Game Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning @ Pittsburgh Penguins 11/19/2024

The Pens kick off a four-game homestand tonight against the Lightning.

Who: Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-1, 19 points, 3rd place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (7-10-3, 17 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Locally: Sportnet, TVA Sports, FDSN Sun, Sportsnet Pittsburgh. Nationally: ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Tonight’s game kicks off a four-game homestand for the Pens. Next up is a back-to-back weekend set, starting against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and followed up by the franchise’s first game against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.

Opponent Track: The Lightning started out the month of November with four straight losses, then outscored their last two opponents, the Jets and New Jersey Devils, by a combined score of 8-1. Most recently they shut out the Devils at home on Saturday.

Season Series: The Pens face the Lightning twice more this season, but not until 2025, with games coming up on Jan. 12 and March 25.

Hidden Stat: The Penguins are 6-1-0 in the team’s last seven games against the Lightning.

Getting to know the Lightning

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Jake Guentzel - Brayden Point (?) - Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Nick Paul

Cam Atkinson - Conor Geekie - Mitchell Chaffee

Zemgus Girgensons - Luke Glendening - Michael Eyssimont

DEFENSEMEN

Victor Hedman / J.J. Moser

Ryan McDonagh / Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg / Nick Perbix

Goalies: Andrei Vasilevskiy / Jonas Johansson

IR: Jack Finley

• Brayden Point, who has been sidelined for two weeks with a lower-body injury, participated in Lightning practice on Monday. Head coach Jon Cooper said on Monday that Point is “trending in the right direction,” but didn’t guarantee he would play against the Penguins. If Point remains sidelined tonight, Anthony Cirelli will take his place on the top line, while Nick Paul will slide over to the second line.
• This will be Jake Guentzel’s second game against his former team. Last season he registered six shots and skated just over 21 minutes as the Pens won 4-1 over the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I’ll probably always see Jake as a Pittsburgh Penguin with everything that we’ve been through here in Pittsburgh, and what he meant to to our team and winning the Stanley Cup when he was here. He was a great player for us for a long time. I know I’m stating the obvious when I say that, but this is the business aspect of the game and that is what it is. We’re going to coach the guys we have. But certainly, I’ll always view him as a Penguin.” — Mike Sullivan on Jake Guentzel (h/t DK Pittsburgh Sports’ Taylor Haase)

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Nikita Kucherov, who led the NHL with 100 assists and 144 points last season, is on a tear again to start out the 2024-25 campaign. He has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points, and has marked the scoreboard in 15 of his 16 games so far. At this rate, tonight is likely to be a milestone for him— he’s one point away from No. 900, and will be the 23rd fastest player in NHL history to reach the milestone should he mark the scoreboard tonight.
• The Lightning may have won 4-0 over the Devils on Saturday, but the game was closer than the final score shows, as Tampa Bay went into the third period with just a one-goal lead. Andrei Vasilevskiy proved to be the star of the game as he made 29 saves in his second shutout of the season.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines (from Monday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Anthony Beauvillier - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell

Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust

Jesse Puljujarvi - Drew O’Connor - Sam Poulin

Matt Nieto - Noel Acciari - Vasily Ponomarev

DEFENSEMEN

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Matt Grzelcyk / Jack St. Ivany

Owen Pickering / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Tristan Jarry

Potential Scratches: Kris Letang, Valtteri Puustinen, Ryan Graves

IR: Kevin Hayes (week-to-week upper body injury), Cody Glass (concussion), Blaze Lizotte

• Kris Letang, who has missed the Penguins’ last two games with an illness, is “getting better,” Mike Sullivan said on Monday.

• Pickering and Ponomarev were still in the lines in Monday’s practice and look set for their second NHL appearances of the season.
• Milestone watch: Sidney Crosby is one goal away from No. 600 of his career. He is set to join Alex Ovechkin, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Bobby Hull as the only players to achieve the feat with a single franchise.