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The Pittsburgh Penguins (18-20-8) tanked their recent five-game homestand, winning only once. The resulting fallout was a drop in the standings behind six teams for a playoff spot, and general manager Kyle Dubas waived starting goalie Tristan Jarry. The Penguins badly need wins before the season is lost, and they begin a seven-game road trip Friday against the Buffalo Sabres at Key Bank Arena.
The puck drops just after 7 p.m.
The Penguins are in trouble. They have fallen two games below hockey .500, and there are only two teams in the Eastern Conference with a worse winning percentage (the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres).
The Penguins ‘ seven-game trip begins with a back-to-back in Buffalo and then against the Washington Capitals Saturday before the team embarks on a five-game West Coast swing through LA, Anaheim, Seattle, San Jose, and Utah.
Tuesday, the Penguins seemingly had the game in control. They outshot the Seattle Kraken 16-2 in the first period but were tied 1-1. Seattle scored a pair of goals 49 seconds apart, then later added the empty netter for a 4-2 win at PPG Paints Arena.
Read More: Penguins Room: Sullivan Slams Commitment, Takes Blame; Letang Claims Frustration
Buffalo has been mired in a season-long slump. High hopes of ending a 13-year playoff drought have been dashed, and the drought is likely to extend to a 14th. However, Buffalo has won three of its last four games, including beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Wednesday.
Tage Thompson leads the team with 35 points and 19 goals. No. 1 goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has kept his save percentage in the range of perfectly average at .898.
Friday will be the first Penguins game without Tristan Jarry, who cleared waivers on Thursday. Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist are the new goalie tandem. Coach Mike Sullivan will announce the starter around 11:30 a.m. at the morning skate.
“We have three games in four nights starting (Friday), with a whole lot of travel in between,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “So, both guys are going to get an opportunity to play. At the end of the day, we’re going to try to make the best decisions to help the team.”
Rickard Rakell left practice Thursday, but Sullivan indicated it wasn’t serious. However, it appears Ryan Graves might get back into the lineup.
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Anthony Beauvillier
Drew O’Connor-Kevin Hayes-Philip Tomasino
Blake Lizotte-Cody Glass-Noel Acciari
Marcus Pettersson-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-P.O Joseph
Jason Zucker-Ryan McLeod-Tage Thompson
JJ Peterka-Dylan Cozens-Alex Tuch
Zach Benson-Peyton Krebbs-Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn-Tyson Kozak-Sam Lafferty
Rasmus Dahlin-Bowen Byram
Owen Power-Henri Jokiharju
Mattias Samuelsson-Connor Clifton
Goalie: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Penguins power play: 25.6%, 6th. Penguins penalty kill: 79.2%, 16th.
Sabres Power Play: 17.6%, 27th. Sabres Penalty Kill: 78.8%, 18th.
The Penguins have recently struggled in Buffalo and are 1-3-1 in their last five visits to KeyBank Center.
The Penguins begin their 10th set of back-to-back games. Thus far, the team is 7-11-0 in back-to-backs (1-8-0 on the first night and 6-3-0 on the second night).
Erik Karlsson’s 41 points (14-27-41) and Kris Letang’s 33 points (6-27-33) against the Sabres rank first and second, respectively, among active defensemen.
Tonight, the Penguins begin their season-long seven-game road trip spanning a total of 15 days. It’s the longest road trip since their eight-game road swing nearly 30 years ago, from Oct. 14-28, 1997 (NYR-MTL-TBL-FLASJS-EDM-VAN-CGY).
Sidney Crosby remains one goal shy of passing Bobby Hull for sixth most goals with one franchise in history (604) and one assist short of surpassing Marcel Dionne (1040) for 11th all-time.
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh; Radio: 105.9 The X
Dan’s Daily: Buyers at Trade Deadline; Malkin Update; Penguins Make or Break
No accountability. Everyone needs to step up. Ned isn’t any better.
Morbid curiosity with a desire to repeatedly hit my big toe with a hammer compels me to watch tonight.
On paper I like these lines better, at least.
If you read this, Dan, can you update us on Broz and Larsson? WBS doesn’t play again until Jan. 24, but Broz has missed a significant bit of time now for illness. And is Larsson going to miss enough time that Murashov will be going to the AHL next weekend?
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