Back in the loss column once again the Penguins are lost and missing out in the wilds of the NHL.
The Pens are once again a defeated team. They've only won twice in the last 11 games. They have yet to win more than two games in a row all year. This is a familiar, lonely place for them this season. They have no consistency, no resiliency, and no urgency. They're blowing leads, conceding goals seconds after mounting comebacks and just look completely lost as a group.
The coaches have been making very few adjustments to address this too. Most of what they have tried is superficial or isolated over systematic. And it's been predictably having little effect. They're trying to slap Band-Aids over large gashes.
Everyone in the Penguins' world is understandably nervous right now. They desperately need wins in any fashion they can get them to maintain this team's personnel at status quo and this isn't news. So instead of droning on about these endless issues we're all very familiar with by now, let's jump right into the game info for tonight:
Game Info:
Pens Game #17: Pittsburgh Penguins at Minnesota Wild
Date: November 17, 2022
Time: 8 PM (ET)
Place: Saint Paul, MN
Venue: Xcel Energy Center
Broadcasts: Local- ATTSN
Social Media Hashtags #: #LetsGoPens #MNWild
Team Matchup:
Records- PIT: 6-7-3, MIN: 7-7-2
Last 10- PIT: 2-6-2, MIN: 5-4-1
Standings- PIT: 25th, MIN: 19th
Points- PIT: 15, MIN: 16
Streaks- PIT: 2 Losses, MIN: 2 Losses
‘21/22 Season Series- 1-1 Tie
‘21/22 Series Goals For- PIT: 8, MIN: 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, Canada.
Drafted: 2013- Rd 2, Pk 44 (PIT). Experience: 7th Season.
Record: 4-3-2, 3.55 GAA, .900 SV%
Career vs. MIN: 1-0-1, 3.37 GAA, .899 SV%
🆚
-Filip Gustavsson- #32
[Minnesota Wild]
Bio Info: 6' 2", 184 lbs. DOB: 6/7/1998 (24). From: Skelleftea, Sweden.
Drafted: 2016- Rd 2, Pk 55 (PIT). Experience: 3rd Season.
Record: 1-3-1, 2.81 GAA, .914 SV%
Career vs. PIT: 1-1-0, 3.44 GAA, .895 SV%
Penguins Update:
In search of a spark on the ice the Penguins are tweaking their top two lines just a tad ahead of the game against the Wild. Head Coach Mike Sullivan flipped the placement of a couple of wingers in practice yesterday. Rickard Rakell is now on line one alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel in the hope of reigniting some chemistry there. Meanwhile, Bryan Rust has been shifted to the second line with the red-hot Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker.
With the return of Teddy Blueger last game, forward Filip Hallander was reassigned back to the minor leagues to make space for Blueger and his cap hit.
-Injury Report-
-Pierre-Oliver Joseph (D): lower body, day-to-day.
-Pens Lines-
The projected Penguins lines for Thursday, November 17, 2022, at the Minnesota Wild:
(Forwards)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Danton Heinen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
(Defense)
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
Chad Ruhwedel - Jan Rutta
Wild Update:
The Wild are another team chock full of Penguins alumni, tonight that will not include the most famous ex-Pen on the roster though. Marc-Andre Fleury is sidelined with an upper body for the next week at least. However, there are still a lot of familiar faces around. Freddy Gaudreau will be on Minnesota's top line as their #1 center. Former Pens draft pick Filip Gustavsson is expected to be their starting goalie. And most interesting of all, 22-year-old rookie sensation Calen Addison, the Penguins' one-time most prized prospect who was traded for Jason Zucker will play his first NHL game against the team that decided he was expendable. Addison is the second-leading rookie defenseman in points this season with 8 points on the year. That's tied with former #1 overall pick Owen Power of Buffalo.
-Offseason Update-
Key players added: Forwards- Nic Petan, Sam Steel. Defenseman- Andrej Sustr. Goalie- Filip Gustavsson.
Key players lost: Forwards- Nick Bjugstad, Kevin Fiala. Defenseman- Dmitry Kulikov. Goalie- Cam Talbot.
-Injury Report-
-Marc-Andre Fleury (G): IR, upper body, out until 11/25.
-Jordan Greenway (F): upper body, out until 11/23.
-Ryan Hartman (F): upper body, out until 11/23.
For The Penguins: Jason Zucker. For the second game in a row, Zucker is the man to watch. Now on a four-game point streak and with six points in those last four games, Jason Zucker is the best Penguins player currently taking the ice. And he'll have an extra jump in his step playing in front of his former home team in Minnesota.
For The Wild: Kirill Kaprizov. Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 18 points this year. He's got a four-game point streak of his own going with five points in that span. His last three points have come via assists. It seems like it's high time for him to get back on the scoresheet in goals.
