The Seattle Kraken (6-4-2), one of the NHL’s top power play offenses, head to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-5-2) and their weak penalty killing defense at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
Seattle is coming off a 4-0 win over the Wild on Thursday, their third consecutive win. The Kraken committed only two penalties in the game, holding Minnesota without a power play goal. Alex Wennberg led the Kraken with two goals. Martin Jones earned his first shutout of the season with an impressive 22 saves.
Pittsburgh lost for the sixth straight game, falling 6-3 to the Sabres on Wednesday. Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, and Josh Archibald scored one apiece for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin had two assists to lead the team in scoring. Casey DeSmith only had 27 saves on 31 shots against (.870%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Kraken won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 3-1 victory in October. Jaden Schwartz led Seattle with two points (1G 1A). Guentzel scored Pittsburgh’s only goal. Jones got the win, saving 32 of 33 shots (.969%).
FACING OFF
Seattle is averaging 3.50 goals per game for the season, ninth in the NHL, and they are taking on a Penguins team that is allowing 3.73 goals a game (26th). Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has found the net 3.64 times a game on average, sixth in the league, and the Kraken are allowing opponents to score 3.17 goals per game (18th).Pittsburgh averages more shots (35.7) than most teams in the league, ranking fifth.
Seattle has been one of the league’s least successful shot-stopping teams, ranking No. 28 with a team save percentage of .885%.The Kraken will be looking to build on their fifth-ranked power play percentage of 27.91% against the Penguins, who are the league’s fourth-weakest penalty killing team (71.05%).
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has scored on 21.43% of their power play opportunities (14th), which the hosts will be aiming to improve on against Seattle’s 27th-ranked 71.79% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 10 points each this season, Schwartz (5G 5A) and Andre Burakovsky (3G 7A) are the top skaters for the Kraken. In the net, Jones (5-3-1) is Seattle’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.69 GAA and a .893% save percentage.Sidney Crosby and Malkin lead the Penguins in scoring with 12 points apiece.
Both have five goals and seven assists in 11 games. DeSmith (0-3-1) has the best goals against average for Pittsburgh at 3.25. He has a save percentage of .904%. Tristan Jarry (4-2-1) has played the most games in net for the Penguins this season. He has a 3.42 GAA and a .904% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Seattle is 4-1-1 on the road this season. Pittsburgh has yet to be defeated at home this season in four games.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Pittsburgh Penguins (-200)
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