Game Notes
The Penguins have points in 10 of their last 12 games against the Predators (8- 2-2). Going back further, Pittsburgh has points in 17 of its last 21 games (15-4-2) versus Nashville dating back to October 21, 2010.
Tristan Jarry sits one win shy of his fifth-consecutive 20-win season. Jarry’s four 20-win campaigns are tied for third in franchise history behind Marc-Andre Fleury (9) and Tom Barrasso (6).
Evgeni Malkin has 21 points (7G-14A) in 19 career games against Nashville. The Penguins are 7-0-1 against Nashville all-time in games that Malkin suits up for here at home.
Kris Letang has 16 points (4G-12A) in 20 career games versus the Predators.
The Penguins own an overall record of 387-88-47 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
Michael Bunting enters tonight’s game one goal shy of 20 this season. Bunting has 52 points (19G-33A) and crossed the 50-point mark for the second time in his career (63 points in 2021.22). Bunting’s 16 points (6G-10A) in 19 games since joining the Penguins ranks fourth on the team, while his six goals are the fifth-most in that span.
On the morning of Mar. 24, Pittsburgh sat at 24th in the NHL standings and 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 30-30-9 record - nine points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and just a 1.7% chance of making the postseason per moneypuck.com. Now, the Penguins enter tonight’s game with points in 10 of their last 11 games (7-1-3). Since this stretch began on Mar. 24, no team has accumulated more points than Pittsburgh’s 17, and the team now sits just outside of a playoff position with just two games remaining in the season.
Sidney Crosby has been the driving force behind Pittsburgh’s surge, as he enters tonight’s game with points in 10 of his last 11 games (8G-13A). Crosby’s 21 points since Mar. 24 rank first in the NHL. Crosby has points in 14 of his last 16 games overall, accumulating 26 points total (9G-17A) in that span.
Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 90 points (41G-49A) in 80 games, is still producing at an elite rate in his 19th season. The 36-year-old Crosby has one of the highest points-per-game averages in NHL history from a player’s 35th birthday and on. After hitting the 90-point plateau, Crosby has become one of just five players in NHL history to record multiple 90-point seasons at age 35 or older (age at start of season).
Jeff Carter scored a shorthanded goal on Thursday, helping him hit the 10-goal plateau for the 19th time in his career. Only 26 players in NHL history have recorded 19 or more 10-goal campaigns, and only Carter is just one of two active players to accomplish this feat.
Bryan Rust enters tonight’s game just one assist shy of his 200 in his career. Rust has tallied 27 assists this season over 59 games, which is the third-highest of his career in a single season. Since making his debut during the 2014.15 NHL season, Rust has the fourth-highest assist total of all Penguins. Rust ranks 23rd all-time in assists in Penguins’ history.
On Saturday night, Rust scored his 28th goal of the 2023.24 campaign, surpassing his previous single-season career high of 27 set during the 2019.20 season. Rust is two goals shy of becoming just the seventh Penguins’ skater since 2005.06 to score 30 or more goals in a season with the team.
Erik Karlsson’s 53 points (10G-43A) puts him just one away from tying Kevin Hatcher (54) for the fourth-most points among defensemen in their first season with the Penguins. Karlsson has seven points (2G-5A) over his last six games played.
Kris Letang netted a goal on Thursday night and hit the 50-point plateau for the seventh time in his career. He has the most 50-point seasons among defensemen in franchise history, and is tied for the sixth most among all skaters in Penguins history overall. The 2023.24 season marks just the fourth time in franchise history that the Penguins have had two defensemen with 50 or more points in a campaign.
Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson scored goals at even strength in Thursday’s win over Detroit. Pittsburgh’s blueliners have been productive this season at even strength, tied for ninth in the NHL. Letang leads all Penguins’ defensemen and is tied for seventh in the NHL among blueliners with 44 even-strength points (10G-34A).
Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game just one assist shy of 50 (49). With an assist tonight, Crosby will become only the 13th player in NHL history to record 11 or more seasons with at least 50 assists. After his next assist, only eight players in NHL history have more 50-assist seasons than Crosby.
