into a key contributor for WBS over the last month, often playing these days centering a line with the NHL top prospects.

How we’re rocking tonight

Catch the action on AHLTV on FloHockey: https://t.co/CrNDVVHuPj pic.twitter.com/jTU3tTSgSW

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 21, 2026

11 forwards, 7 defensemen

Catch the action on AHLTV on FloHockey: https://t.co/CrNDVVHuPj pic.twitter.com/BiyeSJQ4z5

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 24, 2026

AHL games are lower scoring, the Pens benefit from having a strong defense corps and two of the finest goalies currently in the league these days. That can go a long way, and has been so far.

Another boost has been the return from the AHL for Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen. McGroarty has compiled five assists in the four games he has been back. That’s very encouraging considering he’s returning from a concussion suffered in a NHL practice a few weeks ago. Koivunen has recorded six points (1G+5A) in the nine games since his re-assignment to the AHL in early January.

Missing from the above lines, one might note, is WBS’s leading scorer Tristan Broz. It looks like Broz will be out for at least a few weeks with an undisclosed injury. Joona Koppanen has also missed time after blocking a shot.

ICYMI: I had a pretty in-depth 1-on-1 with #WBSPens HC Kirk MacDonald following last night's OT loss to Belleville.

Talked on a variety of topics, and players – including an unfortunate update on Tristan Broz's injury timeline.

@InsideAHLHockeyhttps://t.co/JH7R3fmarA

— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) January 22, 2026

Overall, Wilkes remains in a strong second place spot in the Atlantic Division, having completed almost 60% of their 72-game regular season schedule.

WBS is back in action with a pair of games this weekend, hosting Syracuse on Friday night before heading over to Lehigh Valley on Saturday.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/wbs-weekly/72090/wilkes-weekly