The Pittsburgh Penguins face the Vegas Golden Knights with both teams looking to build off strong seasons. The Penguins have a 19-12-6 record but have lost five consecutive games while the Golden Knights have a 26-12-2 record and with two wins in a row have leaped into first place in the Pacific Division. The Penguins are looking to rebound in the Metropolitan Division while the Golden Knights look to remain near the top of the Western Conference and the upcoming game looks to be a great one as a result.
The Penguins are having a promising season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.27 goals per game. Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Evgeni Malkin have scored 46 goals and 64 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Jason Zucker have scored 30 goals and 39 assists while Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen, and Brock McGinn have added 22 goals and 27 assists to the backend of the forward unit, making the offense tough to stop.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has unraveled, allowing 3.00 goals per game with 20 goals in the last five games. Marcus Pettersson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and Jan Rutta have combined for 5.5 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. Additionally, goaltender Casey DeSmith is having a difficult year in the net w ith a .911 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average