Game Notes
The Penguins are 5-2-0 over the last seven games against the Blues.
Tristan Jarry has played in six career games versus St. Louis going 5-1-0 with a 1.82 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and one shutout. He’s undefeated against them here at PPG Paints Arena, going 3-0-0 with a 0.82 goals against average and .971 save percentage. He’s allowed just two goals total in his three games against them here at home.
Tristan Jarry turned aside all 22 shots he faced on Wednesday night to record his league-leading fourth shutout of the season. Jarry’s fourth shutout came in just his 23rd game of the season. Only two goaltenders in Penguins history have recorded four shutouts in less games in one season (Fleury, 16 GP; Hedberg, 19 GP).
On Wednesday, Evgeni Malkin scored his 482nd and 483rd career goals, surpassing Sergei Fedorov (482) for the second-most goals by a Russian-born skater in NHL history.
Malkin has picked up 21 points (8G-13A) in 22 career games versus the St. Louis Blues. He has points in three-straight games against them (2G-4A), and he has 11 points (3G-8A) in 10 career games against the Blues here at PPG Paints Arena.
Rickard Rakell enters tonight’s game riding a three-game point streak (2G-2A), which includes goals in back-to-back games. A goal tonight would give Rakell his first three-game goal scoring streak since Jan. 29-Feb. 11, 2022 (3G) as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.
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 (606), 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.
Kris Letang made history on Wednesday night, recording a career-high six assists in Pittsburgh’s 7-0 win. Letang notched five of his assists in the second period, making him the first defenseman in NHL history to record five points in a single period. He also became the second player ever (Dale Hawerchuk, 5A on Mar. 6, 1984), to record five assists in one frame. With his six assists on the night, Letang tied an NHL record for most assists in a game by a defenseman, and was the first to achieve the feat in almost 40 years.
Letang has a whopping nine points (1G-8A) in his last two games. It’s the third time this season a player has had nine points in a two-game span along with Connor McDavid (9 PTS from Nov. 24-26) and Nikita Kucherov (9 PTS from Nov. 4-6).
Marcus Pettersson recorded a career-high four assists on Wednesday, marking his third multi-point effort in his last four games (4A). His four-assist night gives him eight points in his last four games (8A), helping the Penguins go 3-0-1 in those contests. Since this stretch began on Dec. 18, no defenseman in the NHL has picked up more assists than Pettersson, and only teammate Kris Letang (1G-8A) notched more points among blueliners.
Valtteri Puustinen tallied his first career NHL goal and assist in Wednesday’s 7-0 win over the Islanders. Since making his season debut on December 8, the 24-year-old forward has six points (1G-5A) in eight games. His six points tie him for the third most in the NHL among rookies in scoring since his season debut.
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game two points shy of tying Joe Thornton for 12th place on the NHL’s all-time points list. Crosby is also sitting on 399 even-strength goals in his career. He’s looking to become just the 19th player in NHL history to notch 400 even-strength tallies.
