Penguins Face Utah Hockey Club in Crucial Road Trip Finale

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Pittsburgh Penguins conclude their season-long seven-game road trip Wednesday night against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center. Puck drop is set for 9:30 p.m. ET, with both teams looking to snap losing streaks in a critical matchup for their playoff hopes.

The Penguins (20-24-8) enter the game on a three-game skid, having scored just one goal in each of those losses. Utah (21-21-7) has also struggled offensively, losing two straight while scoring only three goals combined in those games. Pittsburgh is 2-4-0 on the road trip, averaging 2.33 goals per game.

Captain Sidney Crosby continues to lead the Penguins with 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) in 52 games. The 37-year-old forward is one power-play assist shy of 400 in his career, which would tie him with NHL legends Mark Messier and Joe Thornton for 14th-most in league history. Crosby has been a bright spot for Pittsburgh, scoring both of the team’s even-strength goals in the last three games.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson has been a key contributor, ranking fourth on the team with 32 points (4 goals, 28 assists). Karlsson is two assists away from his 12th career 30-assist season, the most among active NHL defensemen. Meanwhile, Michael Bunting leads the Penguins with nine power-play goals, tied for sixth in the league.

Utah’s Clayton Keller, a West Mifflin, Pennsylvania native, faces his hometown team for the fourth time in his career. Keller, who began his hockey journey in Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play Program, is riding a seven-game point streak and has four goals in his last five games. The 2022 No. 3 overall draft pick has three assists in three career games against Pittsburgh.

Goaltending remains a question mark for Utah, as the team has rotated between Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram. Vejmelka has a .903 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average in his last six starts, while Ingram has posted a .908 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average in his last four appearances.

Pittsburgh’s power play, ranked sixth in the NHL at 26.2%, has gone 5-for-16 (31.3%) during the road trip. However, the team’s offensive struggles outside its top line of Crosby, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell have been a concern. Rust is one goal shy of his sixth 20-goal season, which would make him the ninth player in franchise history to achieve that feat.

After Wednesday’s game, the Penguins return home for a two-game homestand against the Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils. Utah, meanwhile, looks to build momentum as it fights for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.