Schedule / Matchup Preview

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Florida Panthers · Matchup Preview Based on 26-27 form — rosters current

Season 26-27
Matchup Preview vs Panthers · THU · OCT 22 · 6:00 PM CT ← Back to schedule
Upcoming
THU · OCT 22 · 6:00 PM CT
PPG Paints Arena
SN-PIT · SCRIPPS
Pittsburgh Penguins
Penguins
2–0–0
VS
Florida Panthers
Panthers
1–0–1
Upcoming
THU · OCT 22 · 6:00 PM CT
SN-PIT · SCRIPPS
Pittsburgh Penguins
Home · Penguins
2–0–0
4 PTS
VS
Puck Drop In
The read
The man to watch is Sidney Crosby: 10 points in his last 4 against Florida. But Blake Lizotte is still looking for his first goal on Jacob Markstrom after 17 shots.
PPG Paints Arena
Florida Panthers
Away · Panthers
1–0–1
3 PTS
Penguins
GOALIES
Panthers
Arturs Silovs
Arturs Silovs
Expected
.886 SV% · 2.47 GAA · 2W
.920 SV% L5 · Locked in
VS
Jacob Markstrom
Jacob Markstrom
Likely · 594-jacob-markstrom
.1000 SV% · — GAA · 1W
.899 SV% L5 · Cooling
Penguins
PROJECTED TOP LINES
Panthers
L1
Nicholas Robertson · Sidney Crosby · Rickard Rakell
L1
Brady Tkachuk · Lars Eller · Sam Reinhart
L2
Egor Chinakhov · Tommy Novak · Evgeni Malkin
L2
Carter Verhaeghe · Sam Bennett · Matthew Tkachuk
L3
Andrei Kuzmenko · Ben Kindel · Hendrix Lapierre
L3
Eetu Luostarinen · Anton Lundell · Sandis Vilmanis
L4
Connor Dewar · Blake Lizotte · Filip Hallander
L4
Bokondji Imama · Sam Lafferty · Garnet Hathaway
D1
Declan Carlile · Erik Karlsson
D1
Gustav Forsling · Aaron Ekblad
D2
Samuel Girard · Kaedan Korczak
D2
Niko Mikkola · Seth Jones
D3
Trevor van Riemsdyk · Kris Letang
D3
Dmitry Kulikov · Radko Gudas
PP1
Ben Kindel · Tommy Novak · Rickard Rakell · Erik Karlsson · Sidney Crosby
PP1
Brady Tkachuk · Sam Bennett · Sam Reinhart · Seth Jones · Matthew Tkachuk
PP2
Andrei Kuzmenko · Hendrix Lapierre · Egor Chinakhov · Kris Letang · Evgeni Malkin
PP2
Lars Eller · Anton Lundell · Carter Verhaeghe · Aaron Ekblad · Gustav Forsling
PK1
Filip Hallander · Connor Dewar · Samuel Girard · Kris Letang
PK1
Lars Eller · Sam Reinhart · Gustav Forsling · Aaron Ekblad
PK2
Ben Kindel · Rickard Rakell · Trevor van Riemsdyk · Erik Karlsson
PK2
Anton Lundell · Eetu Luostarinen · Niko Mikkola · Radko Gudas
PenguinsProjected lines
L1
Nicholas Robertson · Sidney Crosby · Rickard Rakell
L2
Egor Chinakhov · Tommy Novak · Evgeni Malkin
L3
Andrei Kuzmenko · Ben Kindel · Hendrix Lapierre
L4
Connor Dewar · Blake Lizotte · Filip Hallander
D1
Declan Carlile · Erik Karlsson
D2
Samuel Girard · Kaedan Korczak
D3
Trevor van Riemsdyk · Kris Letang
PP1
Ben Kindel · Tommy Novak · Rickard Rakell · Erik Karlsson · Sidney Crosby
PP2
Andrei Kuzmenko · Hendrix Lapierre · Egor Chinakhov · Kris Letang · Evgeni Malkin
PK1
Filip Hallander · Connor Dewar · Samuel Girard · Kris Letang
PK2
Ben Kindel · Rickard Rakell · Trevor van Riemsdyk · Erik Karlsson
PanthersProjected lines
L1
Brady Tkachuk · Lars Eller · Sam Reinhart
L2
Carter Verhaeghe · Sam Bennett · Matthew Tkachuk
L3
Eetu Luostarinen · Anton Lundell · Sandis Vilmanis
L4
Bokondji Imama · Sam Lafferty · Garnet Hathaway
D1
Gustav Forsling · Aaron Ekblad
D2
Niko Mikkola · Seth Jones
D3
Dmitry Kulikov · Radko Gudas
PP1
Brady Tkachuk · Sam Bennett · Sam Reinhart · Seth Jones · Matthew Tkachuk
PP2
Lars Eller · Anton Lundell · Carter Verhaeghe · Aaron Ekblad · Gustav Forsling
PK1
Lars Eller · Sam Reinhart · Gustav Forsling · Aaron Ekblad
PK2
Anton Lundell · Eetu Luostarinen · Niko Mikkola · Radko Gudas
Last Game (2026-10-03) · Oct 4 · 6:19 AM CT Jameson Olive · as of Oct 3
Penguins
INJURY REPORT
Panthers
Bryan Rust
IR · Upper body · Expected back Oct 5
Gustav Forsling
DAY-TO-DAY · Upper body
Justin Brazeau
IR · Lower body · Expected back Oct 7
Aleksander Barkov
IR · Left knee · Expected back Oct 27
Ryan Graves
IR · Knee · Expected back Oct 24
Brad Marchand
IR · Lower body · Expected back Oct 25
MacKenzie Entwistle
IR · Undisclosed injury · Expected back Oct 10
Jonah Gadjovich
IR · Upper body (surgery) · Expected back Oct 17
PenguinsInjury report
Bryan Rust
IR · Upper body · Expected back Oct 5
Justin Brazeau
IR · Lower body · Expected back Oct 7
Ryan Graves
IR · Knee · Expected back Oct 24
PanthersInjury report
Gustav Forsling
DAY-TO-DAY · Upper body
Aleksander Barkov
IR · Left knee · Expected back Oct 27
Brad Marchand
IR · Lower body · Expected back Oct 25
MacKenzie Entwistle
IR · Undisclosed injury · Expected back Oct 10
Jonah Gadjovich
IR · Upper body (surgery) · Expected back Oct 17
Last Game (2026-10-03) · Oct 4 · 6:19 AM CT Jameson Olive · as of Oct 3
STORYLINE
The Penguins have won 2 straight and are 2-0-0 in their first 2 games. The Panthers lost their last game in overtime and are 1-0-1 in their first 2 games.

Matchup Intel

The man to watch is Sidney Crosby: 10 points in his last 4 against Florida. But Blake Lizotte is still looking for his first goal on Jacob Markstrom after 17 shots.

Stay out of the box: the Penguins' power play ranks 2nd and Florida's penalty kill sits 31st. Nick Robertson is 2 goals shy of 100 career goals.

The numbers behind it
Player
Sidney Crosby has 10 points in his last 4 games against Florida. See the games →
(Pittsburgh)
10 pts, last 4 vs FLA
Special Teams
Pittsburgh's power play ranks 2nd while Florida's penalty kill ranks 31st.
2nd / 31st PP vs PK
Player
Evgeni Malkin has 9 points in his last 4 games against Florida. See the games →
(Pittsburgh)
9 pts, last 4 vs FLA
Matchup
Blake Lizotte has 17 shots on Jacob Markstrom without a goal.
(Pittsburgh)
0/17 vs Jacob Markstrom
Matchup
Samuel Girard has 16 shots on Jacob Markstrom without a goal.
(Pittsburgh)
0/16 vs Jacob Markstrom
Milestone
Nick Robertson is 2 goals shy of 100 career goals.
98 career goals
Milestone
Dmitry Kulikov is 3 goals shy of 100 career goals.
97 career goals