Pittsburgh has been one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the last month, going 9-4-1 in its last 14 games. During this 13-game stretch, the Penguins top line of Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have dominated, combining for 22 goals and 56 points.
Sidney Crosby has been picking up points in bunches having notched 12 points (2G-10A) over his last seven games. During that span dating back to Dec. 12, Crosby’s 10 assists are tied for fourth in the NHL his 12 points are tied for sixth. Crosby enters tonight’s game just one assist shy of surpassing Mario Lemieux for the most assists in Penguins history.
Crosby and Lemieux’s 1,033 assists are tied for 12th all-time, and only three players in NHL history have notched more assists with a single team: Ray Bourque, Wayne Gretzky, and Steve Yzerman.
Bryan Rust has been one of the hottest players in the NHL during Pittsburgh’s 9-4-1 stretch, recording a team-high 19 points (10G-9A) in 14 games. Rust enters tonight’s game one point shy of becoming the 15th player in franchise history to record 400 points.
Rust, who was selected in the third round (80th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, is looking to become the 20th member of his draft class to reach 400 points. Over the last five seasons, only three members of his draft class have accumulated more points than Rust: Zach Hyman, Brock Nelson, and Tyler Toffoli.
Rickard Rakell continued his assault on NHL netminders with another multi-point outing (1G-1A) last night in New York. Rakell, who has four multi-point efforts in his last five games (4G-5A), leads the Penguins with 17 goals and has hit the 30-point plateau for the 10th time in his career. Of Rakell’s 17 goals, 14 of them have come at even strength.
Winger Michael Bunting found the scoresheet again last night in New York, registering his 200th NHL point on his second-period goal. After starting the season with just one assist in his first 12 games, Bunting has notched 18 points (10G-8A) over his last 24 games, which is fourth on Pittsburgh during that span.
Bunting has goals in back-to-back games for the 12th time in his career (3G). With a goal tonight, Bunting can have the second three-game goal-scoring streak of his career (3-game streak from Dec. 10-15, 2022 – 3G).
Defenseman Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game with six points (1G-5A) over his last five games. Going back further, Karlsson has recorded 13 points (1G-12A) over his last 14 games.
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.
Throughout his career, Sidney Crosby has played dominant hockey against the New York Islanders. In 88 career games, Crosby has recorded 135 points (42G-93A) against the Islanders, helping Pittsburgh to a 51-24-13 record in those games. He has almost double the amount of multi-point games against them (40) as opposed to games with no points (23). Only Jaromir Jagr (155) has more points against the Islanders in NHL history than Crosby’s 135. Crosby’s 135 points versus the Islanders are also the most that any active player has against one single team.
QUICK HITS
The Penguins have wins in six of their last seven home games, going 6-1-0.
Defenseman Kris Letang leads all active NHL blueliners in goals (13), assists (36) and points (49) versus the Islanders.
The Penguins have killed off 19 of their last 20 penalties (95%) over their last eight games dating back to Dec. 10.
Evgeni Malkin (1,326) enters tonight’s game one point shy of surpassing Hall-of-Famer Gilbert Perreault (1,326) for sole possession of the 35th-most points in NHL history.
The Penguins own an overall record of 397-90-48 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
