Game Notes
The Penguins are 10-3-3 in their last 16 games played against the Flyers.
Since entering the league in 2006.07, no defenseman has more points against the Flyers than Kris Letang (50). He has points in nine of his last 12 games (3G9A) against Philadelphia. His plus-36 versus the Flyers is second best in NHL history behind Bobby Orr (+37).
Bryan Rust has 20 points (8G-12A) in 31 career games against Philadelphia, which includes an active four-game point streak against them (1G-4A).
Rust tallied his fourth goal in his last six games on Thursday night against Montreal. Going back further, Rust has notched five goals in his last seven games. Since February 6, Rust has led all Penguins in goals.
Rickard Rakell has notched eight goals and 11 points (8G-3A) in 15 career games against the Flyers.
After his assist on Thursday night, Valtteri Puustinen has picked up three points over his last four games (1G-2A). Seven (1G-6A) of his 10 points have come in 13 home games.
The Penguins own an overall record of 380-87-45 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
Captain Sidney Crosby has done some of his best work against the Philadelphia Flyers throughout his career. In 86 career games, Crosby has 54 goals, 71 assists, and 125 points. His 54 goals and his 125 points are most in NHL history versus Philadelphia.
Crosby enters tonight’s game with points in 15 of his last 17 games versus Philadelphia (12G-11A). Going back further, Crosby has 41 points (18G-23A) in his last 27 games against them, which includes points in 23 of those 27 games.
Crosby (581) enters tonight’s game two goals shy of tying Wayne Gretzky (583) for the seventhmost goals on a single franchise in NHL history.
Erik Karlsson notched two points on Thursday, giving him 41 points (7G-34A) as he cracked the 40-point plateau for the 11th time in his career. He’s just the 18th defenseman in NHL history, and second active blueliner, to record 11 seasons of 40-plus points.
Karlsson is also the sixth Penguins defenseman since the 2004.05 NHL lockout to notched 40 points in a season along with Kris Letang (10), Sergei Gonchar (4), Ryan Whitney (2), Matt Niskanen (1), and Justin Schultz (1).
Drew O’Connor found the back of the net for the second-straight game on Thursday (1G-1A) to give him five points (2G-3A) over his last five games. His five points since this stretch began on Feb. 14 rank first on Pittsburgh.
O’Connor has set career highs across the board this season in goals (8), assists (12), points (20) and plus/minus (+10).
Pittsburgh has been one of the most defensively conscious teams in the league this season. The Penguins have allowed just 143 goals against in 54 games this season, a figure that is second among all Eastern Conference teams and the third fewest in the NHL.
On Thursday, the Penguins acquired forward Emil Bemstrom from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Alex Nylander and a conditional 2026 sixth-round draft pick. The 24-year-old Bemstrom has spent the 2023.24 campaign split between the Blue Jackets and their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. With the Blue Jackets, Bemstrom recorded five goals, six assists, and 11 points in 32 games. With Cleveland, he notched 10 goals, four assists, and 14 points in eight games.
The 6-foot, 195-pound, Bemstrom has spent parts of five seasons in the NHL, all with Columbus. In 204 career regular-season games, he’s picked up 31 goals, 38 assists, and 69 points. His best season came in 2022.23 where he set career highs in assists (15) and points (22) in 55 games. Bemstrom has five games of Stanley Cup Playoff experience, all of which came in 2020.
The Nykoping, Sweden native has represented his country on the international level at the 2022 World Championship, where he recorded one goal, four assists, and five points in eight games. He also played for Team Sweden at the 2019 World Junior Championship, picking up six points (4G-2A) in five games.
