Game Preview: Penguins at Maple Leafs (04.08.24)

Game Notes

Pittsburgh has won the season series against Toronto in three of the last four seasons that the teams have played, and are 1-1-0 versus the Maple Leafs this season.

Following tonight’s game, the Penguins will play just one more road game (Apr. 17 at NY Islanders).

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).

Kris Letang has nine points (1G-8A) in his last 15 games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and 29 points (3G-26A) in 44 games against them total.

Jeff Carter enters tonight’s game one goal shy of the 10-goal plateau. His next goal would mark the 19th season he’s reached double digit goals, a feat that only 25 players in NHL history have accomplished. Only Alex Ovechkin (19) has more 10-goal seasons among active players.

On Saturday, Sidney Crosby reached the 40-goal plateau for the third time in his career. In doing so, he joined Alex Ovechkin (2), Brendan Shanahan (1), Teemu Selanne (1), Gordie Howe (1), Phil Esposito (1), and Johnny Bucyk (1) as the only players 36 or older in NHL history to notch a 40-goal season.

The Penguins own an overall record of 386-87-46 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game three points shy of cracking the top-10 points list in NHL history. Per NHLPR, the last player to enter the top 10 was Jaromir Jagr more than 16 years ago, when he potted four assists with the Rangers at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 19, 2008, to boost his career totals to 636 goals, 945 assists and 1,581 points in 1,253 games played, overtaking defenseman Ray Bourque (410G-1,169A-1,579PTS in 1,612 GP).

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 eight-straight games (6-0-2), which is the team’s longest point streak since Nov. 29-Dec. 15, 2022 (8 GP; 7-0-1). Since this stretch began on Mar. 24, no team has accumulated more points than Pittsburgh’s 14, and the team now occupies a playoff position with just five 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 seven of the eight games (7G-9A). Crosby’s 16 points (7G-9A) since Mar. 24 ranks first in the NHL. Crosby has points in 11 of his last 13 games overall, accumulating 21 points total (8G-13A) in that span.

Erik Karlsson (9G-42A) notched three assists in Saturday’s win against Tampa Bay, helping him crack the 50-point plateau for the eighth time in his career. He became just the sixth defenseman on Pittsburgh in the last 20 years to notch 50 or more points in a season (Kris Letang, 6x; Sergei Gonchar, 4x; Justin Schultz, 1x; Dick Tarnstrom, 1x; Ryan Whitney, 1x). Karlsson’s 51 points are tied for the fifth-most in franchise history by a defenseman in their first season with the team. Karlsson also passed Gonchar on Saturday for the 18th-most points by a defenseman in NHL history.

Alex Nedeljkovic enters tonight’s game with points in each of his last eight games (6-0-2). He is currently tied for the longest point streak of his career, set from Apr. 8-May 3, 2021 (7-0-1). Since this stretch began, he’s recorded a 2.52 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and no goaltender has more wins than his six. If you exclude the first game of his streak, Nedeljkovic has even better numbers, going 6-0-1 with a 2.26 goalsagainst average and a .926 save percentage.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight’s game three assists shy of 1,000 in his career. Crosby is looking to become just the 14th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 assists, and is looking to become the seventh-fastest player to 1,000 assists. Crosby would also be just the seventh skater all time to reach this milestone with one team.

Two members of the Penguins blue line, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, have put up solid numbers against the Maple Leafs in their careers. Karlsson leads all active defensemen with 11 goals, 32 assists, and 43 points in 45 games against Toronto, while Letang’s 29 points (3G-26A) in 43 games ranks third among active blueliners.

Letang enters tonight’s game needing one point to reach 50 (9G-40A) for the seventh time in his career. When he reaches this mark, he will tie Hall-of-Famer Ron Francis for sixth-most 50-point seasons in Penguins history. Among defensemen, Letang already has the most 50-point seasons in franchise history.

Evgeni Malkin has made a habit of turning in big performances against the Toronto Maple Leafs over the course of his career. In 45 games, Malkin has 24 goals, 44 assists, and 68 points. He has been held scoreless against Toronto only 10 times in his career, and has recorded three or more points 10 times. In the 19 games that he’s recorded multiple points versus the Maple Leafs, the Penguins are 14-4-1. Malkin’s 1.51 points-per-game average is his highest against any team, and is the second highest against Toronto among all active players (min. 3 games).

Malkin’s 1.51 points-per-game average 12th in NHL history (min. 15 GP). Malkin is quickly closing in on Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for points against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 33 career games, Lemieux recorded 71 points (31G-40A).

Pittsburgh’s offense has been consistently producing over the past 13 games, averaging 4.15 goals per game. Since this stretch began on Mar. 14, no team in the NHL has scored more goals than the Penguins’ 54.

Rickard Rakell is one goal shy of reaching 200 in his career (199). The Anaheim Ducks selected Rakell with the 30th pick in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft. Among members of the 2011 NHL Draft class, Rakell ranks 10th with 198 goals. The Sundbyberg, Sweden native ranks eighth among active players from his native country in goals.

Reilly Smith enters today’s game two assists away from hitting 300 in his career. The Dallas Stars originally selected Smith in the third round (69th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. Among all players selected in 2009, Smith has the 11th most assists. Smith has had four seasons where he recorded 30 or more assists.