Game Notes
Kris Letang has seven points (2G-5A) and is plus-10 in his last 13 games against the Dallas Stars dating back to December 1, 2016.
Michael Bunting has six points (1G-5A) in seven career games versus Dallas. His two points (1G-1A) against them last year was tied with Evgeni Malkin (2A) for the team lead.
The Penguins own an overall record of 390-90-48 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
On Saturday, goaltender Tristan Jarry was recalled from his conditioning loan in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). The two-time NHL All-Star started five games for WBS going 4-1-0 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. He allowed two or fewer goals in three of his five starts, helping WBS climb to sixth in the league standings.
If Jarry gets the call tonight against Dallas, it will mark the fifth time in his career he’s played the Stars. In four career games against them Jarry is 1-2-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, but here at home he has a 1-0-1 record with a 0.96 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage.
Sidney Crosby, who has notched five goals over his last five games, enters tonight’s contest just two goals shy of becoming just the 21st player in NHL history to reach 600 goals. Crosby is looking to join Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (863) as the only active players to accomplish this milestone. Throughout franchise history, only Mario Lemieux (690) has scored more goals in a Penguins sweater than Crosby.
Among first-overall draft picks, only Ovechkin and Lemieux have scored more goals than Crosby.
Ovechkin scored his 600th NHL goal on March 12, 2018. Prior to that, the last time anyone reached 600 goals in the league came on Jan. 4, 2016 when Jarome Iginla found the back of the net against Los Angeles as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
Crosby has 10 points (5G-5A) in six games here at PPG Paints Arena compared to six points (1G-5A) in 10 road games this season. Crosby has multiple points in three-straight home games and four of six games at PPG Paints Arena overall. His three-game home multi-point streak is tied for the longest such active streak in the NHL, and his 0.83 goals-per-game average at home is third in the NHL (min. 3 home games).
Evgeni Malkin was a driving force in Pittsburgh’s win against the Capitals on Friday night, registering two points (1G-1A) including the game-winning goal. It marked Malkin’s seventh mutli-point effort of the season, and only Kirill Kaprizov (10), Nathan MacKinnon (10), Martin Necas (8), and Cale Makar (8) have more games with multiple points than Malkin this season.
Malkin leads the Penguins with 18 points (5G-13A) in 16 games. In all 16 games this season, Malkin has either recorded zero or two-plus points.
Pittsburgh has gone 4-2-1 in games where Malkin has recorded a point.
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.
After his two-point night on Friday in Washington, defenseman Erik Karlsson (827) enters tonight’s game one point shy of surpassing Doug Wilson for sole possession of 16th place on the NHL’s all-time points list among defensemen. He is also one assist shy of tying Borje Salming (637) for 15th place on the NHL’s all-time assist list among blueliners. Finally, Karlsson is tied with Hall-of-Famer Peter Forsberg for the 8thmost assists by a Swedish-born player in NHL history, and is one assist shy of tying Salming for the second-most assists by a Swedish-born defenseman in league history.
The Penguins rank fifth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage at 86.7%. Over the last 10 games dating back to Oct. 20, the team is first in the NHL, going 26-for-28 in that span.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game just two assists shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Joe Sakic (1,016) for the 13th most assists in NHL history. He’s also looking to tie Sakic for the sixth-most assists by a player with a single franchise in league history.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game just two even-strength goals shy of tying Teemu Selanne (422) for the 12th most even-strength goals in NHL history.
Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game just one even-strength goal shy of tying Jaromir Jagr (320) for third place on the Penguins all-time even-strength goals list.
