What - Game 73 (45-20-7)
When - 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 26
Where - PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
How to Watch - Bally Sports South, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Pittsburgh Penguins (30-30-10) for the final time this season.
The Canes are coming off of a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and have points in seven straight.
Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov will look to bounce back from his most recent performance: a 7-6 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.
The Hurricanes have found fire in their new top line of Jake Guentzel - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis with that trio outscoring teams 12-0 at even strength.
Speaking of Guentzel, he'll return to Pittsburgh for the first time since being traded, so we're getting a second video tribute within a week's time.
Things have been going great for Carolina and they now sit just one point back of the Presidents' Trophy lead and have the chance to clinch a sixth-straight playoff spot tonight.
On the other side of the ice, everything that could have gone wrong with the Penguins' season did, which was summed up by them blowing a 4-0 lead against the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-4 loss Sunday afternoon.
But Sidney Crosby is still Sidney Crosby and we also have to account for the potential Michael Bunting revenge game factor.
Streaks
- Sebastian Aho (6g, 6a) is on a six-game point streak.
- Brent Burns (3a) is on a three-game point streak.
- Jake Guentzel (4a) and Brady Skjei (2g) have points in back-to-back games.
Milestone Watch
- Sebastian Aho is one assist shy of 300 career assists
- Dmitry Orlov is two points shy of 300 career points.
- Brett Pesce is two points shy of 200 career points.
- Brent Burns is registered his 100th point as a Hurricane Sunday night against Toronto.
Game Notes
- Carolina is 2-0-1 against Pittsburgh this season having won 4-2 on Nov. 18, lost in a shootout 2-1 on Dec. 21 and winning in overtime 3-2 on Jan. 13.
- Jake Guentzel will play in his first ever game against his old team, a place where he played over 500 games.
Key Matchups
Starting Goalies
- Pyotr Kochetkov: 19-12-4; 0.909 Sv%; 2.46 GAA
- Tristan Jarry: 19-24-5; 0.903 Sv%; 2.90 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Sebastian Aho (31) / Sidney Crosby (34)
- Points - Sebastian Aho (80) / Sidney Crosby (73)
Power Play
- Carolina - 26.5% (3rd)
- Pittsburgh - 14.5% (30th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 85.3% (2nd)
- Pittsburgh - 80.8% (12th)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Jake Guentzel - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen
Jack Drury - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Pyotr Kochetkov
Frederik Andersen
Injuries and Scratches: Brendan Lemieux, Tony DeAngelo, Spencer Martin, Jesper Fast (undisclosed)
Penguins Projected Lineup
Drew O'Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Reilly Smith - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen
Emil Bemstrom - Jeff Carter - Jesse Puljujarvi
PO Joseph - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
John Ludvig - Jack St. Ivany
Tristan Jarry
Alex Nedeljkovic
Injuries and Scratches: Noel Acciari (undisclosed), Ryan Graves (personal), Jansen Harkins (UBI), Matt Nieto (knee)