For the first time this season and the second time since the 2024 trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be squaring off against a very familiar face on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
Former Penguin Jake Guentzel – who was traded to Carolina at the deadline last season and signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning this summer – makes his second trip back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday when the Penguins face off against the Lightning at PPG Paints Arena. A third-round pick in 2013, Guentzel spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Penguins.
Guentzel looked back fondly on his time spent in Pittsburgh, especially that spent with captain and good friend Sidney Crosby:
Jake Guentzel on Sidney Crosby: “He kind of took me in right as I got here. I kind of think of him as an older brother for me. Obviously, we still talk a lot to his day. … He’s a guy I grew really close to.” #Pens #Bolts
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) November 19, 2024
On the season so far, Guentzel has registered seven goals and 17 points in 16 games with Tampa Bay, which is good for third overall and fourth in goals in terms of team ranks. He will be a threat to watch out for in this game, as will be another returning star to Tampa Bay’s lineup.
Forward Brayden Point, who has missed the last four games for the Lightning with a lower body injury, will be back in the lineup tonight. Point has registered eight goals and 14 points in 20 career games against the Penguins.
In terms of goaltending, Tristan Jarry will get the start for Pittsburgh, and he is coming off a rather pedestrian performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets, when he surrendered five goals on 38 shots.
On the season, Jarry is 1-2 with a .536 goals-against average (GAA) and an .847 save percentage (SV%). He will oppose Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay’s star goaltender, who is 8-5-1 with a 2.15 GAA and a .920 SV%.
As far as the lineup, the Penguins will roll with the same one they deployed against San Jose, with defenseman Owen Pickering and forward Vasily Ponomarev factoring in. Kris Letang is still day-to-day with an illness, and Cody Glass, Kevin Hayes, and Blake Lizotte remain on injured reserve:
Tampa Bay is coming off two straight wins against two of the league’s best teams in the Winnipeg Jets and the New Jersey Devils. They sit third in the Atlantic Division at 9-6-1 and have a division-leading plus-11 goal differential.
As for Pittsburgh, look for Crosby to score his 600th goal tonight, as he sits at 599. He would become just the 21st player in NHL history and the second active player to achieve the milestone.
