The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to respond with a big win on Saturday night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the third game of their five-game road trip on Saturday night.
They’ll take on the Utah Mammoth, who are in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. This will be the second of two matchups between the two teams this season after the Mammoth won 5-4 back on Dec. 14.
The Penguins had a 3-0 lead going into the third period of that game before losing in overtime.
Clayton Keller has been fantastic for the Mammoth this season, compiling 19 goals and 64 points in 66 games. He made the Team USA Olympic roster and won an Olympic Gold Medal.
Nick Schmaltz is fresh off signing an 8-year $64 million extension with the Mammoth and is having a great year, racking up 24 goals and 59 points in 66 games.
Dylan Guenther leads the team in goals with 31 and has 56 points in 64 games. Logan Cooley has been banged up at times this season but when he’s healthy, he’s lethal. He has 17 goals and 29 points in 38 games.
Penguins fans shouldn’t forget about JJ Peterka or Lawson Crouse, either. They have combined for 38 goals this season.
Mikhail Sergachev leads the Mammoth defensively and just returned to the lineup on Thursday. He helps join the rush offensively and defends his own zone very well.
Karel Vejmelka will likely start in goal for the Mammoth.
The Penguins have lost two in a row heading into this game and appear to be keeping the same lines and pairings. Sidney Crosby still isn’t ready to return just yet and Evgeni Malkin still has to serve one more game of his five-game suspension.
Here is the projected lineup:
Forwards
Chinakhov-Rakell-Rust
Mantha-Novak-Koivunen
Soderblom-Kindel-A. Hayes
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Solovyov-Clifton
Stuart Skinner will start in goal for the Penguins.
Puck drop is set for 9 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can also listen to the game on 105.9 ‘The X.’
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