Game Notes
Sidney Crosby has 71 points (19G-52A) in 57 career games against the Bruins, which includes 30 points (7G-23A) over his last 26 contests. No active player in the NHL has more points against Boston than Crosby.
Crosby (582) enters tonight’s game one goal shy of tying Wayne Gretzky (583) for the seventh-most goals with a single franchise in NHL history.
Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 63 points (32G-31A) in 61 games, is still producing at an elite rate in his 19th season. The 36-year-old Crosby has one of the highest point-per-game averages in NHL history from a player’s 35th birthday and on (trailing only Mario Lemieux, Frank Mahovlich, and Wayne Gretzky).
Sidney Crosby’s 817 faceoff wins lead the NHL this season by 132 more than the Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck’s 685 faceoff wins, ranking second.
Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson have had success against Boston in their careers. The duo ranks second and fourth in points among active defensemen against the Bruins, respectively. Letang leads all active defensemen in assists (24) against the Bruins.
On Thursday night, the Penguins acquired forward Michael Bunting along with forward prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius and conditional 2024 first-round and fifth-round draft picks from the Carolina Hurricanes in Exchange for Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith.
Bunting, 28, has skated in 60 games this season with the Hurricanes and tallied 13 goals, 23 assists and 36 points. His 13 goals rank fifth on the team, while his assist and point totals both rank sixth. The forward has tallied six power-play goals and a career-high 16 power-play points, which rank third and second on the team, respectively.
Bunting has played in parts of five NHL seasons split between the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Hurricanes. In 247 career games, Bunting has recorded 70 goals, 92 assists, 162 points, 18 power-play goals, eight game-winning goals, and a plus-32. The forward has also tallied two goals, three assists, and five points in 13 playoff games, all with the Maple Leafs.
Lars Eller has recorded 23 points (16G-7A) in 50 career games against Boston. His 16 goals against them are his most versus any one team.
Rickard Rakell has 15 points (7G-8A) in 17 games played against the Bruins, which includes four multi-point efforts.
The Penguins own an overall record of 382-87-45 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
Over the course of their careers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been dominant in day games. The duo rank first and third, respectively, in points in day games among active players, and only Alex Ovechkin (91) has more goals in day games than them.
Crosby has been finding the back of the net at a consistent pace. He is tied for 11th in the NHL in goals (32). Crosby has been especially dangerous on the road, picking up 33 points (19G-14A) in 30 road games. His 19 goals on the road are fifth in the NHL.
Marcus Pettersson is quietly putting together the best campaign of his career. Pettersson (3G-21A) is one point shy of tying his single-season high in points of 25 (2G-23A) set in 84 games in 2018.19. The defenseman is also three assists short of setting a single-season high in assists.
Over his past 11 games, Pettersson has tallied five points (1G-4A). His seven multi-point outings on the this season rank second among team defensemen behind only Erik Karlsson (9).
