Game Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3/30/2025

Two new players poised to step into big roles today for the Penguins

Who: Ottawa Senators (39-28-5, 83 points, 4th place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (29-34-11, 69 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 5:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: TSN5, SportsNet Pittsburgh, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins hit the road for the last multi-game away swing of the season next week, starting with a Thursday trip to see the St. Louis Blues and followed by a back-to-back set in Dallas and Chicago next Saturday and Sunday.

Opponent Track: The Senators have lost three of their last six games but still remain on track for the first Wild Card spot in the East. Most recently the Sens claimed a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.

Season Series: The Penguins have yet to win against the Senators this season. Brady Tkachuk scored in overtime at Canadian Tire Centre in December, and no extra frame was needed in a 5-0 shutout at PPG Paints in January.

Hidden Stat: Senators winger Claude Giroux has the most points against the Penguins of any active player with 76 (21 goals, 55 assists) in 69 career matchups with the Pens, per StatMuse.

Getting to know the Senators

Projected lines (from Saturday’s game)

FORWARDS

Claude Giroux - Tim Stützle - Fabian Zetterlund

David Perron - Dylan Cozens - Drake Batherson

Brady Tkachuk - Shane Pinto - Ridley Greig

Matthew Highmore - Adam Gaudette - Michael Amadio

DEFENSEMEN

Jake Sanderson / Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot / Nick Jensen

Tyler Kleven / Nikolas Matinpalo

Goalies: Anton Forsberg (Linus Ullmark started yesterday against the Blue Jackets)

Scratches: Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic

IR: Nick Cousins (knee)

• Nick Cousins hasn’t played since a knee-on-knee collision during a Jan. 25 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Player stats

(via hockeydb, doesn’t include Saturday’s game)

• The Senators went into Saturday averaging 2.06 goals per game at 5v5, good for 28th in the NHL, per Natural Stat Trick. The team worked on addressing this season-long weakness at the trade deadline, when they traded Josh Norris for a more productive even-strength player in Dylan Cozens.
• Ottawa has also struggled on the penalty kill. They’re at 77.3 percent on the season, good for No. 19 in the NHL, although the unit has gone 6-for-7 in their last two wins over the Red Wings and Blue Jackets.
• The Sens have recently struggled with blown leads, including almost giving up a three-goal third-period lead earlier this week against the Detroit Red Wings, but were able to hold strong for a 3-2 regulation win over the Blue Jackets last night. That’s a promising sign for a team looking to make a postseason run for the first time since Chris Kunitz eliminated the franchise in double overtime of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rutger McGroarty - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Ville Koivunen - Rickard Rakell - Connor Dewar

Philip Tomasino - Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari

Danton Heinen - Blake Lizotte - Emil Bemstrom

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Erik Karlsson / Conor Timmins

Vladislav Kolyachonok / Ryan Graves

Goalies: Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Ryan Shea (upper body injury), Tommy Novak (lower body), Evgeni Malkin (day-to-day upper body injury)

Injured Reserve: P.O. Joseph (upper body), Boko Imama (bicep)

• The Penguins will get another look at two players who could be competing for a roster spot in next fall’s training camp with the arrival of Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes/Barre-Scranton. Calling up these two top WBS scorers is something head coach Mike Sullivan said he and Kyle Dubas have “talked about for a little bit,” per Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo.

• Boko Imama is out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery Saturday on a bicep injury, the Penguins announced Saturday.