The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Calgary Flames in the second of back-to-back contests.
The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped the second game of their road trip against the Edmonton Oilers. They’ll have to shake the loss off quickly, as they meet the Calgary Flames for the latter end of a back-to-back.
The Flames enter the game with a 4-1-0 record through five games, and are coming off of a few days rest after beating the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime. Here’s three things to watch for in what should be a spirited bout.
1. Heinen-Crosby-Rakell
Since the injury to Jake Guentzel, the Penguins added Danton Heinen to the left wing of the first line. In the two games they've played together, the line hasn't skipped a beat. The three forwards have combined for eight points in two games together.
Playing against another heavily favored Western Conference contender, this line needs to produce again. Rickard Rakell played one of his best games in a Penguin's uniform in the defeat against the Oilers, and he and his line mates have a golden opportunity to build on that performance against the Flames.
2. New Faces for the Flames
The Penguins are seeing a brand new Calgary Flames in their first matchup of 2022-23 season. The Flames moved forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan in the off-season, to acquire Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, and defenseman Mackenzie Weegar.
Kadri is already leading the team in scoring and Huberdeau is off to a fast start with four points in five games. The Penguins are not only going to be challenged by one of the best goalies in the game in Jakob Markstrom, they are also going to have to find a way to slow down these red-hot Calgary Flames offense.
3. First Back-to-Back of the Season
The Penguins were outworked and outplayed in Edmonton, and have very little time to reset before another difficult test against the Flames. This is the first back-to-back set of games for the Penguins, and they will have two more sets of back-to-back games in the next couple of weeks as well.
One of the question marks surrounding this team is how their aging roster will hold up over the course of the season and postseason. Will the Penguins have the endurance to get to their game against the Flames, or will they struggle to keep up?
The Penguins meet the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome for a 9pm EST face off. The game will be broadcast on AT&T Sports and available for streaming out of market through ESPN+.
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