* The Penguins are 11-5-4 dating back to Nov. 27, and in this span, only the Columbus Blue Jackets have scored more goals than the Penguins.
* The Penguins’ power play has been clicking as of late, scoring on the man advantage in seven of the last eight games dating back to Dec. 23, going 11-for-24 (45.8%).
Stretching back further, the Penguins have 19 power-play goals over their last 18 games dating back to Nov. 30. In that span, the Penguins’ 35.2 power-play percentage and 19 goals lead the league.
* Captain Sidney Crosby registered his team-leading 11th multi-point outing of the season (1G-2A) on Thursday night against Edmonton. It also doubled as his 184th career three-plus point game, which surpassed Phil Esposito and Mark Messier for fifth place in NHL history.
* Rickard Rakell continued his hot streak on Thursday, tallying another goal to give him his team-leading 21st goal of the campaign. This season, only William Nylander (24) has more goals in the NHL among Swedish-born players, and he is one of just 13 NHL players with 20 or more goals this year. Since Rakell was left off Team Sweden’s Four Nations roster on Dec. 4, he leads all Swedish players with 11 goals and 20 points.
Of Rakell’s 21 goals, 17 of them have come at even strength, which is tied for fourth in the league.
Dating back to Nov. 27, only Leon Draisaitl has more goals than Rakell, who’s notched 24 points (14G-10A) in 20 games in that span.
* Kevin Hayes found the back of the net on Thursday night against Edmonton, giving him two goals in four games since re-entering the lineup. Since he re-joined the lineup on Jan. 3, only Rickard Rakell has more goals on the Penguins than Hayes.
* On Thursday night against Edmonton, Drew O’Connor (1G-1A) recorded his third multi-point game of the season in his 200th career game. He became just the sixth undrafted player in the Crosby Era (2005-Present) to skate in 200 or more games with Pittsburgh.
* Defenseman Erik Karlsson enters this game with 12 points (2G-10A) over his last 11 games. Going back further, Karlsson has recorded 19 points (2G-17A) over his last 20 games and in that span, only two NHL blueliners have recorded more points.
Karlsson is riding an active three-game point streak (1G-4A), which is tied for the sixth-longest active point streak among NHL defensemen.
* Winger Bryan Rust has played some of the best hockey of his career against the Ottawa Senators. In 21 career games versus them, Rust has recorded nine goals, 10 assists, 19 points and is plus-12. Rust’s 19 points versus the Senators is his fourth highest versus any one team. Two of Rust’s six career hat tricks have come against the Senators (Dec. 5, 2016 and Mar. 3, 2020).
Rust recorded his fourth three-plus point game on Thursday, with all three points coming in the first period. This marked the third time in his career he has tallied three points in a single period (2G-1A in 1st period, Jan. 2, 2022; 3A in 3rd period, Nov. 27, 2019).
* Sidney Crosby is just one goal shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull for the sixth-most goals with one franchise in NHL history. He’s also one assist shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne for the 11th-most assists in NHL history.
QUICK HITS
1) Today, the Penguins begin their ninth set of back-to-back games. Thus far, the team is 7-9-0 in back-to-backs (1-7-0 on the first night and 6-2-0 on the second night).
2) Sidney Crosby (57) is just one point shy from surpassing Jaromir Jagr (57) for the most points against the Ottawa Senators in franchise history.
3) Matt Grzelcyk is one assist shy of tying his career high of assists (22) set in 75 games with Boston in 22-23.
4) Michael Bunting has seven points (5G-2A) in 12 career games against Ottawa which includes three goals in his last five games versus them.
5) The Penguins own an overall record of 398-90-49 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
