The Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets will meet for the fourth and final time on Saturday.
Each of the previous three meetings went beyond regulation, with the Penguins winning the last two in overtime.
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The two teams most recently met on Jan. 4 in Columbus. The Blue Jackets jumped out to a 4-1 lead and had everything under control late in the second period until the Penguins stormed back to tie it late in the third. Rickard Rakell tied the game with 12.8 seconds left in the game before Sidney Crosby won it in overtime.
That loss for the Blue Jackets paved the way for a coaching change, as they fired Dean Evason this week and replaced him with Rick Bowness. Bowness is 2-0-0 as the Blue Jackets’ head coach, and the team as a whole has won three in a row coming into Saturday’s game.
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has been tremendous once again this season, compiling 18 goals and 51 points in 43 games. He does it all as the Jackets’ top defenseman and will play a big role for Team USA at the Olympics next month.
Kirill Marchenko is second on the team in goals with 17 and also has 40 points in 43 games. He can strike from anywhere and scored against the Penguins in the game on Jan. 4.
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Dmitri Voronkov has 16 goals and 30 points in 47 games, while Adam Fantilli has 12 goals and 30 points in 47 games.
Elvis Merzlikins will start in goal for the Blue Jackets after he made 30 saves in a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
The Penguins are set to go with the same lineup that they had against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Forwards
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defense
Kulak-Letang
Wotherspoon-St. Ivany
Shea-Clifton
Arturs Silovs will start in goal after having the night off on Thursday.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can listen to the game on 105.9 ‘The X.’
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