Game Preview: 10.09.26 at Columbus Blue Jackets

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THE MATCHUP

-Pittsburgh has points in 19 of its last 20 games (14-1-5) against the Blue Jackets dating back to Dec. 12, 2019.

-Pittsburgh is 24-3-6 in its last 33 games against Columbus dating back to Feb. 3, 2017.

-The Penguins have points in eight of their last nine visits to Nationwide Arena (6-1-2) dating back to Jan. 21, 2022.

QUICK HITS

1. The Penguins have scored three or more goals in 25 of their last 31 games against the Blue Jackets, while 19 of those 31 games have been four-plus goal efforts. 

2. Rickard Rakell has 19 points (9G-10A) in 25 career games against the Blue Jackets. He has six points (5G-1A) in his last five games against them.

3. Declan Carlile has collected four points (2G-2A) through his first four games as a Penguin, marking a new single-season career high and matching his career goal, assist and point totals entering this season. His two goals rank tied for second among NHL defensemen this season, and his four points rank tied for sixth. Carlile recorded two points (1G-1A) on Monday, marking his first career multi-point game.

4) Tommy Novak is riding an active four-game point streak (1G-4A) against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Overall, he has 10 points (3G-7A) in nine career games against them. 

5. Kaedan Korczak’s 10 blocked shots lead all Pittsburgh players and is tied for ninth in the NHL.

PROJECTED LINEUP

New Penguins defenseman Spencer Statsney, acquired from Edmonton in exchange for Filip Hallander, joined the team for morning skate. But he will not play tonight, as the Penguins want to give Stastney time to get acclimated.

"There's a lot of hockey to be played, a lot of games coming up," Head Coach Dan Muse said. "In terms of the day one, it's his first time meeting some of the coaches, his first time meeting some of the players, most of the players. So, it's a new group. 

"He'll just be watching from up top. Gave him a couple of things to look for that might be a little bit different, but you don't want to overwhelm anybody with too much, too soon. I think you want to get your feet underneath you... that's the priority right now."

Statsney skated on the extra defense pairing with Ilya Solovyov. Here are the combinations Pittsburgh used:

Rakell-Crosby-Rust

Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin

Lapierre-Kindel-Koivunen

Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson

(Soderblom, Kuzmenko)

Carlile-Karlsson

Girard-Korczak

van Riemsdyk-Letang

(Stastney, Solovyov)

The biggest adjustment was Rust moving back to the top line alongside Crosby and Rakell, his longtime linemates and teammates.

After being sidelined due to injury, Rust made his season debut in Wednesday's game, starting it alongside Kindel and Koivunen. They scored a goal on their first shift together. But as the game went on, the coaching staff went back to the tried-and-true trio. Here's Muse on his thought process there:

"I didn't think we, as a team, were playing at our best. Things got shuffled a little bit there, and with that line going back together, I thought that we started to put together some shifts – not just that those three, but then the lines afterwards. So, with that, we were building some momentum. Stayed with it, and I thought we played better from that point on. And so, we're going to go back with that. Obviously, there's some familiarity with those guys, a lot of familiarity. I also think that the other lines that did get moved around a little bit, which would have been Kindel’s line, they played well together, also. So, that's the thought process, and go from there."

The Penguins also adjusted their power-play units, with Malkin moving to the first one.

PP1) Karlsson, Crosby, Malkin, Rakell, Kindel

PP2) Letang, Novak, Chinakhov, Rust, Lapierre/Koivunen

CHINNY BACK IN COLUMBUS

Egor Chinakhov is facing his former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, for the third time since being acquired by the Penguins on December 29, 2025. Prior to the trade, Chinakhov scored three goals, tallied three assists and recorded six points in 29 games played with the Blue Jackets in 2025-26. After arriving in Pittsburgh, Chinakhov registered 36 points (18G-18A) in 43 games with the Penguins to close out the season. 

Since December 29, 2025, Chinakhov ranks third on the Penguins in goals (19), tied for third in points (38) and tied for fourth in assists (19):

Penguins Goal Leaders Since Dec. 29, 2025

Season                               GP             G             A          PTS

Anthony Mantha              44              21          18           39

Rickard Rakell                   47             20           18         38

Egor Chinakhov                47             19          19         38

Bryan Rust                        38             15          19         34

Evgeni Malkin                  34             13           23         36

Tommy Novak                 49              13         16          29

CROSBY VERSUS COLUMBUS

Captain Sidney Crosby has notched 71 points (25G-46A) in 49 career games versus the Blue Jackets. Only Patrick Kane has more points against Columbus in NHL history than Crosby:

Most Points Versus Columbus, NHL History

Player                 GP    G      A      PTS

Patrick Kane      67     29     62     91

Sidney Crosby   49     25     46     71

Pavel Datsyuk   62     21     47     68

Martin Erat        64     17     43     60

Jarome Iginla     55     27     30     57

Crosby’s 1.45 points-per-game average versus the Blue Jackets ranks fourth in NHL history (min. 20 GP) behind Connor McDavid (1.90), Nikita Kucherov (1.63) and Joe Sakic (1.46).

NO ONE BETTER

Kris Letang’s 14 goals against Columbus are the most by a defenseman in NHL history. It’s also the most goals Letang has scored against any opponent in his career.

Most Goals vs. CBJ in NHL History, Defensemen

Player                      Goals

Kris Letang              14

Shea Weber             12

Brent Burns             11

Nicklas Lidstrom     11

Cam Fowler             11

Erik Karlsson           10

He also leads all active defensemen in points (34) against the Blue Jackets after his two-point (1G-1A) performance last on November 28, 2025.