DALLAS — Deep in the heart of Texas, the Pittsburgh Penguins (14-7-5) will try to win their third in a row, but will have to beat one of the best in the Western Conference to do so. The Penguins visit the Dallas Stars (19-5-5) at American Airlines Arena.
The puck drops just after 6 p.m. EST.
The Penguins are a solid underdog according to the FanDuel oddsmakers, going off on the money line at +138. The research department laid out prop bets on several games, too.
The Penguins have won four of five games but were scrambled by the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday, yet pulled out a controversial 4-3 win. Evgeni Malkin scored with 2:43 remaining, but Tampa Bay’s tying goal with 50 seconds remaining was disallowed after the NHL Situation Room ruled there was a handpass.
As issue was the nature of the handpass, as Brandon Hagel put his hands up to stop a rim-around puck on the glass from hitting him in the face. The puck hit Hagel’s gloves and deflected to a Tampa Bay teammate, keeping possession.
The other storyline in the Penguins’ win was goalie Tristan Jarry, whom teammates credited with stealing the victory.
“It must have been fun to watch. It was kind of fun to play too, even though we were on our heels for most of it,” said defenseman Erik Karlsson. “You know, it’s easy to say now because we won the game. I think if we had lost it would have been a bit different. But yeah, it was just a weird one. They played really good hockey. (Jarry) bailed us out and probably stole us this game.”
Malkin scored a pair of goals, including a breakaway tally. On a first-period power play, Ville Koivunen scored his first NHL goal, and Ben Kindel scored another power-play goal in the win.
Jarry stopped 37 of 40 shots.
The Penguins trail the Metro Division-leading Washington Capitals by four points, but have three games in hand. The Penguins currently occupy the first wild card. They are tied with the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, and New York Rangers with 33 points, but the Penguins have three, three, and four games in hand, respectively.
Dallas has a six-game points streak (5-0-1), and beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 Friday at American Airlines Arena. Dallas scored three third-period goals to break a tied game.
Sam Steel, Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson, and Mikko Rantanen lit the lamp for Dallas, and Jake Oettinger stopped 16 of 17 shots for the win.
Dallas is dealing with the season-ending injury of franchise cornerstone Tyler Seguin, who suffered a torn ACL.
The Penguins may get Justin Brazeau and Noel Acciari back in the lineup today. Both have been out for about four weeks due to injury. Coach Dan Muse will announce his starting goalie and the injury updates Sunday at 4 p.m.
How to Watch
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, NHL Network.
Radio: 105.9 The X
Expected Penguins Lines
Tommy Novak-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty-Ben Kindel-Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Matt Dumba
Goalie: Tristan Jarry, unconfirmed.
Expected Stars Lines
Sam Steel-Wyatt Johnston-Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Jamie Benn
Oscar Back-Justin Hryckowian-Mavrik Bourque
Colin Blackwell-Radek Faksa-Nathan Bastian
Defense
Esa Lindell-Miro Heiskanen
Vladislav Kolyachonok-Ilya Lyubushkin
Kyle Capobianco-Alex Petrovic
Goalie: Jake Oettinger, unconfirmed.
Special Teams
Penguins’ power play: 34.4%, 1st. Penguins penalty kill: 84.8%, 4th.
Stars power play: 31.9%, 3rd. Stars penalty kill: 81.7%, 11th.
Penguins Game Notes
Remarkably, the Penguins have points in nine of their last 14 games against the Stars (7-5-2) dating back to Feb. 9, 2018.
Road warriors: The Penguins have points in 12 of their 14 road games this season (8-3-3), and have scored four or more goals in each of their last three road games.
Anthony Mantha’s plus-12 leads the team.
Only three 18-year-olds in Penguins history have scored more goals in their rookie year than Ben Kindel (7): Sidney Crosby (39), Jordan Staal (29), and Jaromir Jagr (27).
Categorized: Penguins Pregame
