Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Edmonton Oilers 10/25/2024
The Pens see a team that has had their number in recent years..
Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (3-4-1, 7 points) @ Edmonton Oilers (2-4-1, 5 points)
When: 9:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: SN Pittsburgh, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: One more game on the road for this trip in Vancouver tomorrow night and then the Pens return to Pittsburgh for a three-game homestand that starts when Marc-Andre Fleury and the Wild come to town on Tuesday.
Opponent Track: After starting the season 0-3-0, the Oilers have been 2-1-1 in their last four games. It’s not right to say they’re totally on track just yet, Edmonton entered the third period up 2-0 against Carolina in their last game at home on Tuesday and ended up losing 3-2 in OT.
Season Series: The Oil make their way to the ‘Burgh this season on January 9th to complete the two-game season series.
Hidden Stat: The Penguins last beat Edmonton in December 2019. Since then Edmonton is 7-0-0 against Pittsburgh with a combined score of a 35-10 margin. Last year the Pens were outscored 10-1 by EDM in their two matchups, which may/may not be an improvement over the 13-5 aggregate score of the teams the season prior in 2022-23.
Getting to know the Oilers
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Jeff Skinner - Leon Draisaitl - Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Janmark - Derek Ryan - Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin - Adam Henrique - Corey Perry
DEFENSEMEN
Mattias Ekholm / Evan Bouchard
Travis Dermott / Darnell Nurse
Brett Kulak / Troy Stecher
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard
Possible scratches: Ty Emberson
IR: Evander Kane
—The Oilers have been shuffling combinations around as they look to build chemistry early in the season. They are essentially the same core of their Stanley Cup Final team from last year, returning the top eight playoff scorers but dealing with replacing some important mid-level players (Warren Foegele, Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway) from that run. Kane should be eventually back from knee surgery but they’ll need to get Skinner and Arvidsson up and going soon.
Player stats
(via hockeydb)
—Probably only for Connor McDavid can eight points in seven games reasonably be consider a slow start (he’s recorded 132 and 153 points in the last two seasons). But, right as rain, McDavid scored two goals in the last game against Carolina and has 3G+3A in the last four contests so yeah, we don’t have to be too worried about his future or form as the most dangerous player in the game.
—32-year old Jeff Skinner has played 1,013 NHL games and not even reached the playoffs once. This has to be the year, right?
—It’s early yet, but surprising to see Hyman sitting scoreless after seven games. He had 54 goals and 77 points in 80 games last season. Evan Bouchard is also sticking out with only two points in the early going, after scoring 82 points in 81 games last year. Given how PIT/EDM games usually go, you would think those guys are licking their chops for this one tonight.
And now for the Pens
Infographic courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Drew O’Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Anthony Beauvillier - Lars Eller - Cody Glass
Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari - Jesse Puljujarvi
DEFENSEMEN
Marcus Pettersson / Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves / Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Joel Blomqvist
Potential Scratches: Ryan Shea, Valtteri Puustinen
Not a scratch per Mike Sullivan but appearing as a scratch to the rest of the world: Tristan Jarry
IR: Matt Nieto (knee surgery), Blake Lizotte, Vasily Ponomarev
—-Cody Glass continued his flip from center on one lower line to wing on the other one yesterday in practice. Other than that the Pens were similar, which looks like it will include a second game for the new-look top four defensive pairs.
—Jarry returned to Pittsburgh to get individual work with Jon Elkin, the director of goaltending. So yeah, that’s not great place to be.
Good omens for Rickard Rakell
Rickard Rakell has been having a great season so far and the better news is that the Oilers have been a team he’s done well against over the years.