The Pittsburgh Penguins will face one of their toughest tests yet on Saturday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will face one of the best teams in the NHL on Saturday in Winnipeg against the Jets.
The Jets have been red hot to open the season, winning eight of their first 11 games. They're currently first in the Central Division after winning the Presidents' Trophy last season.
Their top line of Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi has been deadly to start the year. Scheifele leads the team with nine goals and 18 points in 11 games, while Connor is second on the team with six goals and 15 points in 11 games. Vilardi has four goals and 11 points in 11 games.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has been the best goaltender in the league to start the year, saving 9.6 goals above expected with a .922 save percentage. Assuming he starts, the Penguins will want to get a lot of traffic in front of him and get him moving. Eric Comrie would start if the Jets decide to rest Hellebuyck.
The Penguins practiced in Minnesota on Friday but didn't have Justin Brazeau available. He looked healthy during Thursday's game against the Minnesota Wild, so it may have just been a maintenance day. However, if he does miss Saturday's game, Philip Tomasino will come in for him.
Harrison Brunicke took Matt Dumba's place on the bottom pair during Friday's practice, which is a sign that he could be coming back into the lineup on Saturday. He'd be paired with Owen Pickering, which was a standouts pairing during training camp and the preseason.
Here were the full practice lines:
Forwards
Hallander-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Malkin-Tomasino
Koivunen-Kindel-Novak
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Kevin Hayes was also practicing and is getting closer to a return.
Defense
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Pickering-Brunicke
Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba were skating on the fourth defensive pairing.
Arturs Silovs will likely start in goal for this game, assuming head coach Dan Muse stays true to his goalie rotation. Tristan Jarry started against the Wild on Thursday.
Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. ET, and fans can watch it on SportsNet Pittsburgh or listen to it on 105.9 'The X.'
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