Game Notes
Pittsburgh is 12-0-1 under the leadership of Mike Sullivan versus the Coyotes.
Erik Karlsson (19) is on the brink of hitting the 20-point plateau. He is looking to become the fifth player on Pittsburgh to accomplish this feat, joining Jake Guentzel (29), Sidney Crosby (27), Evgeni Malkin (22), and Bryan Rust (20). As a team, Pittsburgh is looking to become the sixth squad with five or more 20-point scorers.
Sidney Crosby has 34 points (12G-22A) in 22 career games against the Coyotes. Here at home, Crosby has multiple points in three-straight games against Arizona (3G-5A) and has been held without a point just twice in 11 games (6G-14A).
Only Joe Pavelski (6) has more game-winning goals against the Coyotes than Evgeni Malkin (4) among active players.
Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby leads Pittsburgh in goals (15) and is second in points (27) and multi-point games (5). Crosby has registered points in 20 of 26 games this season (76.9%), Crosby, who ranks 15th in NHL history with 1,529 points (565G-963A), is two points shy of tying Paul Coffey for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time points list.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each enter tonight’s game with points in seven-straight games versus Arizona. His seven-game point streak is tied for the fourth-longest point streak versus the Coyotes in the league.
Valtteri Puustinen picked up his first point of the season (1A) on Friday night in Florida in his season debut. Puustinen who has now notched a point in both of his two career games (1A on Mar. 11, 2022 vs. VGK), is looking to become just the 13th player in franchise history to begin their career with a point in each of their first three career games. The last player to accomplish this feat was Evgeni Malkin, who began his career with a six-game point streak (7G-4A) in 2006.
Coyotes rookie forward and West Mifflin native Logan Cooley returns to Pittsburgh tonight for his first NHL game in his hometown. Cooley, who was selected third overall by Arizona in the 2022 NHL Draft, got his start in hockey in the inaugural season of Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play Program. He is the highest draft pick by a Pittsburgh native, surpassing Coraopolis native J.T. Miller who was drafted 15th overall by the New York Rangers in 2011.
Jake Guentzel has been one of Pittsburgh’s most consistent contributors, as he leads the Penguins in assists (19) and points (29), and ranks second (tied) in goals with 10. Guentzel has points in 15 of his last 17 games (8G-12A) and has notched a point in 21 of 26 games this year. His 21 games with a point are tied for second in the NHL.
Tonight, Assistant Equipment Manager Dan Kroll is working his 1,000th professional hockey game. Kroll has spent 18 seasons in professional hockey, all with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.
