2023-24 Pittsburgh Penguins 1st Quarter Round 1

It has been quite a long time since I have done this, but I like to break the season down into quarters (20-21 games) as well as looking at the season in 7 game chunks the way one would look at a playoff round. So last night the Pittsburgh Penguins have completed their 7th game of the season and it is now time to take a look at where they currently stand. First we will look at the team stats, with standings and special teams data coming from the NHL website. Then more advanced stats and individual player stats will be based on data from Evolving Hockey.

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Team Stats

The Pens have gone 3-4-0 and currently sit at 7th in the Metropolitan division, 14th in the Eastern conference, and 23rd in the NHL. Their power play has gone 2 for 18 at an 11.1 PP% which is 27th in the league. Their penalty kill has stopped 19 of 22 for an 86.4 PK% which is 11th in the league. They do not have any shorthanded goals, for or against.

At 3.00 Goals For per game the Penguins are 17th in the NHL. Their 2.86 Goals Against per game is 12th in the league. She are shooting at an 8.8 Sh% which is 22nd in the NHL and defensively have a collective 90.3 Sv% which is 16th in the league. They have won 234 of 420 faceoffs for a 55.7 FO% which is 2nd best in the entire NHL.

Pittsburgh has outshot their opponents 238 to 206 and led shot attempts 463 to 426. At an average of 34.0 shots for per game they are 4th in the NHL while 66.1 shot attempts for per game is 6th in the league. Defensively they give up 29.4 shots against per game which is 12th in the league and 44.7 unblocked shot attempts against per game with is 19th in the league. 51.4% of their shot attempts made it through to reach the net which is 12th in the NHL while they allowed 48.4% of the opponents chances to get through which is 9th in the league.

2023 Preseason Game 7 – Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo Sabres

The NHL training camp wraps up this weekend as the Pittsburgh Penguins head on the road for their final preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres. The began the preseason with a split squad match against the Columbus Blue Jackets dressing mostly AHL players and junior invites. Then they took their roster of AHL players on the road to face the Detroit Red Wings. Next they came back home and gave their stars their first taste of game action against the Buffalo Sabres. After that they went on a trip to Nova Scotia to let their stars play against the Ottawa Senators in Halifax. When they came back to Pittsburgh they recalled a handful of players from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and dressed another AHL heavy roster against the Detroit Red Wings. But now they have started sending players back down to WBS and they have a lineup playing in Buffalo that looks to be very close to what we expect to see as their regular season opening night roster.

As I have done so throughout the rest of training camp I am going to take a look at the roster for the upcoming game and the lines and D pairs they were using in practice. Then I shall update it again after the morning skate with the lines and PP units they are preparing for the evening and during the game I will post updates and stats using this post as a game thread. The game will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh (formerly KBL/FSN/Root Sports/AT&T Sportsnet).

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Game 7 at Sabres 7:00pm

2023 Preseason Game 6 – Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings

The Pittsburgh Penguins are dressing a full squad of AHL players while letting their stars relax for the day. We began the preseason with a split-squad against the Columbus Blue Jackets, then went on the road to play the Detroit Red Wings, came back home to face the Buffalo Sabres, and lastly the Nova Scotia showdown in Halifax versus the Ottawa Senators. Now they are back in Pittsburgh for a rematch against the Red Wings and using all the players that they recalled yesterday.

The Penguins waited until this morning to post the roster for the game, so I won’t have as much time to get the post ready as I have for the previous games. However, I still plan to go over the roster, look at speculation of lines and any information they give from the morning skate today, and then to use the post as a game thread and update it during the match this evening. The game will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh (formerly KBL/FSN/Root Sports/AT&T Sportsnet) and we may see a different color commentator this game as they have three who are rotating this year.

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Game 6 vs Red Wings 7:00pm

2023 Preseason Game 5 – Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been enjoying their team bonding trip to Nova Scotia, the highlight of which today was hanging out at Sidney Crosby’s home rink in Cole Harbour and running a youth hockey clinic after practice. They finish off their trip with a match against the Ottawa Senators on Monday at the Scotiabank Arena in Halifax. They have previously played against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings with squads of mostly AHL players and then a full NHL lineup against the Buffalo Sabres. The lineup they posted for this game looks to again be a preview of what we can look forward to seeing to open the regular season.

Like we have been doing we will take a look at the roster they are dressing for the game and discuss the lines and D pairs we have seen being used in practices. I will update the post throughout the day with information from the morning skate and use it as a game log during the match. The game will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh (formerly KBL/FSN/Root Sports/AT&T Sportsnet) and will be the first time the new TV crew with Josh Getzoff on play by play will take the air.

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Game 5 vs Senators 6:00pm

Pittsburgh Penguins Prospect Update October 2023

It has been several years since I have down this, so I have to find my old bookmarks to other league pages and brush up on my Finnish and Swedish so I can remember what the categories I am clicking on mean, but it is that time again where we take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects playing in Europe, the juniors, and the NCAA. Not counting the four defected players whose rights they still hold, the Pens have one goalie, five D, and nine forwards coming up through their development system.

Filip Lindberg, Joseph Masonius, Filip Hållander, and Kasper Björkqvist are all defected players whom the Pens retain their player rights while Thimo Nickl is a Pens prospect who is currently signed to an AHL deal with WBS. There is no reason to cover them though as they don’t fall into the same category as the ones below who are young prospects that have not yet turned pro.

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Goaltenders

Sergei Murashov – 2022 4th round

Murashov is a 19 year old, 6’1″, 170lbs G playing for his local Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental’naya Khokkeynaya Liga in Russia. He is currently playing on their junior team in the Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga, his third year as starter for Loko. So far he has gone 4-2-0 with a 2.34 GAA and 91.2 Sv% with two of his games ending in a shutout. He had a rough start, losing his first two games and then missing a week after his first bounce back shutout, but he is currently on a hot streak having won the past three games. His backup has better numbers than him though, minus the shutouts, so he will need to keep playing hard in order to maintain his spot at the top of the depth chart. He is on the final year of his contract and so far has only played a single KHL game during the two years he was signed with the big club, but his career numbers are very good. He is the lone netminder prospect in the system but the Pens have two other young goalies in the minors already so it is uncertain where he fits in the future.

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