The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Tampa Bay Lightning today at PPG Paints Arena at 6 PM. The Lightning are currently 37-17-4, while the Penguins are 28-21-9. The game will be able to be viewed on NHL Network, AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh, and Bally Sports Sun.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak will serve his second game of a two-game suspension after he elbowed Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo on Thursday. He missed the Lightning’s last game against the Detroit Red Wings yesterday, in which the Lightning beat the Wings 3-0. Casey DeSmith will likely start for the Penguins after Tristan Jarry made 25 saves in the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime win versus the St. Louis Blues.
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos
Ross Colton – Nicholas Paul – Vladislav Namestnikov
Pat Maroon – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry
Victor Hedman – Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev – Nick Perbix
Ian Cole – Cal Foote
Brian Elliott
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: D Haydn Fleury
Suspended: D Erik Cernak
Pittsburgh Penguins Projected Lineup
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn – Jeff Carter – Danton Heinen
Drew O’Connor – Teddy Blueger – Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – Jeff Petry
Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Jan Rutta
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: D Chad Ruhwedel
Injured: F Ryan Poehling (upper-body), D Mark Friedman (upper-body)
Players To Watch
TBL: F Brayden Point (3G, 4A, 7P in past 5 GP)
PIT: F Evgeni Malkin (3G, 6P in past 5 GP)
Starting Goalies
TBL: Brian Elliott: 9-3-2, 2.90 GAA, .904 SV%, 1 SO
PIT: Casey DeSmith: 10-12-4, 3.28 GAA, .904 SV%, 0 SO
Team Stats
PP%
TBL: 25.6 (2nd)
PIT: 21.4 (15th)
PK%
TBL: 81.5 (10th)
PIT: 80.1 (15th)
FO%
TBL: 52.2 (8th)
PIT: 52.0 (9th)
GF/GP
TBL: 3.57 (4th)
PIT: 3.17 (15th)
GA/GP
TBL: 2.88 (12th)
PIT: 3.21 (19th)
Season Series
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on October 15th. The two teams will play again on March 2nd in Tampa.
