Hart and Vezina Trophy contenders face off as Crosby meets Robertson and Jarry faces Oettinger.
This week kicks off with an important test of a similarly successful team for the seventh-place Penguins as the sixth-place Stars come to town.
The Pens and Stars are keeping pace with each other in many different metrics, so many it's uncanny. This is very much like the Penguins are facing themselves, minus a Stanley Cup or three between the two team's player cores that is. A comparison:
Records- PIT: 16-8-4, DAL: 16-7-5
Standings- PIT: 7th, DAL: 6th
Goalie Records- PIT: 12-3-3, DAL: 11-3-3
PK Rank- PIT: 5th, DAL: 3rd
GF/GP- PIT: 7th, DAL: 3rd
GA/GP- PIT: 12th, DAL: 10th
Dallas is led by Jason Robertson, who recently went on an 18-game point streak that announced him as a bonafide NHL star. On the other side of the ice is the Penguins' trusty old Captain Sidney Crosby, the 2-decade-long bonafide NHL star, wielding his own recent 6-game point streak and status as the league's leading scorer at 5 vs. 5.
Crosby line vs. Robertson line is the star-studded top duel to watch of the skaters in this game. Sidney Crosby might shift to a more defensive role to corral the hot hand of Jason Robertson, but given Sid's taste for offense lately and his 1.3 points per game pace this season that’s not assured. Crosby has spoken about his desire to nab an extra point a game to help his team this year in interviews. Offensive production seems to be a priority for him. The play of the Stars and how they're able to institute their game might end up being the deciding factor in what role Sidney takes tonight.
At the ends of the ice, Tristan Jarry vs. Jake Oettinger is a true marquee net matchup of Vezina trophy contenders. Both goalies come into this game with similar stats: Jarry with a better record at 12-3-0 vs. Oettinger's 11-3-3. The goals against averages fall in Oettinger's favor however at 2.52 GAA. Jarry's GAA sits at 2.76. Oettinger keeps the opposition scoring lower, but Jarry gets those all-important wins.
The Stars are 4-1-1 in their last six games and have gone to OT in their last two straight. While the Pens are 5-1 in their last six games and riding a five-game win streak. They're coming off a weekend back-to-back series, including one overtime game.
Game Info:
Pens Game #29: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Dallas Stars
Date: December 12, 2022
Time: 7 PM (ET)
Place: Pittsburgh, PA
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
Broadcasts: Local- ATTSN, National- ESPN+
Social Media Hashtags #: #LetsGoPens #TexasHockey
Team Matchup:
Records- PIT: 16-8-4, DAL: 16-7-5
Last 10- PIT: 8-1-1, DAL: 5-2-3
Streaks- PIT: 5 Wins, DAL: 2 Wins
Standings- PIT: 7th, DAL: 6th
Points- PIT: 36, DAL: 37
‘21/22 Season Series- 2-0
‘21/22 Series Goals For- PIT: 3, DAL: 5
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: 12-3-0, 2.76 GAA, .919 SV%
Career vs. DAL: 0-1-1, 1.94 GAA, .934 SV%
🆚
-JAKE OETTINGER- #29
[Dallas Stars]
Bio Info: 6' 5", 220 lbs. DOB: 12/18/1998 (23). From: Lakeville, MN.
Drafted: 2017- Rd 1, Pk 26 (DAL). Experience: 3rd Season.
Record: 11-3-3, 2.52 GAA, .915 SV%
Career vs. PIT: 1-0-0, 2.01 GAA, .931 SV%
Penguins Update:
After being banged up in the last game vs. Buffalo, Jeff Petry is the new name on the Pens' injured list. He's out for tonight and being evaluated for an undisclosed injury. He left Saturday's contest after getting his wrist/arm jammed into the endboards during a check.
Chad Ruhwedel will return to the roster in Petry's absence, and will likely end up with P. O. Joseph on the third pair. Those two spent time playing together in that spot earlier this season.
-Injury Report-
-Jeff Petry (D): undisclosed, day-to-day.
-Pens Lines-
The projected Penguins lines for Monday, December 12, 2022, vs. the Dallas Stars:
(Forwards)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
(Defense)
Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jan Rutta
P.O. Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
(Special Teams)
PP1: Malkin, Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell, Letang
PP2: Carter, Rust, Zucker, Kapanen, Joseph
PK1: Blueger, McGinn, Dumoulin, Rutta
PK2: Poehling, Rust/Archibald, Ruhwedel, Pettersson
Stars Update:
Dallas comes into tonight's game in the enviable position of having a fully healthy roster.
One of those healthy players is the newly minted star, Jason Robertson. Robertson has burst onto the national scene as quite the sensation this year racking up an 18-game point streak that was just broken on Tuesday. That's the Stars' franchise record for the longest point streak in team history.
-Offseason Update-
Key players added: Forward- Mason Marchment. Defensemen: Will Butcher, Colin Miller.
Key players lost: Forward- Vladislav Namestnikov, Alexander Radulov. Defensman: John Klingberg. Goalie: Braden Holtby.
-Injury Report-
(None)
For The Penguins: Jake Guentzel. Jake's buying shakes for the whole city as he's on a seven-game point streak. His current hot spell includes two multi-point games in his last three outings. He's going to single-handedly bankrupt the Milkshake Factory at this rate.
For The Stars: Roope Hintz. Hintz has eight points in the last five games with all of those coming in multi-point per-game performances. That includes a hat trick against Minnesota on December 4th.
