Game Preview: Penguins vs. Kraken (01.15.24)

The Penguins return home for an early contest against the Seattle Kraken at 1:00 PM.

Doors open at 11:30 AM.

REMINDER: This game now begins at 1:00 PM.

Fans are encouraged to bring their Terrible Towels.

The game will be available to watch on SportsNet Pittsburgh locally, ESPN+ nationally, and on the radio in the Penguins app and 105.9 the X.

Team Records: PIT (20-15-6) SEA (19-14-9)

As of Jan. 14, Seattle is tied for the second wild card spot in the west with 47 points. The Kraken are on an incredibly hot streak, having won their last nine games. They have eight different players entering tonight on a point streak: Schultz (1G-2A; 2GP), Schwartz (1G-3A; 3GP), McCann (2G-2A; 2GP), Bjorkstrand (1G-4A; 3GP), Larsson (1G-2A; 2GP), Kartye (2G-0A; 2GP), and Wennberg (2G-1A; 3GP). Vince Dunn leads Seattle in assists and points (8G-27A--35 Pts.), while former member of the Penguins, Jared McCann, leads them in goals (16).

Today, two-time Stanley Cup Champion Brian Dumoulin returns to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Penguins for the first time since joining Seattle. Dumoulin was originally acquired by Pittsburgh on June 22, 2012 and proceeded to play parts of 10 seasons in the NHL with the Penguins, suiting up for 546 games and recording 139 points (19G-120A). Dumoulin was a plus-93 during his tenure with Pittsburgh, which ranks seventh in franchise history. Overall, Dumoulin is one of the most decorated defensemen in franchise history.

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Game Notes

Pittsburgh has two of the league’s top-10 players in faceoff win percentage this season (min.150 faceoffs). Jeff Carter’s 62.9% puts him at third in the NHL, while Sidney Crosby’s 59.7% puts him at eighth.

Pittsburgh’s power play has notched 12 goals over the last 15 games, and is operating at 19.1% (12/63) in that span.

Marcus Pettersson’s plus-20 leads Pittsburgh and is tied for 10th in the NHL.

Pittsburgh has been playing consistent hockey over the last month, picking up points in 12 of its last 15 games (9-3-3). Since this stretch began on Dec. 12, only six teams have accumulated more points than the Penguins.

Erik Karlsson (30) and Kris Letang (28) rank fourth and fifth on Pittsburgh in points, respectively. The duo have combined for 58 points, which is fifth-most among any duo of defensemen in the league this year.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game with 574 career goals, and currently sits three goals from tying Mark Recchi (577) for 21st place on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

Kris Letang sits two points shy of reaching the 30-point plateau for the 14th time in his career. He’s looking to become just the 21st blueliner in NHL history to compile 14 or more 30-point seasons, and just the second active defenseman to accomplish this feat.

Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game riding a six-game point streak (1G-6A) after his assist on Saturday against Carolina. Karlsson leads all Pittsburgh blueliners with 30 points (7G-28A). Despite only playing 41 games this season, Karlsson has become just the ninth Penguins defenseman since the 2004-05 lockout to notch 30 or more points in a season.

Karlsson’s six-game point streak is the longest such active streak by a defenseman in the NHL.

Over the course of their careers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been dominant in day games. The duo rank first and third, respectively, in points in day games among active players, and only Alex Ovechkin (88) has more goals in day games than them.

Jake Guentzel has produced against Seattle since they entered the league in 2021.22, notching four goals, two assists, six points and is plus-3 in four career games against them. Only Evander Kane (6G in 4GP) is averaging more goals per game than Guentzel’s 1.00 in NHL History (min. 4 GP).

Guentzel enters tonight’s game one goal shy of hitting the 20-goal plateau for the seventh-consecutive season. When he reaches this mark, he will become just the seventh player in franchise history to have seven or more 20-goal campaigns with Pittsburgh.

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