Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Montreal Canadiens 10/14/2024

The Pens gear up to take on the Canadiens in Montreal tonight

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (1-2-0, 2 points) @ Montreal Canadiens (2-1-0, 4 points)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Sportsnet Pittsburgh, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens return to Pittsburgh for home games on Wednesday (versus the Sabres) and Friday (Carolina) before a four-game western swing next week through Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Opponent Track: Montreal has started off this year with three games against their division opponents, winning two out of the three. They’ve sandwiched wins against Toronto and Ottawa around a loss to Boston.

Season Series: The Canadiens come to Pittsburgh in a few weeks on November 2nd, and then the Pens head back to Montreal on December 12th and the two teams will be done for the season early on.

Hidden Stat: Tristan Jarry is 6-1-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and one shutout in nine career games against the Canadiens (stick tap to Pens PR)

Getting to know the Canadiens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkovsky

Alex Newhook - Kirby Dach - Joel Armia

Josh Anderson - Jake Evans - Brendan Gallagher

Emil Heineman - Christian Dvorak - Oliver Kapanen

DEFENSEMEN

Mike Matheson / Kaiden Guhle

Cole Hutson / David Savard

Arber Xhekaj / Justin Barron

Goalies: Samuel Montembeault or Cayden Primeau

Possible scratches: Michael Pezzeta, Alex Barre-Boulet, Jayden Struble

IR: Patrik Laine, Rafael Harvey-Pinard

—Montembault has been the hot hand to start the season, stopping 72 out of the 73 shots he’s faced so the Pens should probably expect to be seeing him tonight.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

—Cole Caufield’s goal progression has gone from 23 to 26 to 28 in his first three full seasons, and based off this start he’s on track to improve that number yet again.

—Appropros of nothing but it’s kinda crazy that Mike Matheson is on the same contract he was under in Pittsburgh (and signed even earlier than that with Florida). And it doesn’t even end until 2026.

Lane emerging

Many NHL teams were scared off in the pre-draft process by Lane Hutson’s (then) 5’8”, 150 pound size. He lasted until the 62nd pick before Montreal grabbed him. Still just 20, Hutson is bursting out on the scene as one of the league’s most exciting young players with his skating ability and skills.

Hutson is an early-season leader in end-to-end rushes, he will grab the puck and keep going.

Hutson is still small (measuring in at less than 5’10 and 162 pounds this training camp) but his skating and skills have rendered that irrelevant.

And now for the Pens

Infographic courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Anthony Beauvillier - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell

Drew O’Connor - Lars Eller - Rutger McGroarty

Kevin Hayes - Cody Glass - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Tristan Jarry or Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan Shea, Valtteri Puustinen

IR: Matt Nieto (knee surgery), Alex Nedeljkovic, Blake Lizotte, Vasily Ponomarev

—The good news is Bryan Rust returned, the other effect is that had to push someone out of the lineup and it was Jesse Puljujarvi who was the odd man out on Saturday. The team likes Cody Glass who is carving out a little role on the fourth line and with his size.

—McGroarty appeared to hurt his leg in the third period against Toronto on Saturday but took practice yesterday in his normal third line spot and appears like he’ll be good to go.

—Nedeljkovic skated in practice yesterday but is not expected to be available for today’s game. That makes this one really important for Jarry to wash the pain out of opening night away and have a solid game tonight.

Malkin’s milestones

Fast start this season for Evgeni Malkin. Sidney Crosby at 1,599 points is next!

Maintaining momentum

The Pens have been up and down in the early season. They’re taking time to settle in and find their groove.