The Penguins head into Saturday night in Los Angeles carrying a mess of results and a growing sense that the roster could look different before long. Pittsburgh sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 5-9-2, has dropped four straight, and opens a three-game road trip against a Kings team that is also trying to steady itself at 5-7-2.
Puck drop is set for just after 9 p.m. EST at Crypto.com Arena, with the Penguins listed as slight underdogs. FanDuel has Pittsburgh at +100 and Los Angeles at -120.
Pittsburgh’s latest loss came Thursday in Boston, where the Bruins beat the Penguins 6-2. Justin Brazeau scored his first goal of the season, and while Pittsburgh had stretches where it pushed play, the night mostly unraveled because of mistakes.
Boston’s Pavel Zacha scored once on a breakaway and again on a two-on-one, both chances created by Penguins turnovers. Arturs Silovs made 18 saves on 24 shots, but all but one of the goals came off odd-man rushes.
Los Angeles arrives off a much cleaner night. The Kings rolled past the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Wednesday, with Adrian Kempe returning from an illness and scoring a hat trick.
Quinton Byfield added two power-play goals, while Erik Haula and Joel Armia also scored. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots, and the Kings went 3-for-5 on the power play.
Special teams could matter here, and the numbers point in Pittsburgh’s favor on one side of the puck. Los Angeles owns the league’s worst penalty kill at 63%, which gives the Penguins a chance to make some noise if they can draw penalties.
Pittsburgh’s power play is 17.8%, good for 24th, while its penalty kill sits at 82.5%, 10th in the league. The Kings’ power play checks in at 22.0%, 14th.
Silovs is expected to start, though the Penguins are in the middle of back-to-backs in Los Angeles and Anaheim this weekend, so rookie Sergei Murashov is also in the mix to get a look. Coach Dan Muse will announce the starter after the morning skate at 1:30 p.m.
EST. Pittsburgh will also hold a full morning skate, leaving room for possible line changes.
The projected Penguins lines have Tommy Novak centering Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell on the top unit, with Egor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, and Evgeni Malkin together on the second line. Ville Koivunen, Hendrix Lapierre, and Justin Brazeau are listed on the third line, while Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Nick Robertson make up the fourth. On defense, the pairs are Samuel Girard with Erik Karlsson, Spencer Stastney with Kaedan Korczak, and Declan Carlile with Kris Letang.
Los Angeles is projected to go with Artemi Panarin, Alex Laferriere, and Adrian Kempe on its top line, followed by Trevor Moore, Quinton Byfield, and Corey Perry. Andre Lee, Scott Laughton, and Martin Chromiak are listed together, with Erik Haula, Kenny Connors, and Joel Armia on the fourth line.
The Kings’ defense pairs are Erik Gustafsson with Brandt Clarke, Joel Edmundson with Drew Doughty, and Mikey Anderson with Brian Dumoulin. Kuemper is expected in goal.
There is at least some recent history on Pittsburgh’s side. The Penguins have won three of their last four meetings with the Kings, and they’ve also won three straight at Crypto.com Arena. Still, they have never won four in a row in Los Angeles, even though both teams entered the NHL in 1967.
The Penguins are also in their third set of back-to-backs this season. So far, they are 1-2-1 in those situations, including 0-1-1 on the first night and 1-1-0 on the second.
Nick Robertson’s goal Thursday was his seventh of the season, and no player with zero assists has more goals this year than Robertson. Hendrix Lapierre has seven points in 12 games, the fastest he has reached that mark to open a season in his career. And Sidney Crosby is one point away from moving past Marcel Dionne for sixth place on the all-time scoring list.
In Other News...
Wild Suddenly Linked To A Massive Penguins Decision
The Penguins uneven start has already pushed roster questions to the front of the conversation, and Evgeni Malkin is suddenly part of that discussion again. Pittsburgh is weighing changes as it tries to steady the season, and the veteran centers name is surfacing in trade speculation at a time when the organization is clearly keeping an open mind about its next move.
Minnesota has entered the picture as a possible landing spot, with Wild general manager Bill Guerin reportedly keeping tabs on the situation if the price makes sense and Malkin is willing to consider a move. The timing adds another layer to a familiar Penguins storyline, since any serious talk around Malkin will only grow louder as the calendar turns and the trade market starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Trade Talk Just Ran Into One Big Problem
The Penguins recent slide has only sharpened the conversation around what Kyle Dubas might do next, especially with the roster not giving many easy answers. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said the front office is weighing trade possibilities, but the process is not as simple as identifying a veteran and making a call. Dubas is expected to factor in player preferences before anything else, which makes any potential move feel more complicated than a typical deadline or midseason sell-off.
Tommy Novak has surfaced as one name to watch, though nothing has been confirmed and the broader market picture still feels murky. For Pittsburgh, the issue is not just finding a willing partner, but finding a deal that makes sense for both sides while respecting the protections built into the roster. Until that balance shifts, the Penguins may have more trade talk than trade action. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Offense Keeps Failing In Games They Should Be Winning
The Penguins uneven start has left them in a familiar but frustrating spot, with too many nights where the offense never quite matches the opportunity in front of it. Against backup goaltenders, the issue has been especially glaring. Pittsburgh has not only failed to cash in, it has also looked quieter than usual in the process, a troubling trend for a team that expects its veteran core to tilt these kinds of games.
Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin have all pointed to inconsistency as a major reason the Penguins keep coming up short. For a group built around experience and high-end skill, the concern is less about one bad night than the pattern that keeps repeating. The standings reflect it, and so does the broader sense that Pittsburgh is leaving points on the table in games it should be controlling. [Read more 🡒]