Pittsburgh Penguins: Lessons Learned vs. Anaheim
The Pittsburgh Penguins carry a record of 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, including a four game skid from losses to Toronto, Buffalo, Washington and most recently Los Angeles.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking to break their losing streak on Fri. night against Anaheim and draw upon the positives from their game against L.A on Wed.
Anaheim is 3-4-3 in their last 10 games, including a 4-3 overtime victory against Edmonton on Wed. The Ducks are wrapping up a six game homestand and will be looking to leave California on a winning note.
Here are a few things you may not know about the history of these two teams.
Season Series
It’s hard to fathom that the Penguins and Ducks have only met 37 times during the 27 years, since Anaheim joined the league in 1993
Pittsburgh holds the series advantage with a record of 21-12-2-2, including a 2-1 win on Oct. 10, 2019, in their only other game this season.
The first game between the two clubs occurred on Nov. 7, 1993. Pittsburgh squeaked out a narrow 5-4 victory.
Ron Francis led the Penguins with three points and Jaromir Jagr, Joe Mullen, Kevin Stevens, and Larry Murphy each scored two points.
Leading Scorers
Sidney Crosby is the current leading scorer vs. Anaheim. Crosby has collected 9 goals and 24 points in 17 games played. Evgeni Malkin is not far behind in second place, as he has scored 7 goals and 20 points in 17 games. Kris Letang – 12 points, Patric Hornqvist – 8 points, and Jake Guentzel – 5 points, round out the top 5 scorers.
Leading Goaltenders
Matt Murray leads the current Penguins netminders. Murray is 3-1-0 in four games played, with a goals-against-average (GAA) of 2.65. Casey DeSmith ranks second with a record of 0-1-0 and GAA of 3.04. Tristan Jarry rounds out the top three with a record of 0-1-0 in two games played and a GAA of 3.18.
Key Match Ups
The Penguins have scored 7 goals on two occasions vs. the Ducks. The most recent occurrence was a 7-4 Pittsburgh victory on Jan. 11, 2019. Jake Guentzel collected his fourth career hat trick, as Malkin (4 points) & Phil Kessel (3 points) helped pad the score.
On the Ducks side of the ice, It’s been 20-years since Martin Straka scored the lone Penguins goal in a 7-1 beat down at the hands of Anaheim on Jan.29, 2000. Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya collected three points each, as Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Peter Skudra allowed 7 goals on 30 shots.
Captain Duck
The 1993 expansion draft was held on Jun. 24, 1993, in Quebec City, Quebec. The Ducks selected forward Troy Loney from the Penguins.
Loney appeared in 532 games over 10 seasons with Pittsburgh, collecting 69 goals and 169 points.
In the days following the expansion draft, Anaheim named the two-time Stanley Cup winner the first captain in franchise history.
Enemy Lines
Here are few players that crossed enemy lines during their careers:
Ron Tugnutt, Bobby Dollas, Fredrik Olausson, Ben Lovejoy, Simon Despres, Matt Cullen, German Titov, Chris Kunitz.
Do you have any special memories from Penguins and Ducks games? Drop them in comment section below.