Assistant Coach David Quinn has Pittsburgh’s power play firing on all cylinders, having scored on the man advantage in their fifth-straight game. The Penguins rank fourth in the NHL in power-play percentage (26.3%) and going back to Nov. 30, no team has had a better success rate than Pittsburgh’s 34.7%.
The Penguins have scored a whopping nine power-play goals in their last 19 opportunities (47.4%) during their five-game power-play goal streak. Their current five-game streak with a power-play goal is the longest such active streak in the NHL, and one of the longest in the league this season.
The Penguins are 10-5-2 dating back to Nov. 27 and in this span, the Penguins are third in the NHL in goals. During this span, Rickard Rakell ranks second in the NHL in goals.
* Rickard Rakell continued his assault on NHL netminders with his game-tying goal on Friday night against Florida. The goal doubled as his team-leading 18th tally of the season, and he is now two goals away from his sixth-career 20-goal season.
This season, only William Nylander (23) has more goals in the NHL among Swedish-born players, and he ranks sixth among his countrymen in points.
* Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game just one goal shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull for the sixth-most goals with one franchise in NHL history.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game just one even-strength goal shy of surpassing Teemu Selanne for the 12th most even-strength goals in NHL history.
Sidney Crosby is just 12 face-off wins shy of become the NHL’s all-time face-off wins leader since the stat started being tracked in the 1997-98 season.
Sidney Crosby has 67 points (24G-43A) in 61 career games against Carolina. Crosby’s 67 points versus the Hurricanes are the second most among active players, and his 1.10 points-per-game average against them is tied for the fifth best (min. 15 GP).
Crosby has points in nine of his last 13 games against Carolina (9G-6A) and has 20 points (10G-10A) in his last 20 games versus them. Only Alex Ovechkin (9), Steven Stamkos (7) and Adam Henrique (6) have more game-winning goals against the Hurricanes than Crosby (5) among active players.
* Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk picked up an assist on Friday night against Florida, helping him reach the 20-point plateau for the fifth time in his career. Among defenseman who played for a different NHL team last season, only four blueliners have more points than Pittsburgh’s offseason acquisition.
* Defenseman Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game with seven points (1G- 6A) over his last eight games. Going back further, Karlsson has recorded 14 points (1G-13A) over his last 17 games and in that span, he ranks ninth among NHL blueliners in points.
* Pittsburgh has three prospects representing their respective countries at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship – forward Tanner Howe (Canada) and defensemen Emil Pieniniemi (Finland) and Kalle Kangas (Finland). Below is a look at how each of them has fared in their games thus far.
Howe and Team Canada were eliminated in the quarterfinals, while Pieniniemi, Kangas and Team Finland square off against Team USA tonight in the gold medal game after their 4-3 overtime win yesterday.
* Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have combined on 305 goals in their careers. They are one goal shy of tying Boston’s Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr for the second-most goals combined on by a forward-defenseman duo in NHL history.
Quick Hits
1) Eight of the last 13 games between Pittsburgh and Carolina have been one-goal games.
2) Blake Lizotte has three goals, three assists and six points in eight career games versus Carolina. His 0.75 points-per-game average against the Hurricanes is his highest total versus one team.
3) Matt Grzelcyk’s next assist will give him 20 on the season for just the third time in his career. His career high of assists is 22 set in 75 games with Boston in 2022-23.
4) Tristan Jarry has helped Pittsburgh pick up points in nine of his last 12 starts, going 7-3-2 in that span.
5) The Penguins own an overall record of 398-90-49 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
