Thanks to a little digging before puck drop, some wild stats came up when searching for the match-up history between the Penguins and Blues. Pittsburgh’s last home regulation win over St. Louis came on October 20, 2009 — the only home regulation win over the Blues in the last 17 years. And in the past nine tilts between these two clubs at PPG Paints Arena, all of them have gone to overtime. Crazy stuff.
The Penguins also put together an excellent tribute to Evgeni Malkin before puck drop, presenting him with a commemorative gold-plated stick for his 1,000 point achievement, a plaque made of steel from the old Civic Arena where he scored his first NHL point, and his game-worn jersey when he reached the milestone — all presented by teammates Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Phil Kessel and team owner Mario Lemieux.