Game Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins 11/14/2026

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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - FEBRUARY 2: Claude Giroux #28 of the Ottawa Senators skates with the puck against Erik Karlsson #65 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period during the game at PPG PAINTS Arena on February 2, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Who: Ottawa Senators (12-6-2, 26 points, 4th place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (7-10-2, 16 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

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How to Watch: Locally televised game on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and SN1/TVAS2, streaming for out of market at ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins have four days off before their next home game Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. The Pens are then hitting the road for a back-to-back the following weekend in Nashville and Dallas.

Opponent Track: The Senators have won three of their last four games, most recently claiming a 4-3 overtime victory Thursday against the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

Season Series: The Penguins will see the Senators twice more this season, starting with a New Year’s Eve matchup in Ottawa and ending with a March 9 rematch in Pittsburgh.

Hidden Stat: The Senators are tied for the NHL lead in shorthanded goals against after giving up four in 20 games.

Getting to know the Senators

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Fabian Zetterlund – Tim Stützle – Dylan Cozens

Philip Tomasino – Shane Pinto – Drake Batherson

Claude Giroux – Ridly Greig – Michael Amadio

Sammy Blais – Stephen Halliday – Hayden Hodgson

DEFENSEMEN

Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot – Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Matinpalo

Goalies: Linus Ullmark, Samuel Ersson

Potential scratches: Nick Cousins, Carter Yakemchuk, Jackson Parsons

Injured Reserve: William Eklund, Warren Foegele, Andre Burakovsky

  • The Senators got Ullmark back Thursday after the netminder missed nine games with a lower-body injury. Ullmark, who has been strong for the Sens this season, stopped 26 of 29 shots in his return to the lineup.
    • Ullmark has a career 8-0-1 record, 9.26 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average in nine contests against the Penguins dating back to his stints with the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins.
  • Ottawa is still dealing with some significant injury absences from the lineup. The Senators added Eklund, Burakovsky and Foegle this offseason as part of an effort to replace the production lost from the lineup when Brady Tkachuk was traded this offseason to the Florida Panthers, but all three are now on injured reserve.
  • Nick Cousins has also been on the sideline since taking a hit in a Tuesday matchup against the Washington Capitals that Sens coach Travis Green later said knocked him unconscious.
  • Both the Senators and Penguins are coming off of extra-time wins that salvaged blown leads in regulation. The day after the Penguins recovered in a shootout after surrendering a late lead to the San Jose Sharks, Shane Pinto scored in overtime against the Avalanche after the Sens gave up a tying goal with four minutes left in regulation.

Season stats
via hockeydb

  • Tim Stutzle is currently on track for a second straight point-per-game season after leading the Sens with 24 points in 20 games.
  • The Senators have been running one of the worst power plays in the NHL since Tkachuk’s departure. Ottawa ranks 31st in the NHL with an 11.8 percent success rate on the power play so far this season.
    • The team has made up for that deficiency in part due to strong defense at 5v5. Ottawa has outscored opponents 41-30 at 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick.
  • While The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun speculates the Penguins will sell at the deadline, The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie is envisioning a different path for the Sens. McKenzie recently theorized a trade for an impact forward could provide a crucial boost for a team that has proven to be strong defensively but ranks 17th in the NHL in goals scored per game.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines 

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Evgeni Malkin

Tommy Novak – Ben Kindel – Egor Chinakhov

Nick Robertson – Hendrix Lapierre – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Rutger McGroarty

DEFENSEMEN

Spencer Stastney / Erik Karlsson

Sam Girard / Kaeden Korczak

Declan Carlile / Kris Letang

Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov

Potential Scratches:  Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Solovyov, Ville Koivunen

IR: Ryan Graves, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Elmer Soderblom, Bryan Rust

  • The fourth line is the only one that looked the same at Friday’s practice after Wednesday’s win against the San Jose Sharks. Nick Robertson is back in the bottom six, and Hendrix Lapierre could be back in the lineup as Ville Koivunen rotated with the bottom six during Friday’s practice, per Michelle Crechiolo.
  • Declan Carlile needed stitches after taking contact to the mouth in practice Friday, per Trib Live’s Seth Rorabaugh.
  • Tonight marks the Penguins’ annual Hall of Fame Game, during which Jim Rutherford, Marc-Andre Fleury, Larry Murphy and Jack McGregor will be celebrated in a pregame ceremony starting around 7 p.m. ET. Fleury will be the first Penguins player since 2005 to join the team HOF after he was unanimously voted in during his first year of eligibility.

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