The Penguins get a shot at redemption in a rematch of Friday’s shutout loss.
Who: Vegas Golden Knights (38-19-6, 82 points, 1st place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (25-31-10, 60 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7 p.m. ET
How to Watch: SN-PIT and SCRIPPS for local markets, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: Tonight’s game kicks off a five-game homestand for the Penguins. The Pens are back at PPG Paints on Thursday to face the St Louis Blues, followed by a Saturday game against the New Jersey Devils. Next week it’s the New York Islanders on Tuesday followed by a Friday meetup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Opponent Track: The Golden Knights have won seven of their last nine games to climb past the Edmonton Oilers to the top of the Pacific, although the team most recently conceded a 6-5 loss in a crucial division matchup with the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Season Series: Four days have passed since Alex Nedeljkovic and the Pens were shut out 4-0 in Las Vegas.
Hidden Stat: Tonight marks Jack Eichel’s 601st career game. He has 589 points through 600 games, tying Matthew Tkachuk and trailing only Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane for the most by a U.S.-born skater, per NHL Stats.
Hidden Stat II: The Golden Knights are 0-2-0 when a player scores a hat trick this season (h/t SinBin.vegas.) Tomas Hertl scored one in Sunday’s loss to the Kings.
Trivia: Rickard Rakell is one goal away from No. 30 on the season. There are six players who have recorded 30-goal seasons for the Penguins since 2006-07. Can you name them all?
Getting to know the Golden Knights
Projected lines (from Friday’s game)
FORWARDS
Tanner Pearson – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeyev
Ivan Barbashev – Brett Howden – Keegan Kolesar
Reilly Smith – Nicolas Roy – Victor Olfosson
DEFENSEMEN
Nicolas Hague / Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin / Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb / Kaedan Korczak
Goalies: Adin Hill, Ilya Samsonov
Scratches: Shea Theodore (injured), Ben Hutton, Cole Schwindt
IR: William Karlsson, Raphael Lavoie
- The Golden Knights’ most productive defenseman, Shea Theodore, is out with the upper-body injury he suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports he could return in time for the playoffs.
- William Karlsson, who hasn’t played since Jan. 20, could potentially return to the Golden Knights roster this week:
McCrimmon says William Karlsson is expected to play on the upcoming road trip. Says Shea Theodore is still week-to-week but would return in the not too distant future.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2025
Player stats
(via hockeydb)
- The Golden Knights gave up three early goals in their loss to the Kings. Bruce Cassidy called it one of his team’s worst puck management performances of the season:
“I just think it was probably our worst game of the year in managing pucks in certain areas of the ice and obviously cost us in the end.” —Bruce Cassidy after the Knights’ 6-5 loss to the Kings, per W.G. Ramirez of The Hockey News.
- Jack Eichel has points in five straight games (1-7—8 over the stretch, including an assist during Friday’s win over the Pens.)
okay but that pass from Jack Eichel was INSANEEEEEE pic.twitter.com/USPbo6va9s
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 6, 2025
- Reilly Smith is back in Vegas after a deadline trade. The New York Rangers held onto 50 percent of Smith’s salary in the trade, so the Knights reunited with him for an affordable cap hit of $1.875 million. That paled in comparison to other Western Conference contenders’ deadline moves, like the Dallas Stars’ acquisition of Mikko Rantanen or the Avalanche’s additions of Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, Erik Johnson and Ryan Lindgren. But Vegas has no first-round picks until 2027, and could only gain significant cap space by counting Theodore or Karlsson out for the rest of the season. The team may be hoping to get either, or both, players back before then.
- Smith registered no points and just one shot on goal during Friday’s shutout win over the Pens. He will look to get on the board against his former team tonight.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines (from Sunday’s game)
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin – Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar – Kevin Hayes – Emil Bemstrom
Boko Imama – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson
Vladislav Kolyachonok / Connor Timmins
Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Tristan Jarry
Potential Scratches: Ryan Graves, Danton Heinen
Injured Reserve: P.O. Joseph (upper-body injury)
- The Penguins will be deciding between Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry, who is coming off of his first NHL win since Dec. 23.
What a performance from Tristan Jarry.
Sidney Crosby: “Obviously going to Wilkes-Barre and working hard there to get the opportunity to come back here, he had a really strong game, looked really poised, and just happy for him.”
Bryan Rust: “I love that sh*t. He was awesome.”
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) March 9, 2025
- The Penguins signed draft picks Chase Pietila (Michigan Tech) and Daniel Laatsch (University of Wisconsin) to entry-level contracts this week ahead of the 2025-26 season.
- Trivia answer: The Penguins’ six 30-goal scorers since 2006-07 are Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Phil Kessel, Chris Kunitz and James Neal (h/t Pens PR.) Rickard Rakell will look to become the seventh player on that list tonight.