Game preview: 12/12/24 at the Montreal Canadiens

Erik Karlsson has 42 points (10G-32A) in 51 career games against the Canadiens. His 10 goals against them are tied to his teammate Kris Letang for the most among all active blueliners.

goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic is 3-1-1 with a 1.74 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in six career games against Montreal. His save percentage of .947 is the second highest against a team behind Vegas (.979 SV%).

Rickard Rakell has 14 points (6G-8A) in 19 career games against Montreal. He has seven points in his last six games against them (2G-5A).

Forward Kevin Hayes ranks sixth in the NHL in faceoff rate with 59.8% (min. 90 attempts).

The Penguins have 19 different skaters with one goal this season. Since November 27th, the Penguins are 5-2-0 and are third in goals scored. The team also ranked fourth in penalty kill percentage (88.2%) during this period.

*Montreal native Kris Letang has 37 points (10G-27A) in 46 career games against his hometown team. Here at the Bell Center, Letang has 17 points (4G-13A) in 24 games. Letang has the second-most points among all Quebec-born active players, but ranks first among Montreal-born skaters.

In the last five games, the defenseman is tied for the team lead with six points (3G-3A). As of November 30, he is tied for third among all NHL blueliners with six points.

Sidney Crosby And Kris Letang have scored a total of 305 goals in their career. They are just one goal away from tying with Boston Phil Esposito And Bobby Orr for the second-most goals combined by a forward-defender duo in NHL history.

Sidney Crosby Goes into tonight’s game with a multi-point performance after the draw Steve Yzerman (477) for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time multi-point games list. The captain also only needs a goal to equalize Teemu Selanne for the 12th most goals in history.

Evgeny Malkin enters this competition just one point less than Jaromir Jagr and is third on the Penguins’ all-time best list.

Sidney Crosby (25G-41A) and Evgeny Malkin (22G-42A) have scored 66 and 64 points, respectively, in 51 career games against the Montreal Canadiens. Crosby enters tonight’s game with points from 14 of his last 18 games against them (8G-18A). Crosby’s average of 1.29 points per game against Montreal ranks third among active players and ranks 10th in NHL history among players who played at least 15 games against them.

* Forward Michael Bunting was red-hot for Pittsburgh after recording just one point in his first 12 games. Since scoring his first goal of the season in game No. 13 on November 5 against the New York Islanders, he has scored 12 points (7G-5A) in 17 games. His seven goals in that span are the most, and the only, scored by the Penguins Sidney Crosby has accumulated more points on the team since November 5th.

Bunting has an active three-game point streak (2G-1A), which marks his longest such streak of the season. A point tonight would give him his first points streak in four games since 11-17. April (1G-5A).

* Forward Blake Lizotte has been one of Pittsburgh’s most consistent players in recent weeks. He has six points (3G-3A) in his last five games, tied for first-place Pittsburgh Kris Letang (3G-3A) and Michael Bunting (3G-3A). Overall, Lizotte has the fourth-highest points per game average on the Penguins this season.

Pittsburgh has scored points in 10 of 14 games when Lizotte is in the lineup (8-4-2).