• Who: Penguins (31-34-12) vs. Blackhawks (21-45-10) • What: NHL regular season, Game 78 • When: 5:08 p.m. Eastern • Where: United Center • Goaltenders: Alex Nedeljkovic (13-14-5, .892 SV%) vs. Spencer Knight (15-15-2, .902 SV%) • TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh • Radio: Penguins Radio Network • Streaming: SNP 360,ESPN+(out-of-market) • Boxscore: NHL.com • Medianotes: Penguins | Blackhawks
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Final. Blackhawks win, 3-1. Rickard Rakell with their lone goal. Penguins are officially eliminated from playoff contention.
• GOAL: Blackhawks get an empty-netter. Blackhawks 3, Penguins 1
• Two-minute warning.
• GOAL: And it's a one-goal game. Rickard Rakell from Bryan Rust and Ville Koivunen on the power play. That's Rakell's 34th of the year, tying his career-high. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 1
• Evgeni Malkin is on the bench getting looked at by an athletic trainer. He had been down on the ice in some pain.
• Penguins to the power play with 5:40 left. Tyler Bertuzzi tripped Evgeni Malkin.
• By the way: A loss in any fashion here will eliminate the Penguins from playoff contention. OR at last a point by Montreal against Nashville. That game is 1-1 in the second.
• GOAL: Now it's Ilya Mikheyev that gets past the Penguins' D and buries one off a partial breakaway. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 0
• This game is flying by.
• Conor Timmins accidentally springs Ryan Donato on a breakaway. Erik Karlsson catches up and knocks him down.
• Back to full strength.
• Matt Grzelcyk is called for a slash with 18:54 left, and nine seconds left in the Penguins' power play. So Blackhawks are about to have a 1:51 power play.
• Third period is underway.
• Oh, hey, just checked: Noel Acciari just set the franchise record for shots blocked in a single season by a forward. He was tied with Nick Bonino's 2016-17 mark of 99 until he got No. 100 last period. The NHL only started tracking that stat in 2005, so it's only back until then.
• Noel Acciari blocked his 100th shot of the season late in that period, only the second time in his career he's hit 100 blocked shots.
• End of the second. Blackhawks lead, 1-0. Penguins have a 19-15 lead in shots. Penguins will have 1:15 on the power play to open the third.
• Penguins are going right back on the power play. Oliver Moore sits for two for slashing Ryan Shea. Blackhawks have them right where they want them.
• GOAL: Frank Nazar scores on a shorthanded breakaway with six seconds left in the Penguins' power play. Erik Karlsson lost the puck at the offensive blue line. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 0
• Rutger McGroarty with a nice chance on the power play.
• Danton Heinen replaces Phil Tomasino on the second power play.
• Penguins get the game's first power play. Joe Veleno sits for two for hooking.
• Penguins briefly think they score off a Blake Lizotte deflection but officials discuss and it's immediately called back for a high stick. A couple Blackhawks players call it in the moment, I think the Penguins knew too, they didn't even really celebrate. It was practically over Lizotte's head.
• Blackhawks get a pair of shots to open the second, Alex Nedeljkovic keeps them out.
• Second period is underway.
• The second line outshot the Blackhawks 4-0. All four shots came from Evgeni Malkin. Only line to not allow any.
• End of the first period. That flew by. No score. Penguins have a 8-6 edge in shots.
• Not quite 15 minutes in and Evgeni Malkin has four shots. He's on a mission.
• Took awhile here but the Blackhawks actually have life.
• Blackhawks show Alex Ovechkin's record-breaking goal at the TV timeout and Sidney Crosby is the first to stand up on the Penguins' bench and start the stick taps. All respect between those two.
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
• Alex Nedeljkovic makes the first save.
• This one is underway. Sidney Crosby vs. Connor Bedard for the opening draw.
• Lots of applause for Sidney Crosby in the pregame introductions.
• Explaining for anyone confused: Joona Koppanen never went anywhere. But because he's an emergency recall he can't be a healthy scratch so they paper him down and up for games because emergency recalls can't be healthy scratched. It was only ever a paper move that he got sent "down" yesterday, which is why the team doesn't bother to announce it. He was physically in Dallas yesterday, I saw him. I swear, the confusion stems wholly from other media members freaking out when these guys aren't showing up on the roster and trying to break the news without knowing the context.
• Hi from Chicago. Here are the Penguins' lines and pairings, with Phil Tomasino sidelined with an upper-body injury:
THE ASYLUM
Final: Blackhawks 3, Penguins 1
• Who: Penguins (31-34-12) vs. Blackhawks (21-45-10)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 78
• When: 5:08 p.m. Eastern
• Where: United Center
• Goaltenders: Alex Nedeljkovic (13-14-5, .892 SV%) vs. Spencer Knight (15-15-2, .902 SV%)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP 360, ESPN+ (out-of-market)
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Blackhawks
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Final. Blackhawks win, 3-1. Rickard Rakell with their lone goal. Penguins are officially eliminated from playoff contention.
• GOAL: Blackhawks get an empty-netter. Blackhawks 3, Penguins 1
• Two-minute warning.
• GOAL: And it's a one-goal game. Rickard Rakell from Bryan Rust and Ville Koivunen on the power play. That's Rakell's 34th of the year, tying his career-high. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 1
• Evgeni Malkin is on the bench getting looked at by an athletic trainer. He had been down on the ice in some pain.
• Penguins to the power play with 5:40 left. Tyler Bertuzzi tripped Evgeni Malkin.
• By the way: A loss in any fashion here will eliminate the Penguins from playoff contention. OR at last a point by Montreal against Nashville. That game is 1-1 in the second.
• GOAL: Now it's Ilya Mikheyev that gets past the Penguins' D and buries one off a partial breakaway. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 0
• This game is flying by.
• Conor Timmins accidentally springs Ryan Donato on a breakaway. Erik Karlsson catches up and knocks him down.
• Back to full strength.
• Matt Grzelcyk is called for a slash with 18:54 left, and nine seconds left in the Penguins' power play. So Blackhawks are about to have a 1:51 power play.
• Third period is underway.
• Oh, hey, just checked: Noel Acciari just set the franchise record for shots blocked in a single season by a forward. He was tied with Nick Bonino's 2016-17 mark of 99 until he got No. 100 last period. The NHL only started tracking that stat in 2005, so it's only back until then.
• Noel Acciari blocked his 100th shot of the season late in that period, only the second time in his career he's hit 100 blocked shots.
• End of the second. Blackhawks lead, 1-0. Penguins have a 19-15 lead in shots. Penguins will have 1:15 on the power play to open the third.
• Penguins are going right back on the power play. Oliver Moore sits for two for slashing Ryan Shea. Blackhawks have them right where they want them.
• GOAL: Frank Nazar scores on a shorthanded breakaway with six seconds left in the Penguins' power play. Erik Karlsson lost the puck at the offensive blue line. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 0
• Rutger McGroarty with a nice chance on the power play.
• Danton Heinen replaces Phil Tomasino on the second power play.
• Penguins get the game's first power play. Joe Veleno sits for two for hooking.
• Penguins briefly think they score off a Blake Lizotte deflection but officials discuss and it's immediately called back for a high stick. A couple Blackhawks players call it in the moment, I think the Penguins knew too, they didn't even really celebrate. It was practically over Lizotte's head.
• Blackhawks get a pair of shots to open the second, Alex Nedeljkovic keeps them out.
• Second period is underway.
• The second line outshot the Blackhawks 4-0. All four shots came from Evgeni Malkin. Only line to not allow any.
• End of the first period. That flew by. No score. Penguins have a 8-6 edge in shots.
• Not quite 15 minutes in and Evgeni Malkin has four shots. He's on a mission.
• Took awhile here but the Blackhawks actually have life.
• Blackhawks show Alex Ovechkin's record-breaking goal at the TV timeout and Sidney Crosby is the first to stand up on the Penguins' bench and start the stick taps. All respect between those two.
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
• Alex Nedeljkovic makes the first save.
• This one is underway. Sidney Crosby vs. Connor Bedard for the opening draw.
• Lots of applause for Sidney Crosby in the pregame introductions.
• Explaining for anyone confused: Joona Koppanen never went anywhere. But because he's an emergency recall he can't be a healthy scratch so they paper him down and up for games because emergency recalls can't be healthy scratched. It was only ever a paper move that he got sent "down" yesterday, which is why the team doesn't bother to announce it. He was physically in Dallas yesterday, I saw him. I swear, the confusion stems wholly from other media members freaking out when these guys aren't showing up on the roster and trying to break the news without knowing the context.
• Hi from Chicago. Here are the Penguins' lines and pairings, with Phil Tomasino sidelined with an upper-body injury:
Rutger McGroarty - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Rickard Rakell - Evgeni Malkin - Ville Koivunen
Danton Heinen - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari
Joona Koppanen - Kevin Hayes - Connor Dewar
Matt Grzelcyk - Kris Letang
Conor Timmins - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves - Ryan Shea
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