The Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] held an hour-long practice on Wednesday before flying up to Ottawa for Thursday's showdown against the Senators. It will be the biggest game of the season for both teams so far, since they're fighting to get into the playoffs. The Senators currently hold the last wild-card spot, while the Penguins are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. All healthy players were present and accounted for, except for Blake Lizotte, Evgeni Malkin, and Anthony Mantha. Mantha was the big unexpected absence since he played against the Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche] on Tuesday night. Right as practice was about to start, Penguins PR announced that Mantha is dealing with a lower-body injury. He hasn't missed a game all season, and that streak may continue on Thursday since he traveled with the team to Ottawa. The injury doesn't appear serious. Here's what the lines looked like: Forward lines Rakell-Crosby-Rust Chinakhov-Novak-Hayes Koivunen-Kindel-Brazeau Soderblom-Dewar-Acciari Defensive pairs Wotherspoon-Karlsson Girard-Letang Shea-Clifton - It's still surprising to me that head coach Dan Muse doesn't want to switch up the bottom two pairs. He seems committed to making the Girard-Letang pair work, even though it's been too chaotic. I still maintain that the Penguins' defensive pairs are better when Karlsson, Letang, and Girard are on their own. That way, the team has one pure puck-mover on each pair. It's just more balanced that way. - Despite two losses in a row, the vibes were good at practice. Everyone seemed to be in an upbeat mood, and some of the players were even joking around on the ice. The Penguins got to practice the shootout at the end of the session, and they did a little 3-on-3 drill at one end of the rink. They've been doing it all season. - Thursday's game will be the biggest Penguins game in a few years. Yes, that will change when they play the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders] on Monday and the Detroit Red Wings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings] on Tuesday, but for now, it's true. Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives and will want to leave everything out there. The Penguins have lost only three straight games in regulation once this season (Dec. 16-20), showing their ability to get at least a point in most games. Per MoneyPuck [https://x.com/MoneyPuckdotcom/status/2036843067303490048], a Penguins' regulation win on Thursday improves their playoff odds to 85.3%, while a regulation loss decreases the odds to 67.1%. These are the types of games that fans live for, and hopefully, it lives up to the hype. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwquDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
