Bruins vs. Penguins Preview: Beasts Of The East
The first place Bruins face the Pens after capturing the President’s Trophy.
In what's going to be their last major test of the season, the Penguins face the newly minted President's Trophy-winning Boston Bruins today in an afternoon tilt at home.
The Bruins have been the hottest team in the league all year long compiling a record that includes less well under 15 regulation losses (58-12-5) total. They currently have the highest odds to win the Stanley Cup per MoneyPuck. And they have won eight of their last 10 games.
The Penguins on the other hand are still on a topsy-turvy, up-and-down ride as they try to keep ahold of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They've had a mixed bag of results all year at 37-28-10 and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. They're desperately searching for some consistency over multiple games. And are fighting off the Florida Panthers who remain a single point out from taking their playoff spot.
Now they face the #1 team in the league in a Saturday afternoon showdown that's slated for national network TV on ABC at 3 PM. The Pens are in a pressure cooker with the playoffs on the line and the big bad Bruins banging on their door today. Check out the game details below for a further breakdown of this match-up.
Game Info:
Pens Game #76: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins
Date: April 1, 2023
Time: 3 PM (ET)
Place: Pittsburgh, PA
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
Social Media Hashtags #: #LetsGoPens #NHLBruins
Broadcast Info:
National Broadcast: ABC
Canadian Broadcast: SN1
Online Stream: ESPN+
Penguins Radio: 105.9 The X/Penguins Radio Network
Bruins Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub
Team Matchup:
Records- PIT: 37-28-10, BOS: 58-12-5
Last 10- PIT: 4-6-0, BOS: 8-2-0
Streaks- PIT: 1 Win, BOS: 1 Win
Standings- PIT: 16th, BOS: 1st
Points- PIT: 84, BOS: 121
Playoff Positions-
PIT: Eastern Conference #8, 2nd Eastern Wildcard spot.
BOS: Eastern Conference #1, 1st Atlantic Division playoff spot.
Season Series- 2-0
Series Goals For- PIT: 6, BOS: 8
Team Analytics Comparison:
Goalie Matchup:
Projected starting goalies:
-Tristan Jarry- #35
[Pittsburgh Penguins]
Bio Info: 6' 2", 194 lbs. DOB: 4/29/1995 (27). From: Surrey, BC.
Drafted: 2013- Rd 2, Pk 44 (PIT). Experience: 7th Season.
Record: 22-10-6, 2.90 GAA, .910 SV%
Career vs. BOS: 3-5-3, 3.14 GAA, .912 SV%
🆚
-Jeremy Swayman- #1
[Boston Bruins]
Bio Info: 6' 2", 187 lbs. DOB: 11/24/1998 (24). From: Anchorage, AK.
Drafted: 2017- Rd 4, Pk 111 (BOS). Experience: 3rd Season.
Record: 20-6-4, 2.21 GAA, .921 SV%
Career vs. PIT: 1-3-0, 1.92 GAA, .929 SV%
Penguins Update:
The Penguins have yet to beat the Bruins this season coming into this third and final meeting. Although they have been scoring against them. They've managed to score goals six against Boston's usually rock-solid goaltending, which is a promising building block to getting a victory.
Congrats to Tristan Jarry who played his 200th NHL game against the Predators on Thursday. Jarry's 115 wins in his first 200 games are the fourth most wins through 200 career games among active goalies.
NEXT UP: The Kris Letang 1k game vs. the Flyers tomorrow at home, then a one-off road trip to face the Devils in New Jersey on Tuesday.
-Injury Report-
-Nick Bonino (F): LTIR, lacerated kidney, out until 4/4.
-Dmitry Kulikov (D): LTIR, lower body, out until 4/6.
-Marcus Pettersson (D): LTIR, lower body, week-to-week.
-Jan Rutta (D): lower body, week-to-week.
-Pens Lines-
The projected Penguins lines for Saturday, April 1, 2023, vs. the Boston Bruins:
(Forwards)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O’Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald
(Defense)
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
P.O. Joseph - Jeff Petry
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel
(Special Teams)
PP1: Letang, Malkin, Crosby, Rakell, Guentzel
PP2: Petry, Zucker, Rust, Granlund, Carter
PK1: Poehling, Rust, Dumoulin, Petry
PK2: Granlund, Archibald, Ruhwedel, Letang
PK+: Carter/O'Connor
Bruins Update:
The Bruins were arguably one of the biggest trade deadline winners landing prized trade targets Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitri Orlov, plus handy role player Garnet Hathaway. All of those additions came while only losing Craig Smith from their main full-time roster.
Boston brings the top penalty kill in the league into town. Their kill percentage is a stunning 86.4% on the season.
-Trade Deadline Movements-
Key players added: Forwards- Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnet Hathaway. Defensemen- Dmitri Orlov. Goalie- Michael DiPietro.
Key players lost: Forwards- Craig Smith, Jack Studnicka.
-2022-23 Bruins Team Leaders vs. Penguins-
Goals: Jake Debrusk- 2.
Assists: Hampus Lindholm- 3.
Points: Hampus Lindholm- 4.
Plus/Minus: Matt Grzelcyk- +2.
PIM: Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak- 4.
Shots: Brad Marchand- 10.
Hits: Connor Clifton- 11.
Blocks: Brandon Carlo, Hampus Lindholm- 4.
Takeaways: Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle- 2.
Faceoff%: Tomas Nosek- 69.2%.
-Injury Report-
-Nick Foligno (F): IR, lower body, out until playoffs.
-Derek Forbort (D): lower body, out until playoffs.
-Taylor Hall (F): LTIR, lower body, out indefinitely.
-Jakub Lauko (F): upper body, day-to-day.
For The Penguins: Jake Guentzel. For the third game in a row, "Guentz" is the guy to keep an eye on. Jake extended his point streak to five games with his goal against Nashville. He's absolutely humming right now and has scooped up six points in the last five games. Guentzel scored in all but four games during the 15 played in March. Now it's time to see what he has in store for April.
For The Bruins: David Pastrnak. This is an all food-themed edition of "Ones To Watch" as we combine the namesake of "Jake Shakes" on the Pittsburgh side with Boston's own "Pasta". Patrnak matches Jake Guentzel with six points in the last five games. He's on a three-game scoring streak. And "Pasta's" produced two multi-point nights in his last five outings. The Penguins need to guard against Pastrnak aggressively today and bring some napkins just in case they let the Pasta hit the fan.
