QUICK HITS
1) Kris Letang has 11 points (1G-10A) over his last 16 games played and is one point shy of hitting the 20-point plateau for the 18th time in his career. He would become just the 15th defenseman in NHL history with 18 or more 20-point seasons.
2) The Penguins enter tonight’s game ranked second in the NHL in power-play percentage (30.1%).
3) Rickard Rakell has 21 points (7G-14A) in 24 games against the Red Wings.
4) Stuart Skinner has a 2-2-1 record in 5 career games against Detroit with a .920 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average.
5) Anthony Mantha is riding an active three-game goal streak (4G-1A). Only San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini (4 games) has a longer active goal streak in the league.
PENS ACQUIRE CHINAKHOV
On Monday, the Penguins acquired forward Yegor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Danton Heinen, a 2026 second-round draft pick (originally belonging to St. Louis) and a 2027 third-round draft pick (originally belonging to Washington).
Chinakhov, 24, has spent his entire five-year professional career with the Columbus Blue Jackets where he’s recorded 37 goals, 40 assists and 77 points in 204 NHL games. This season, he has accumulated six points (3G-3A) in 29 games. Prior to coming to North America, the native of Omsk, Russia played one season in the KHL, Russia’s top professional league, where he recorded 17 points (10G-7A) in 32 games with Avangard Omsk. For his efforts, he was named the league’s rookie of the year (Alexei Cherepanov Award) as a 19-year-old. He’s also represented his country on the international stage at the 2021 World Junior Championship and 2019 World Under-18 Championship (silver medal).
Chinakhov was drafted by Columbus in the first round (21st overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft.
LETANG 1,200
Tonight, defenseman Kris Letang will appear in his 1,200th NHL game. He is looking to become just the 40th defenseman in NHL history, but just third active blueliner, to reach 1,200 games.
Letang has played his entire career with the Penguins, and he will become just the 28th player, and seventh defenseman, in NHL history to reach 1,200 games with one team.
COUNTDOWN TO 900
Defenseman Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game with points in seven of his last 11 games (2G-8A) and has 13 points (2G-11A) in 14 games in the month of December. Only four defensemen recorded more points than him this month.
Karlsson has recorded 898 points (203G-695A) in 1,122 career games. He is now just two points shy of becoming the 14th defenseman in NHL history to 900 points.
Karlsson is looking to require the ninth-fewest games played by a defenseman in NHL history to reach 900 points. He will also become just the eighth Swedish-born player, and second Swedish defenseman, in league history to accomplish this feat.
BLUELINE BLITZ
Erik Karlsson has 36 points (9G-27A) in 34 games, and Kris Letang has 30 points (8G-22A) in 35 career contests versus Detroit. Their goal totals are first and tied for second among active defensemen versus the Red Wings, respectively.
Karlsson’s 1.06 points-per-game average leads all active defensemen against Detroit, while Letang’s 0.86 points-per game average is ninth best among league blueliners (min. 10 GP).
BURNING RUBBER
Sidney Crosby has 48 points (18G-30A) in 38 career games against the Detroit Red Wings. He has multiple points in eight of his last 15 outings against them (8G-14A). Crosby’s active seven-game point streak against the Red Wings (4G-9A) is the third-longest active such streak in the NHL.
BIG BRAZ
Justin Brazeau found the back of the net for the second-straight game on Tuesday, giving him five points (4G-1A) over the last two games. In doing so, he established a new career high in goals.
Since the Christmas break, only Nikita Kucherov has more goals than Brazeau.
Brazeau has six goals and eight points (6G-2A) over his last eight games.
HOME COOKIN’
Forward Bryan Rust enters tonight’s game with points in six-straight home games (4G-6A) and has goals in four games during this streak. This season, only Sidney Crosby has more points than Rust at PPG Paints Arena.
Teammate Erik Karlsson is riding an active seven-game home point streak (2G-8A), which is tied for the longest active home point streak in the league.
WJC UPDATE
Penguins prospects Harrison Brunicke (Team Canada) and Will Horcoff (Team USA) were each selected to their respective national junior teams for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship. Brunicke and Team Canada have gone 3-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) while Horcoff and Team USA has gone 3-0-0-1).
