The Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Pittsburgh Penguins in Friday’s lone NHL action. Neither team seems headed for a playoff spot, but the reasons to watch this matchup are many, with Columbus already outperforming expectations and Pittsburgh home to one of the sport’s brightest lights in Sidney Crosby.
How to watch Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins
- Venue: PPG Paints Arena — Pittsburgh
- Time: 7 p.m. ET, Friday
- TV (U.S.): NHL Network, FanDuel Sports Network
- TV (Canada): Sportsnet, TVAS
- Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
- Watching in-person? Get tickets on StubHub.
A string of recent losses put the Blue Jackets out of a playoff spot, with teams including the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers jumping ahead in the tight Eastern Conference wild-card race. While the playoffs look unlikely for Columbus now, its performance this season defied odds and expectations, and despite its middle-of-the-pack standing, the future looks bright. Credit to coach Dean Evason, who’s getting quite a bit of love in the Jack Adams race from The Athletic staff.
Defenseman Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in points, and our most recent NHL staff predictions have him second in Norris Trophy contention behind superstar Cale Makar. Scott Wheeler has a nice feature here on Blue Jackets prospect Luca Marrelli.
Speaking of superstars, the Penguins are led by who other than captain Sidney Crosby with 74 points in 68 games. While all eyes are on Alex Ovechkin’s chase toward Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, let’s not forget Crosby is also close to making one of The Great One’s records his own. No. 87 is tied with No. 99 for 19 seasons with a point-per-game average and is on track to claim his record-setting 20th.
Pittsburgh has been well out of a playoff spot for a while and is on track to miss the postseason for a third straight year. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan recently spoke about just how grueling the season has been. But if you think it’s time the team starts tanking, not so fast, says Penguins beat writer Josh Yohe.
In exciting news, the NHL announced earlier this week that the Penguins and Nashville Predators will be heading to Stockholm for the 2025 NHL Global Series. As Penguins beat writer Rob Rossi wrote, Swedes Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson are eager to show off their country’s food, arts and culture and entertain family and friends. Rakell called the opportunity to showcase Crosby in his home country “hardcore.”
(Photo of Sidney Crosby: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
