Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Calgary Flames 10/21/2024

The Pens look to break a two-game losing streak against a Flames team that has yet to lose in regulation.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (3-4-0, 6 points) @ Calgary Flames (4-0-1, 9 points)

When: 9:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SN Pittsburgh, SN1, NHL Network national stream

Pens’ Path Ahead: The road swing continues with a back-to-back set this weekend, starting Friday against the Edmonton Oilers followed by a trip to Vancouver on Saturday.

Opponent Track: The Flames’ season-opening win streak ended last Saturday, but the team still snagged a point with an overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on the road. Calgary opened the season with a 6-5 OT win over the Vancouver Canucks, then cruised to victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks.

Season Series: The Pens and Flames split this seasons last season, with the Penguins winning 5-2 at home in October before losing 4-3 on the road in March.

Getting to know the Flames

Projected lines (from Monday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Andrei Kuzmenko – Nazem Kadri – Matt Coronato

Jonathan Huberdeau – Martin Pospisil – Anthony Mantha

Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka

DEFENSEMEN

MacKenzie Weegar / Daniil Miromanov

Kevin Bahl / Rasmus Andersson

Jake Bean / Brayden Pachal

Goalies: Daniel Vladar, Dustin Wolf

Possible scratches: Samuel Honzek, Tyson Barrie

IR: Yegor Sharangovich, Kevin Rooney

• Tyson Barrie, the journeyman defenseman who signed in Calgary after a PTO this fall, got made his second appearance of the season during Saturday’s loss to the Kraken. Either he or Miromanov will get the nod to skate alongside Weegar.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• The Flames finished with a 38-39-5 record last season, seven points lower than the Penguins’ 88 in the standings. They traded Andrew Mangiapane and Jacob Markstrom this summer. Why are they one of four teams who are yet to record a regulation loss this season?

Two possible answers: Jonathan Huberdeau and Dustin Wolf.

Huberdeau, who struggled last season in the first year of his eight-year, $84 million deal, has three goals and three assists for six points in five games. The Flames’ overtime loss to the Kraken was the first time he’s been held pointless this season.

Meanwhile the goaltending tandem of rookie Dustin Wolf and former Flames backup Daniel Vladar has been strong so far this season.

Wolf has put up a .944 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average in two starts for the Flames so far this season, albeit against weaker competition than that faced by Vladar (Wolf earned his starts against the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, while Vladar has been tapped for in-division competition.)

Given that Vladar started against the Kraken, and that the Flames face the Carolina Hurricanes later this week, Wolf could potentially get called in for his third start of the season against the Pens.

And now for the Pens

Infographic courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Projected lines (from Monday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Drew O’Connor – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting – Evgeni Malkin – Rickard Rakell

Anthony Beauvillier – Lars Eller – Cody Glass

Kevin Hayes – Noel Acciari – Jesse Puljujarvi

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic, Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Valtteri Puustinen

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

• Indications from practice are the Nedeljkovic is slated for the start tonight (h/t TSN’s Salim Valji.) It was rookie Joel Blomqvist backing up Nedeljkovic in his return to the net on Sunday, but head coach Mike Sullivan pushed back against the statement that Jarry was a “healthy scratch.”

• The forward lines saw a series of changes before Sunday’s loss, including the scratches of Michael Bunting and Jack St. Ivany, the swapping of Noel Acciari to center, putting Cody Glass on the third-line wing and sticking Drew O’Connor alongside Sidney Crosby. Many of those changes look set to stay in place for Tuesday, except that Bunting was back skating with the team on the second line on Monday.
• Ryan Graves has been receiving sheltered minutes so far this campaign but skated a season-high 16:57 against the Jets. Should the Penguins’ defense continue struggling, Sullivan could consider scratching him in favor of a Jack St. Ivany / Ryan Shea pairing, although it looks like it will be St. Ivany on the sidelines again tonight.
• Moving Anthony Beauvillier down to the third line, and putting Glass on the wing, worked well on Sunday despite the Penguins’ overall struggles. The Penguins went 24-7 in terms of shot attempts, and 16-3 in shots on goal, with the Beauvillier-Lars Eller-Glass line on the ice, per DK Pittsburgh Sports’ Taylor Haase. Accordingly, the trio was left intact for Monday’s practice.
• Jesse Puljujarvi was meanwhile moved down to the fourth line, which could be a decision made to bolster the line more than a demotion for Puljujarvi. The Acciari-centered line was largely rolled by the Jets this weekend.