The Pittsburgh Penguins meet the Carolina Hurricanes for the fourth and final time this regular season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (21-14-6) must flip the page quickly after a 4-1 loss against the Winnipeg Jets. They travel to Raleigh for their fourth and final matchup of the season with division rival Carolina Hurricanes (26-9-7). The Penguins dropped the team's first three meetings, and are desperate to avoid being swept in the season series. Here's three things to watch for in this matchup.
1. Defensive Depth of Penguins Reaching Limit
The Penguins miss their top two defensemen in Kris Letang and Jeff Petry. Both appear to be returning sooner rather than later, but the team's defense is struggling in the meantime. Besides the emergence of their young defenders, P.O. Joseph and Ty Smith, the team is struggling to find consistency in front of their own goal. Matters turned worse when Marcus Pettersson, who is enjoying a tremendous season, was out of the lineup against Winnipeg with an illness.
The depth of the Penguins defense continues to be tested, and it seems they may be at their limit. The Hurricanes will look to take advantage of a depleted Pittsburgh defense in this game.
2. Pacioretty's First Appearance Versus Penguins
The Hurricanes are already one of the best teams in the division and league, and they recently got a huge addition to their lineup. Off-season acquisition Max Pacioretty, who missed the first three months of the season recovering from surgery, debuted for the Canes on January 5th. He's wasting no time since his return, with three goals in four games. The already explosive offense of Carolina received a huge boost when Pacioretty joined the lineup, and the Penguins must prepare to slow their attack down.
3. Jason Zucker Proving Worth and Then Some
Since the trade for Jason Zucker, the Penguins have waited for the full Zucker package to arrive. This season, they finally got him. Zucker's been in the lineup for 36 games, pitching in 10 goals and 26 points playing alongside Evgeni Malkin.
Zucker's contributions go beyond his scoring though. Zucker brings an energy and tenacity that few others in the Penguins locker room can match. He stood up to 6'4 Brenden Dillon of theJets in an effort to kickstart his teammates. Zucker is fearless, and the entire Penguins team should play more like Zucker if they want to win this game against the Hurricanes.
The Penguins face-off against the Hurricanes at 7:00PM.
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