Game Notes
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game with 56 points (19G-37A) in 47 games versus the Senators. He has points in seven of his last eight games against them (3G-10A). Crosby (56) is just one point shy from tying Jaromir Jagr (57) for the most points against the Ottawa Senators in franchise history.
Crosby enters tonight’s game three points shy of tying Joe Thornton for 12th place on the NHL’s all-time points list.
Sidney Crosby leads Pittsburgh in goals (19) and multi-point games (7), and is second in points (34). Crosby has registered points in 24 of 31 games this season (77.4%), and is one goal shy of hitting the 20-goal plateau for the 16th time in his career. He’s looking to become just the second active player, and 22nd player in NHL history to have 16 seasons with 20 or more goals.
The captains’s game-opening goal in Thursday’s victory over Carolina gives him six on the season, which leads the NHL. He has 110 game-opening goals, which is tied with Mark Messier for 10th most in NHL history.
Jake Guentzel’s 35 points (14G-21A) are the second most he’s recorded through his first 31 games in any season (37 PTS in 31 GP to start the 2021.22 campaign).
Erik Karlsson’s hardest recorded shot this season of 101.54 MPH is the second hardest shot recorded in the NHL this season behind Anaheim’s Radko Gudas (101.69 MPH).
Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game one assist away from collecting 600 helpers in his career. Karlsson will be the second active defenseman to record 600 career assists after Carolina’s Brent Burns (602), and just the 10th active player to hit the mark. He is set to become the 18th blueliner in NHL history to reach the milestone, and the eighth fastest to do so in league history.
Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 23 of 24 shots (.958 SV%) on Thursday night to help the Penguins pick up wins in back-to-back games. Nedeljkovic, who is 5-2-1 this season with a 2.38 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and one shutout. His .927 save percentage ranks third in the NHL (min. 8 GP).
Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game with 482 career goals, and is one goal shy of tying Sergei Fedorov for the second-most goals among Russian-born skaters in NHL history. No Russian-born player has more assists in NHL history than Malkin (773), and his 1,255 career point total trails only Alex Ovechkin (1,505) among his fellow countrymen.
Pittsburgh’s power play has been hot over the last four games, going 6-for-21 (28.6%). Since this stretch began on Dec. 12, only two teams have scored more power-play goals (10, COL; 7, CAR).
