Penguins @ Panthers: Lines, Goalies, Odds, How 2 Watch

SUNRISE — The Pittsburgh Penguins may have hit a bit of a snag, but the Florida Panthers know exactly what they are getting into on Friday night.

Pittsburgh currently sits at 11-11-3 with its power play running at a frigid 0-for-33 over its last 12 games with just one power play goal in its last 15.

But the Panthers know all too well that the Penguins are better than what their record suggests and their power play has the potential to be better than what those numbers suggest.

“They have world class players and their analytics say that they are one of the best tams in the league,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

“They are second in offense at even strength, they are fourth in expected goals on the power play and it’s not scoring from them, their goaltender has been really good and they’ve given up 65 [goals] so we are going up against one of the best defensive teams in the league.”

FLORIDA PANTHERS TO HONOR PATRIC HORNQVIST PRE-GAME

As Maurice said, it will be a bit of a grind defensively.

The Penguins’ 65 goals against are tied with the Panthers for the fourth-fewest in the league.

(The New York Rangers are also in a three-way tie with them.)

Tristan Jarry has backstopped them well, going 8-9-2 with a .917/2.50 slashline.

Backup Alex Nedelkjovic is also rocking a .937 save percentage, which is second behind only Alex Lyon among goaltenders who have played at least five games.

But, of course, Pittsburgh’s offensive weapons can be equally as dangerous.

Sidney Crosby is still one of the NHL’s top players going into his late 30s, scoring 15 goals and 27 points in 25 games this season.

Linemate Jake Guentzel has 10 goals and 29 points of his own.

Evgeni Malkin (21 points) and Erik Karlsson (19 points) have also produced at elite levels for Pittsburgh despite the power play’s struggles.

With all of that being said, the Panthers taking the Penguins just as seriously as the powerhouse Dallas Stars team they played on Wednesday.

“I think we look at Pittsburgh and Dallas the exact same way,” Maurice said.

”They are both capable of being very elite, and if you are looking for how you are generating offfense, they are going to beat you bad because if you traded even chances with them, history would say that the production of the people that they have will beat you.

”I thought we mentally managed that concept well against Dallas and we are going to have to do the same tonight.”

ON DECK

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
• Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Local Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-165); Puck line (-1.5, +140); Over/Under 6.5 (-110/-115)
• Season Series — At Florida: Friday. At Pittsburgh: Jan. 26; Feb. 14.
• Last Season: Penguins won 2-1
• All-time regular season series: Penguins lead 56-36-7, 4 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Columbus, 1 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (15-8-2) LINES

17 Evan Rodrigues // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 21 Nick Cousins

12 Jonah Gadjovich // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 94 Ryan Lomberg

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 62 Brandon Montour

91 Oliver Ekman-Larsson // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura, Steven Lorentz

Injured: None

PROJECTED PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (11-11-3) LINES

59 Jake Guentzel // 87 Sidney Crosby // 10 Drew O’Connor

19 Reilly Smith // 71 Evgeni Malkin /// 48 Valtteri Puustinen

13 Vinnie Hinostroza //20  Lars Eller // 77 Jeff Carter

63 Radim Zohorna // 44 Jonathan Gruden // 43 Jansen Harkins

27 Ryan Graves // 58 Kris Letang

28 Marcus Pettersson // 65 Erik Karlsson

5 Ryan Shea // 7 John Ludvig

35 Tristan Jarry

39 Alex Nedelkjovic

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