Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The Pittsburgh Penguins (6th in Metropolitan Division) will try to register their first victory in the past seven outings while paying a visit to the Arizona Coyotes (7th in Central), who will return home following four straight defeats on the road to extend their domestic triumph streak to four fixtures.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (19-13-6) stretched out their current losing skid to six contests (0-4-2) after posting a 0-2-0 showing on their ongoing three-date road trip following a 5-2 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday. Ty Smith (1 goal, 1 point this year) scored four minutes into the third frame after the hosts were already leading 4-0 following the first two periods, while Sidney Crosby (20 goals, 45 points) added Pittsburgh’s second marker with 1:30 left on the clock. The Penguins have won just one of their past eight matchups (1-5-2) after triumphing in seven straight games prior.
Goalie Casey DeSmith turned aside 26 shots on Thursday to take his current performance total to 4-8-2 for the season with a 3.14 GAA and a .907 save percentage, going 0-3-1 with 15 snipes allowed over his past four o utings alone. He has, however, posted a 39-save shutout in his only previous start against the Arizona Coyotes. The Penguins, meanwhile, are netting the 14th highest quantity of goals per game this year (3.24), while giving up the 16th highest amount in their defensive zone (3.05). They are 18th in power play with a 21.5% success rate and 3rd best in penalty kill with 83.6% proficiency.