The 17-17-5 Pittsburgh Penguins will head down to Sunrise, Florida to begin the 2025 portion of the season against the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers are coming off a back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes, and with Sergei Bobrovsky in net on Thursday, it will be Spencer Knight against the Penguins on Friday night.
The Penguins snuck out of the first game between the two teams with an overtime 5-4 win one month ago to the day. Pittsburgh led 4-1 with 13 minutes left in the game, but it was Bryan Rust who won the game in overtime with the Panthers clawing their way back in late.
Tonight's matchup is the second of three this season with the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Here's how the Penguins can start 2025 off strong.
Break down Florida's defense and take advantage of Knight
Spencer Knight was once thought to be Florida's long-term option between the pipes. Then Sergei Bobrovsky appeared in 2023 and Knight has taken a back seat.
This doesn't mean that Knight isn't a good goaltender. His goal against average on the season is 2.88, which is a good mark. However, his save percentage is .887, under the .900 mark goalies like to hit.
The discrepency in the numbers has to do with Florida's defensive system. They play a very physical brand of hockey that revolves around hitting, preventing shots, and always going one hundred percent every shift.
This can be exhausting when put into practice, but as we've seen over the last two seasons, it works very well.
If the Penguins can manage to get shots on net, it will force Knight to have to make saves. He's given up at least three goals in each of his last three starts, and it seems like the key is getting volume against the Panthers' backup.
The Penguins did a nice job of that against the Red Wings, but they weren't rewarded. Do it again and there's a good chance more pucks will find the back of the net.
If you're interesting in reading more about the philosophy behind the Florida Panthers' stifling defensive system that got them to the Stanley Cup Final the last two years, click the link below:
Keep Sam Reinhart quiet
Perhaps this is impossible, but it's necessary if you want to beat the Panthers.
Reinhart leads Florida in pretty much every offensive stat category, and when he shoots, he scores often. He's shooting 23.7% on 93 shots. That's behind only Mark Scheifele and Leon Draisaitl in similar shot numbers.
Reinhart has been a monster, and his impact needs to be impeded if the Penguins want to win this one. Part of the way to do that is to stay off the penalty kill, as he has seven goals and eight assists on the man advantage this season.
Cash in on power plays
ANOTHER PPG FOR PGH! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/oSxf4Grtzn
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 30, 2024
It's a fundamental way to win any game, but against the Panthers, it's a must, not a maybe.
The Panthers spend their fair share of time in the penalty box, largely because of their aggressive play style. While the Penguins are in the bottom quarter of penalty minutes this season, the Panthers are top four.
Florida has a good penalty kill percentage (80.9%), but given the sheer amount of power play opportunities they allow, it is necessary to turn opportunities into goals if you're the Penguins.
The Penguins enter the game with the fourth best power play percentage (26.1%) in the NHL. What a blessed sight to see after last season's abomination of a power play.
Pittsburgh hasn't lost back-to-back games since Sidney Crosby scored his 600th goal against the Utah Hockey Club on November 23rd. This stretch of winning has gotten the Penguins back in the playoff conversation, but they'll need to stay away from losing streaks the rest of the way if they want a chance.
Puck drop is set for 7pm EST.