Penguins Look to ‘Leap’ Kraken
Happy Leap Day to all. I hope you’re well-rested, because the Penguins play game two of their west coast trip, and the puck won’t drop until after 10 pm EST. So, drink a coffee, take a nap, and get ready to watch the Penguins take on the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.
First, let’s look back at some Leap Day statistics.
The Penguins have played eight career games on Leap Day with a record of 4-4, most recently a 5-0 loss to San Jose. Sidney Crosby has recorded three assists in two Leap Day games played. Evgeni Malkin has two assists in three. Kris Letang has a goal and an assist in three. 12 out of the 23 man active roster have never played on Leap Day— most notably Jeff Carter, Reilly Smith, Erik Karlsson, and Rickard Rakell, who are all over 30. Tristan Jarry started in that aforementioned 5-0 loss to San Jose. Hopefully tonight’s result is better.
How have the Penguins performed against the Kraken?
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a record of 2-2-1 against the Seattle Kraken. Sidney Crosby has four goals and two assists in five games against the Seattle Kraken. Evgeni Malkin has one and one in four. Kris Letang has five helpers in five games. Erik Karlsson has four assists in five. However, the Kraken currently employ five former Penguins— Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Justin Schultz, Jamie Oleksiak, and Letang’s long-time defensive partner Brian Dumoulin. With Pittsburgh’s tendency to give up goals to their former players… make sure to hammer any and all of them for anytime goalscorer. (That was a joke. Please do not take gambling advice from me. I am not good at it.)
What to watch for:
Tristan Jarry will start in goal for the Penguins. He rebounded very, very, well after Sunday’s 7-6 win against Philadelphia. He quite literally saved the game in overtime on Tuesday with this unbelievable save. If the Penguins are to manage to squeeze into the playoffs, he will have to stay at the top of his game.
Phillipp Grubauer will be in net tonight for the Kraken. He has an all-time record of 3-1-2 against Pittsburgh, with a GAA of 3.19 and a .887 SV% in games started. However, he’s been hot for Seattle since returning from injury, winning all three of his starts, and recording a .938 SV%.
Both the Penguins and the Kraken are currently seven points out of the playoffs. Pittsburgh has four games in hand on Philadelphia, and five in hand on Tampa Bay. Seattle has two games in hand on Nashville. Both teams are desperate. This game might get chippy.
The Penguins and the Kraken are both at the bottom of the league in terms of goals for. Seattle is the 28th team with 150. Pittsburgh currently sits only three spots higher with 168. Both teams are, however, in the top ten for least goals against. Seattle is tied for ninth, allowing 165 goals against. Pittsburgh is third in the league— behind only Florida and Winnipeg— and have only allowed 152 goals against. This will likely be a low scoring affair.
Sidney Crosby has a three game active point streak, and ten points in his last six games. He seems determined to drag this depleted lineup into the playoffs, whether they like it or not. Look for his dominance to continue tonight.
Kris Letang has a four game point streak, during which he has three goals and three assists.
Erik Karlsson is riding a five game point streak. He has a goal and five assists during that time frame.
After a 16 game drought, Rickard Rakell has scored three goals in his last two games; Crosby has recorded the primary assist on all of them. Rakell needs to stay hot if the Penguins have a chance against a Seattle team that badly needs a win to stay within spitting distance of making the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins just recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from Wilkes Barre/Scranton, and officially placed Bryan Rust on Injured Reserve. However, winger Drew O’Connor took a hit from Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek late in the 3rd period of Tuesday’s game. His head hit the boards fairly hard, and he seemed dazed. Hopefully was just winded, but I’m wondering if O’Connor will be joining the list of injured Penguins.
