Game Notes
Tristan Jarry sits one win shy of his fifth-consecutive 20-win season. Jarry’s four 20-win campaigns are tied for third in franchise history behind Marc-Andre Fleury (9) and Tom Barrasso (6). Jarry is 3-1-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in four career starts versus Detroit.
Rickard Rakell has 19 points (7G-12A) in 20 career games against the Red Wings. He has points in five of his last nine games versus them (3G-7A).
Jeff Carter enters tonight’s game one goal shy of the 10-goal plateau. His next goal would mark the 19th season he’s reached double digit goals, a feat that only 25 players in NHL history have accomplished. Only Alex Ovechkin (19) has more 10-goal seasons among active players.
Sidney Crosby has 41 points (17G-24A) in 34 career games against the Detroit Red Wings. He has multiple points in six of his last nine outings against them (6G-8A).
The Penguins own an overall record of 387-87-47 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game two points shy of cracking the top10 points list in NHL history. Per NHLPR, the last player to enter the top 10 was Jaromir Jagr more than 16 years ago, when he potted four assists with the Rangers at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 19, 2008, to boost his career totals to 636 goals, 945 assists, and 1,581 points in 1,253 games played, overtaking defenseman Ray Bourque (410G-1,169A-1,579PTS in 1,612 GP).
On the morning of Mar. 24, Pittsburgh sat at 24th in the NHL standings and 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 30-30-9 record - nine points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and just a 1.7% chance of making the postseason per moneypuck.com. Now, the Penguins enter tonight’s game with points in nine-straight games (6-0-3), which is the team’s longest point streak since Dec. 4, 2021-Jan. 6, 2022 (10 GP; 10-0-0). Since this stretch began on Mar. 24, no team has accumulated more points than Pittsburgh’s 15, and the team now sits two points out of a playoff position with just four games remaining in the season.
Sidney Crosby has been the driving force behind Pittsburgh’s surge, as he enters tonight’s game with points in eight of the nine games (7G-10A). Crosby’s 17 points (7G-10A) since Mar. 24 rank second in the NHL. Crosby has points in 12 of his last 14 games overall, accumulating 22 points total (8G-14A) in that span.
Pittsburgh enters tonight’s game with points in eight-consecutive home games against the Red Wings dating back to Jan. 13, 2018. It is the team’s third-longest active home point streak versus one opponent. During this streak, the Penguins have outscored Detroit by a 41-17 margin, and are averaging 5.13 goals per game.
Alex Nedeljkovic enters tonight’s game with points in each of his last nine games (6-0-3). On Monday night, he set a new career high for the longest point streak of his career, surpassing his previous career long from Apr. 8-May 3, 2021 (7-0-1). Since this stretch began, he’s recorded a 2.57 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and no goaltender has more wins than his six. If you exclude the first game of his streak, Nedeljkovic has even better numbers, going 6-0-2 with a 2.35 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game two assists shy of 1,000 in his career. Crosby is looking to become just the 14th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 assists, and is looking to become the seventh-fastest player to 1,000 assists. Crosby would also be just the seventh skater all time to reach this milestone with one team.
Erik Karlsson’s 51 points (9G-42A) puts him just three away from tying Kevin Hatcher (54) for the fourth-most points among defensemen in their first season with the Penguins. Karlsson has five points (1G-4A) over his last four games played.
Kris Letang enters tonight’s game needing one point to reach 50 (9G-40A) for the seventh time in his career. When he reaches this mark, he will tie Hall-of-Famer Ron Francis for sixth-most 50-point seasons in Penguins’ history. Among defensemen, Letang already has the most 50-point seasons in franchise history (6).
Reilly Smith enters today’s game two assists away from hitting 300 in his career. The Dallas Stars originally selected Smith in the third round (69th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. Among all players selected in 2009, Smith has the 11th most assists. Smith has had four seasons where he recorded 30 or more assists.
Pittsburgh’s offense has been consistently producing over the past 14 games, averaging 4.00 goals per game.
Evgeni Malkin has been historically successful against the Detroit Red Wings. In 29 career games against them, he has recorded 43 points (18G-25A), and has points in 14 of his last 16 games (11G-15A) versus Detroit. His 1.48 points per-game average against them is second in the NHL among active players and tied for fifth in NHL history (min 20 GP).
Erik Karlsson has 32 points (7G-25A) in 30 games, and Kris Letang has 28 points (7G-21A) in 32 career contests versus Detroit. Their seven goals each are tied for second among active defensemen versus the Red Wings.
Karlsson’s 1.07 points-per-game average leads all active defensemen against Detroit, while Letang’s 0.87 points-pergame average is eighth best among league blueliners (min. 10 GP).
