Game Notes
Last season, Jake Guentzel tallied two goals and and two assists against Florida in three games. In 15 career games versus them, Guentzel has six goals, nine assists and 15 points. He has six goals (6G-4A) in his last nine games against them.
Last season, no player in the NHL had more points against the Florida Panthers than Kris Letang, who tallied seven points (4G-3A) in three games. His four goals versus them trailed only Auston Matthews (5G in 4GP).
Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game riding a three-game point streak (3A). A point tonight would tie his season-long point streak of four games set from Oct. 13-21 (4G-4A).
Jake Guentzel has points in 16 of 21 home games this season, and leads the Penguins with 23 points at home (9G-14A).
Pittsburgh has scored three or more goals in five of its last six home games and nine of its last 11 games at PPG Paints Arena.
Sidney Crosby’s 48 points (27G-21A) put him two away from tallying 50 points in a season for the 17th time in his career. Crosby will become only the 20th player in NHL history to tally 50 points in a season at least 17 times. Among active players, Crosby is tied for second with 16 50-point seasons. When he records two more points, he will tie Alex Ovechkin for the most 50-point seasons among active players.
Crosby enters tonight’s game with 577 career goals, and currently sits tied with Mark Recchi (577) for 21st place on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
Defensemen Erik Karlsson (33) and Kris Letang (29) rank fourth and fifth on Pittsburgh in points, respectively. The duo have combined for 62 points, which is the fourth-most among any duo of defensemen in the league this year.
Kris Letang (11G-24A) and Erik Karlsson (11G-24A) are both tied for fifth in points against the Panthers among defensemen all-time.
Letang sits one point shy of reaching the 30-point plateau for the 14th time in his career. He’s looking to become just the 21st blueliner in NHL history to compile 14 or more 30-point seasons, and just the second active defenseman to accomplish this feat.
Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game riding a nine-game point streak (1G-9A) after his assist on Monday night against Arizona. Karlsson leads all Pittsburgh blueliners with 33 points (7G-26A). Despite only playing 44 games this season, Karlsson has become just the ninth Penguins defenseman since the 2004.05 lockout to notch 30 or more points in a season: Karlsson’s nine-game point streak is the longest such active streak, and fourth-longest point streak by a defenseman in the NHL this season. He is the only defenseman in the league with two separate point streaks of eight or more games this year.
Sidney Crosby (29G-34A-63PTS) and Evgeni Malkin (16G-31A-47PTS) rank third and fifth among all active skaters in points against the Panthers, respectively. The Penguins have five of the top-13 point scorers against Florida among active players.
Jeff Carter has played some of his best hockey against the Florida Panthers. In 42 career games, Carter has recorded 16 goals, 21 assists, 37 points and is plus-9. His 37 points are tied for his third most against any one team, and his 0.88 points-per-game average is second best.
