Winnipeg played in game two of its three-game Eastern Conference road trip on Saturday afternoon in Steel City, where they didn’t start on time, giving up two goals in the opening 2:02. They tied the game with goals from Morgan Barron (11) and Cole Koepke (6). Erik Karlsson restored Pittsburgh’s lead until Neal Pionk, in his first game back from injury, tied the game (3), followed by a go-ahead goal from Brad Lambert (2) with just over 11 minutes to go in the third period. Karlsson would score yet again to force overtime, which solved nothing, then Pittsburgh sealed the 5-4 victory in the shootout. Winnipeg dropped its third straight game, falling to 28-29-12, while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves.
New York opens a quick two-game homestand today, both back-to-back games, as they look to snap a three-game winless stretch. Most recently, they’re coming off a 6-3 loss to Columbus on Thursday where, despite opening the scoring off Vincent Trocheck’s 15th, they still managed to get doubled up. Igor Shesterkin kicked out 31 shots as the team in the Eastern Conference’s basement fell to 28-33-8.
An advantage for Winnipeg is the fact that New York has simply been terrible at home this season. They have a solid road record of 19-16-2, but at Madison Square Garden their record is 9-17-6 (the second-worst record in the NHL) and they have been outscored 106-71.
Winnipeg still remains five points back of the Nashville Predators for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference heading into this morning.
The only expected lineup change is Eric Comrie getting the start between the pipes since Hellebuyck played yesterday, but we’ll know for sure during warmups.
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Perfetti – Lowry – Iafallo
Nyquist – Toews – Rosen
Koepke – Barron – Lambert
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Salomonsson
Fleury – Pionk
Comrie
Hellebuyck
Up next:
Puck drop is set for 11:00 a.m. CT on TSN3.
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