Penguins Preview: Sidney Crosby Passing Another Legend
The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Vegas Golden Knights after a nearly week-long break.
PITTSBURGH— The Pittsburgh Penguins received a rare four day break after their most recent victory over Seattle. It came at the most opportune time, giving several banged up players some more time to recover. They return from their time off to face the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Penguins were shutout victors in their first meeting, and will look to keep up their winning ways in the newest meeting. Here's what to watch.
1. Crosby Passing Another Legend
It’s been a landmark year for the Penguins’ captain, who has done everything possible to put himself in the Hart Trophy conversation at 36-years-old. With 26 goals this year, he’s passed a number of Hall of Famers on the all-time goal scoring list, including Mike Bossy most recently.
Next on Crosby’s sight is former teammate Mark Recchi. Crosby sits just one goal shy of tying Recchi’s 577 career goals. Sid’s scoring .61 goals per game, so it’s likely he ties or surpasses Recchi’s number in this pivotal matchup against the Knights.
2. Injury-Riddled Knights
The goings are rough for the Golden Knights. Playing in a difficult Pacific Division, they’ve been without their four best players and have seven total players currently on injured reserve. Playing without top forwards Jack Eichel and William Karlsson, All-Star defender Shea Theodore, and Cup winning goaltender Adin Hill, the Knights are still holding strong to their second place position. In their absence, Vegas has gotten a huge lift from captain Mark Stone, who’s brought his season point total to 46 in 45 games.
3. Penalty Killers
One of the most underrated component of the Penguins’ improved play the past two months has been their penalty killing. With all of the attention on their other fledgling special teams unit, Pittsburgh’s penalty killers have quietly worked their way up to the 8th best unit in the NHL.
Led by Lars Eller, Bryan Rust, and Drew O’Connor, the Penguins play an aggressive, in-your-face style when down a skater, forcing the opposing power play into dangerous decisions or easily defended shots. Over their last five games, they’ve successfully defended all but two shorthanded opportunities. With Vegas down several key players, the Penguins can’t underestimate a still potent power play. Keeping the Knights off the board with the man advantage will be key to getting two points.
The Penguins and Golden Knights face-off at 10:00 p.m.
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