In their third meeting of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to finally claim a win.
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes are expected to be two of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division for the 2022-23 season.
In their previous two meetings, they were games that could have gone either way, but the Penguins came up losers in both.
The first matchup needed an overtime period, that ended with a rather questionable no-call, with the second taking place just four days ago and a third period comeback by the Hurricanes.
Without a win against the current Metro Division leaders, the Penguins are hungry to take a victory.
“It’s a big game, last game before the break,” Jake Guentzel said. “It’s a big two points now. They’ve got us twice this year and hopefully we can get them back.”
Despite the two losses, the Penguins could have easily won both games; but that just goes to show how close these two teams are.
Mike Sullivan noted that no matter the opponent, even a close division rival, every win is important in today’s NHL.
“There is a fine line in this league between winning and losing,” Sullivan said. “All you need to do is glance at the standings and you can see the parody across the league.”
The Penguins and Hurricanes were knotted in standings points during their last meeting; the Penguins will look to gain some lost ground by not leaving points on the table.
“Anybody can beat anyone at any given night,” Sullivan said. “Every game is important. We’re looking at this one tonight. We’re going to put our best team on the ice.”
It’s the Penguins’ final game before the holiday break, and the players not only want to take momentum into their time off, but the positive vibes that come with a big win.
“Definitely hungry, last one before the break,” Brian Dumoulin said. “Have a good feeling over Christmas. We just played these guys, we’re very familiar with this team. It’s a fun matchup and definitely a game we want to win.”
Sullivan is right that every game has importance, but there is something a little extra about this matchup.
The Penguins want to finally get one over on the Hurricanes and maintain their position in the standings.
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