Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Seattle Kraken 1/25/2025

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (20-22-8, 48 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Anaheim Ducks (21-25-3, 45 points, 6th place Pacific Division)

When: 4:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Broadcasting on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and KHN / KONG in the local markets, streaming nationally on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The road trip continues into San Jose on Monday and concludes in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. The Pens are finally back home next Saturday for a game against the Nashville Predators.

Opponent Track: The Kraken’s results have been a mixed bag lately, with the team posting ten total goals in a pair of blowout wins over the Kings and Sabres before conceding a 3-0 shutout defeat by the Washington Capitals on Thursday. The Kraken, like the Pens, are starting to slip dangerously far from a Wild Card spot. (The Caps meanwhile remain on top of the NHL standings, and Ovechkin scored an empty-netter to climb within 20 goals of Gretzky’s record.)

Season Series: The Pens lost 4-2 at home earlier this month as former Penguin Jamie Oleksiak and Eeli Tolvanen scored twice in a fifty-second span of the third period.

Hidden Stat: The Kraken are tied for the NHL lead with six multi-goal comeback wins this season. The Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes are the only other teams to have hit that mark (h/t NHL Stats.)

Hidden Stat II: The Kraken are also tied for the most shutouts in the league with six so far this season (h/t Kraken Stats.)

Getting to know the Kraken

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Jaden Schwartz – Matty Beniers – Kaapo Kakko

Andre Burakovsky – Chandler Stephenson (?) – Oliver Bjorkstrand

Jared McCann – Shane Wright – Eeli Tolvanen

Brandon Tanev – Mitchell Stephens – John Hayden

DEFENSEMEN

Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson

Ryker Evans – Brandon Montour

Jamie Oleksiak – Josh Mahura

Goalies: Joey Daccord, Philipp Grubauer

Scratches: Tye Kartye

IR: Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde

• Kraken center Chandler Stephenson is being evaluated for injury after blocking a shot with his hand during Thursday’s loss to the Caps (h/t The Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte.)
• Former Penguin Jared McCann slotted in at center in Stephenson’s absence, flanked by former Penguin Brandon Tanev and Andre Burakovsky.
• Speaking of former Penguins: Jamie Oleksiak recorded his 100th career assist during Monday’s 6-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Seattle is chock-full of one-time Penguins. Jared McCann, traded by the Penguins ahead of the Kraken’s expansion draft and then drafted from the Leafs, leads the Kraken with 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) through 49 games.
• Joey Daccord celebrated his 100th NHL game by stopping the Capitals’ first 20 shots, but it’s hard to win when your team gets outshot 32-22 and scores no goals. The loss would have been by a much larger margin had it not been for multiple breakaway denials by the Kraken netminder.

• Speaking of multiple breakaways: the Kraken defense looked leaky and disjointed against the Capitals. Fair to assume that’s something head coach Dave Hakstol will be focusing on tonight.
• Kaapo Kakko had 14 points in 30 games with the Rangers prior to the trade. He now sits one point short of matching that total in just 16 games with Seattle.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust (?)

Michael Bunting – Evgeni Malkin – Cody Glass

Anthony Beauvillier – Kevin Hayes – Philip Tomasino

Drew O’Connor – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Marcus Pettersson / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

P.O. Joseph / Owen Pickering

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Matt Nieto, Ryan Shea, Ryan Graves

IR: none

• Bryan Rust left Thursday’s loss to the Ducks with a lower-body injury. He is considered day-to-day and didn’t join the Pens for practice Friday.
• Blomqvist hasn’t played in a week. Given Nedeljkovic’s struggles against the Ducks, could tonight be the time to give him another shot at starting in the absence of Jarry?
• Speaking of Jarry, he struggled in his first AHL start after being cut. He let in the first shot he faced four and a half minutes into his return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Pens never held a lead after that early goal in a Friday loss to Utica.
• Between a dominant win over the Kings and a lackluster loss to the Ducks, it’s hard to tell what Pens team will take the ice to end the week. The result could hinge both on who’s in net and what line shuffling takes place if Rust is forced to miss time with his injury.