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Nashville Predators at Pittsburgh Penguins

Sat Oct 247:00 PM ETESPN+Pittsburgh, PA
By JR·2 min read
Predators(3-3-3)
Penguins(4-6-1)
Saturday 10/247:00 PM

TLDR: Nashville and Pittsburgh have both gone 1-4 in their last 5, and somebody leaves PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, October 24 with a better week than they came in with. The Penguins are doing it with half the depth chart on injured reserve.

SAT 10/24, 7:00 PMESPN+
Predators
(3-3-3)
LWLLL
Penguins
(4-6-1)
WLLLL

Two teams that are each 1-4 in their last 5 meet in Pittsburgh, and they're struggling for different reasons. Nashville has a healthy roster that has scored 2 goals or fewer in 4 of those 5 games, capped by a 6-0 loss in Boston. Pittsburgh's losing came on a 4-game western trip and has left the team without Bryan Rust, Ben Kindel and 3 regular defensemen. The game comes down to whether the Predators' forwards can finally score against a Penguins lineup full of call-ups.

Nashville Predators
  • Nothing new on the injury report
  • Pittsburgh blue line missing Girard, van Riemsdyk, Graves
  • Scored 5 the last time the offense woke up
  • Shut out 6-0 in Boston, Josi held quiet
  • 2 goals or fewer in 4 of last 5
  • Second road game in 3 nights
Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Back home after a 4-game western trip
  • Only home game in last 5 was a win
  • Crosby and Malkin still driving the top 6
  • Rust out about 6 weeks, Kindel on IR
  • Allowed 5+ in each of the 4 trip losses
  • Call-ups McGroarty and Pietila filling key roles

Start with the Predators, because their last game was ugly. Boston beat them 6-0 at TD Garden with 2 goals in every period, and Nashville's offense, Roman Josi included, never got going. It wasn't a one-off, either. Nashville has scored 2 goals or fewer in 4 of its last 5, and the only exception was a 5-2 win over St. Louis. At 3-3-3, the Predators have stayed close in most games without being able to score enough to win them.

Pittsburgh's problem is the roster. Bryan Rust went into the boards hard in the 5-4 loss at Utah and will be re-evaluated in 6 weeks, which keeps him out until around December. Ben Kindel went on injured reserve after a vasovagal episode on the team plane out of Salt Lake City. Kyle Dubas said the hope is Kindel is back practicing next week, depending on test results. Rutger McGroarty and defenseman Chase Pietila got called up to fill the holes. Add Samuel Girard, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Ryan Graves on defense, plus Justin Brazeau and Egor Chinakhov up front, and Dan Muse is down 7 bodies.

Neither team has had a fixed lineup. Muse kept shuffling lines during the skid, and the projected group for Thursday's home game against Florida had Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell on Sidney Crosby's wings, Evgeni Malkin playing right wing on a line centered by Hendrix Lapierre, and a defense pairing Spencer Stastney with Erik Karlsson. Arturs Silovs was projected to start in goal for that one. Nobody has said who starts in net Saturday.

Nashville Predators
(3-3-3)
10/22L@Bruins0-6
10/18WvsBlues5-2
10/16LvsSharks2-3
10/14LvsGolden Knights2-5
10/10L@Senators2-3
Pittsburgh Penguins
(4-6-1)
10/22WvsPanthers4-0
10/20L@Mammoth4-5
10/18L@Golden Knights2-6
10/17L@Avalanche2-5
10/14L@Blackhawks3-5

There's one thing the Penguins' form line hides. Pittsburgh went into Thursday's Florida game on a 4-game skid, and all 4 losses came on a trip through Chicago, Colorado, Vegas and Utah where they allowed 5 or more goals every night. Their only home game in the window was a 2-1 win over Dallas. Getting back to PPG Paints Arena, with Chinakhov now ruled out as well, is the closest thing to a reset they have right now.

Both teams played Thursday and get 1 day off before this one, so neither has a rest edge. Nashville at least has a healthy roster and nothing new on its injury report, which counts for something against a Pittsburgh team using call-ups. The Predators' problem is shooting, not health. Puck drop is 7:00 PM ET. If Nashville's forwards get chances against a patched-up Penguins defense and keep missing, the skid stops being bad luck.

Predators vs. Penguins: Polymarket Odds & Prediction (Oct. 24) — Predators and Penguins Meet in Pittsburgh Looking for Any Offense · Barstool Bush