Senators vs Penguins: Prediction, Odds, Team News and Goalscorer Picks

Ottawa is ninth on 26 points with the 31st-ranked power play. The Senators convert 11.8 per cent and have still won twelve of twenty.

Senators vs Penguins is the first meeting since March, when Pittsburgh won a shootout in Ottawa. Pittsburgh sits 28th this season and concedes 3.53 a game.

How to watch in Canada

National coverage and local coverage are separate questions in Canada. Our how to watch the NHL in Canada page answers both.

Senators vs Penguins odds at Canadian sportsbooks

We built this before any Canadian price existed. NHL markets tend to open late, and the NHL odds page is where this one will show up.

Where you can bet on this one depends on where you’re sitting. We rank the books for Ontario on our Ontario betting sites page and for Alberta on our Alberta betting sites page; our Canadian betting sites guide covers the other provinces.

Goalie matchup

Neither club has settled this. Samuel Ersson has four of Ottawa’s last six starts despite the season split, and Sergei Murashov has three of Pittsburgh’s last six. Both look like the call without being confirmed.

Team news

Ottawa is missing four forwards: Andre Burakovsky and Warren Foegele are on injured reserve, William Eklund is out until January with an ankle injury, and Nick Cousins is out to the 19th. Pittsburgh has lost Bryan Rust until December, with Ryan Graves, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Elmer Soderblom also out.

Our NHL injury report holds the same breakdown for all 32 rosters.

How they compare this season

The two attacks are almost identical, Ottawa 3.20 a game and Pittsburgh 3.21, seventeenth and sixteenth. The difference is behind them. Ottawa concedes 3.00, thirteenth. Pittsburgh concedes 3.53, twenty-fifth.

Special teams

Ottawa’s power play is the thing that should worry it. At 11.8 per cent it is 31st, and it meets a Pittsburgh kill ranked thirteenth. The Penguins convert 21.1 per cent against an Ottawa kill sitting 21st, so penalties are the one route back for Pittsburgh.

Players to watch

Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson carry Ottawa with four forwards out. Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin remain the names Pittsburgh builds around.

Recent meetings

Pittsburgh leads the all-time series 87-47-17 across 151 games, but Ottawa has taken three of the last five, including a 5-0 and a 4-0.

How the last meeting unfolded

March’s meeting needed a shootout after Pittsburgh pegged Ottawa back, and the two before that were both shutouts, one each way.

Where both clubs shoot from

Ottawa has conceded three a game while scoring 3.20, which is the profile of a side winning on defence rather than flair.

Results so far

Score prediction

Ottawa defends better, Pittsburgh is 28th, and the Senators have won twelve of twenty with almost no power play. Senators by one, and probably at even strength.

Senators vs Penguins prediction

Ottawa is ninth and Pittsburgh 28th, and the Senators concede half a goal a game fewer.

The case against is four Ottawa forwards out and a power play that cannot punish Pittsburgh’s penalties.

Our pick: the Senators to win. Senators 3–2 Penguins. What would change it: if Ottawa gets a forward back, which would ease a thin top nine.

Our NHL power rankings track where both sides are heading. For a bet on one player instead of the game, see the NHL player props page.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.