The Pittsburgh Penguins (37-31-12) head out for a must-win game on Monday against the Nashville Predators (47-29-5), needing two points to keep hopes alive of grabbing the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bookmaker Pinnacle rates Pittsburgh as a slight favorite for the game at the PPG Paints Arena, offering odds at -131 for Sidney Crosby’s crew to win. The odds are at +116 for Nashville to win, with the total standing at 6.0 goals.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 14th, 9:30 P.M. (EST)
The Penguins have made a late surge in the regular season, and their captain is leading the way. Crosby has racked up 21 points in the past 11 games, helping the team go 7-1-3. He’s desperately trying to avoid having a second consecutive season without any playoff action, and Crosby should be at the forefront of everything for the hosts again on Monday.
Nashville has already secured a postseason berth but will aim to keep ahold of the first wild-card spot in the West. The team has performed above all expectations throughout the campaign, and the successful year includes a sweet 3-2 overtime triumph at home against the Penguins.
The two sides met for the first time this season on Nov. 28 and Filip Forsberg’s early goal in overtime gave Nashville the win. The Swedish winger has been in incredible form with 47 goals and 46 assists across 81 games. Only Roman Josi (96) in 2021-22 has notched more points across a single campaign in a Predators uniform.
Andrew Brunette’s team has faced some difficulties over the final stretch of the regular season but also enters Monday’s action carrying good momentum. Nashville has scored 21 goals over its last six games, going 4-1-1. The team ranks just outside the top 10 in goals averaged per game and will pose a huge threat to the Penguins’ defense on Monday.
Defensively, both sides have registered identical numbers, sitting at the middle of the pack with 3.01 goals given up a night, but history suggests that this clash will be a low-scoring affair. Each of the last five head-to-head games has featured five or fewer goals.
Home advantage appears to be vitally important when these two meet up, as the hosts have won five of the six most recent clashes. In fact, since winning the Stanley Cup Finals against Nashville in 2017, Pittsburgh has lost only once at home in the match-up – a 3-1 defeat in 2019.
