Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (41-24-16, 98 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ St. Louis Blues (36-33-12, 82 points, 6th place Central Division)

When: 9:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Local on TVAS and SN-PIT, national on ESPN, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Philadelphia Flyers officially clinched a first-round matchup with the Pens with a shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. These two teams last met in the postseason in 2018 (the Pens won that series in six games before losing the second round in six to the eventual champion Washington Capitals). The series will begin either Saturday or Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Opponent Track: The Blues were officially eliminated from playoff contention Sunday when the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers. This marks the third time in four seasons St. Louis has fallen short of the playoffs. The Blues most recently claimed a 6-3 win at home Monday night against the shorthanded Minnesota Wild, and they’re wrapping up their season Thursday against the Utah Mammoth in Salt Lake City.

Season Series: A late even-strength goal from Sidney Crosby made the difference in the Penguins’ 6-3 win over the Blues back in October at PPG Paints.

Getting to know the Blues

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Jimmy Snuggerud

Pavel Buchnevich – Pius Suter – Jordan Kyrou

Jake Neighbours – Dalibor Dvorsky – Jonathan Drouin

Alexey Toropchenko – Jack Finley – Otto Stenberg

DEFENSEMEN

Philip Broberg / Logan Mailloux

Theo Lindstein / Colton Parayko

Cam Fowler / Tyler Tucker

Goalies: Jordan Binnington (Joel Hofer started last night)

Potential scratches: Justin Holl, Nathan Walker, Jonatan Berggren, Matthew Kessel, Oskar Sundqvist

Injured Reserve: None

The Blues racked up even more offense than the scoreboard shows last night after multiple successful goal challenges from the Minnesota Wild. That included two goals in a span of less than 30 seconds in the second period. It could be another high-scoring game tonight in St. Louis. The Wild were resting half their starting lineup, and the Pens are likely to take a similar tactic tomorrow.

BACK-TO-BACK BLUES 🎶

They score two goals in just 27 seconds! pic.twitter.com/jQdd7k3Ujz
— NHL (@NHL) April 14, 2026

That offensive explosion included two goals from Jake Neighbours, who’s been struggling down the stretch this season. It could be good for both team and player to end the season with a hot streak from Neighbours, who was floated on a recent 32 Thoughtspodcast as a potential future captain in St. Louis.
Joel Hofer started last night against the Wild, so the Pens could be seeing Jordan Binnington tonight. Binnington is still searching for his first win of April after the Blues lost to the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets in his last two starts.

Season stats (does not include yesterday’s game)
via hockeydb

Offensive depth has been an issue all season for the Blues, as recently pointed out by Jeremy Rutherford for The Athletic. Heading into Monday, the team’s top line of Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas and rookie Jimmy Snuggerud had combined for over a quarter of the team’s total production (including defensemen).

“(The other lines) just haven’t found that rhythm that the first line has. Everyone sees the skill and the plays they make off the rush, but they’re doing a lot of good stuff, winning battles, being connected, and having someone at the net front. It’s something I think the other lines need to make sure that they have a net anchor a little bit more.” — Blues coach Jim Montgomery, per Rutherford

The Blues are heading into the 2026 NHL draft with three first-round picks, including a lottery selection projected as of Monday to land at No. 8. They also have one of the top prospect pools in the NHL, starting by recent first-rounders Justin Carbonneau and Adam Jirícek. The Blues could be hoping graduating some of those prospects to the NHL in the near future, in addition to developing a potential high pick and young players like Snuggerud, will help this team retool from its aging 2019 championship core.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Egor Chinakhov – Rickard Rakell – Ville Koivunen

Anthony Mantha- Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau

Rutger McGroarty – Kevin Hayes – Avery Hayes

Elmer Soderblom – Joona Koppanen – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton

Sam Girard / Jack St Ivany

Ryan Graves / Ilya Solovyov

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Blake Lizotte (injured), Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ben Kindel, Erik Karlsson, Parker Wotherspoon, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust

IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones (season-ending shoulder surgery)

Take these lines (from the Penguins’ first of two matchups with the Caps this weekend) with a grain of salt. They’ll depend on who the Pens decide to rest in the final game of the regular season, reportedly many of the top players are not expected to be on the trip out to Missouri and returned home to Pittsburgh after the game in DC on Sunday.
Some fun stats from Penguins PR: Players who have hit career-high points totals with the Penguins this season include Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau, Connor Dewar, Egor Chinakhov, Ryan Shea, Parker Wotherspoon, Bryan Rust, Ilya Solovyov, Elmer Soderblom and Jack St. Ivany.
If Anthony Mantha finishes the season as the Penguins’ leading goalscorer (he’s on track to, barring a three-goal night from Sidney Crosby) he will join Jake Guentzel, Chris Kunitz, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell on an exclusive list as the only Penguins outside Crosby or Evgeni Malkin to lead the team in scoring since 2005.
Crosby is meanwhile set to finish the season as the Penguins’ point leader for the 16th time. He is one season shy of tying Gordie Howe’s 17 seasons as the Detroit Red Wings’ points leader for the all-time record with a single franchise.

Alexey Toropchenko

Streak History

News

Season Chart

Last 10 Games