Betting HubSharp Action
Barstool BushChronicling the Barstool Universe

Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks

Tue Oct 137:00 PM CTESPN+Chicago, IL
By JR·2 min read
Penguins(3-2-1)
Blackhawks(1-5-0)
Tuesday 10/137:00 PM

TLDR: Chicago's 2 best young centers won't take a faceoff in this one, and they're 1-5-0 for a reason. Pittsburgh comes to the United Center for a Tuesday game that looks very winnable for the Penguins, if they've figured out how to stop giving up shots.

WED 10/14, 7:00 PMESPN+
Penguins
(3-2-1)
WLLLW
Blackhawks
(1-5-0)
LLWLL

Pittsburgh visits a 1-5-0 Chicago team that is missing Frank Nazar (suspended) and Connor Bedard (shoulder, IR), so the Blackhawks have to manage without their 2 best young centers. The Penguins have Crosby and Malkin and an excellent penalty kill, but they're short on defensemen and recently gave up 45 shots in a shootout loss to Columbus. The game probably turns on whether Pittsburgh can control play or needs its goalie to bail it out again.

Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Penalty kill ranked 3rd in the league at 92.9%
  • Crosby and Malkin lines both scoring lately
  • Murashov kept them in it while being outshot 45-22
  • Van Riemsdyk out, Graves on IR: thin defense
  • Outshot 45-22 by Columbus in shootout loss
  • Puck management a problem all season
Chicago Blackhawks
  • Only win came at home, 4-2 over St. Louis
  • Kantserov and Moore both scored against Carolina
  • Nazar suspended for this game
  • Bedard still on IR, no return date
  • Gave up 3 goals in 3:56 to Carolina

Frank Nazar won't play. The NHL gave him 2 games for an illegal check to the head of Bo Horvat in the loss at the Islanders, and the suspension covers this game against Pittsburgh. Connor Bedard is still on injured reserve with a shoulder problem. He's been back on the ice at practice, but nobody has given a date for his return. So Chicago's 2 top centers are out, and the coaching staff has to build a forward group around Roman Kantserov and Oliver Moore, the only 2 Blackhawks who scored against Carolina.

Pittsburgh's lineup at least runs through the guys it's supposed to. Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust made up the top line against Dallas, and Evgeni Malkin played on the right side of a line with Tommy Novak and Egor Chinakhov. Rust and Malkin both scored in the Columbus game to force overtime. The problem is the blue line. Trevor van Riemsdyk has a lower-body injury, and Ryan Graves is already out indefinitely, so the Penguins are 2 defensemen short heading into a road trip.

Pittsburgh's recent games don't fit a team with a winning record. Columbus outshot the Penguins 45-22 before winning 3-2 in a shootout, and rookie Sergei Murashov was the reason it got that far. Before that, Tom Wilson had a goal and 2 assists as Washington won 5-3 in Alex Ovechkin's final home opener. The Penguins stopped the slide by beating Dallas 2-1 at home, but a 1-goal win over a good team doesn't prove much about the puck-management problems Pittsburgh Hockey Now flagged going into that game.

Pittsburgh Penguins
(3-2-1)
10/10WvsStars2-1
10/09L@Blue Jackets2-3
10/07L@Capitals3-5
10/05LvsJets2-3
10/03WvsCanadiens6-5
Chicago Blackhawks
(1-5-0)
10/10LvsHurricanes2-5
10/08L@Islanders1-4
10/07WvsBlues4-2
10/03L@Sabres3-4
10/02L@Mammoth0-6

Chicago's season so far: a 6-0 loss in Utah, a 1-goal loss in Buffalo, a 4-2 home win over St. Louis, then 2 losses by 3 goals. Against Carolina, Mark Jankowski scored late in the 1st period, and then the Hurricanes scored 3 times in 3:56 early in the 2nd, starting with Sebastian Aho's short-handed goal. Carolina won 5-2. That's a young team losing control of a game in 4 minutes, and losing Nazar to a suspension makes that harder to fix.

Special teams could matter more than usual. Going into the Dallas game, Pittsburgh's penalty kill ranked 3rd in the league at 92.9% and its power play ranked 9th. A Chicago power play without Bedard and Nazar has to get through that kill. On the other side, a Penguins defense missing 2 regulars has been giving up a lot of shots, and Chicago has the speed to make that hurt.

Puck drop is 7:00 PM CT. Pittsburgh is the better team on paper and is healthier at center. Chicago has home ice and its 1 win came at the United Center. The question is whether the Penguins can keep the shot count close, or whether their goalie has to win it for them again.

Penguins Visit A Blackhawks Team Still Missing Both Top Centers | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush