Pittsburgh Penguins Primed for Home Ice Duel with Columbus Blue Jackets

As the Pittsburgh Penguins prepare to host the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena, fans can anticipate a game where recent trends and statistics will play a crucial role. The Penguins have had a mixed bag of results in their past few outings, showcasing both resilience and areas needing improvement.

In their last game against the New York Rangers, despite an impressive faceoff win percentage of 60 percent and scoring four goals, the Penguins fell short defensively, allowing seven goals. Their shooting percentage stood at 10 percent compared to the Rangers' formidable 25 percent. This loss highlighted defensive vulnerabilities that they must address before facing the Blue Jackets.

However, in their previous home game against the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh displayed dominance with six goals on a shooting percentage of 19 percent while maintaining control over faceoffs with a win rate of 57 percent. Their goaltending was also solid with an impressive save percentage indicating that when they click as a unit, they are tough to beat on home ice.

The upcoming match presents an opportunity for redemption after their narrow defeat in Ottawa against the Senators where they managed only one goal from 35 shots and lost in overtime despite strong goaltending performance.

The Penguins will need to capitalize on their powerplay opportunities and tighten up defensively if they want to secure victory against Columbus. With home advantage and fan support at PPG Paints Arena potentially influencing momentum swings during gameplay, it's set up to be an exciting encounter between these two teams.

Fans can catch all the action live on March 28th at PPG Paints Arena or tune into ESPN+ for internet streaming or BSOH/SportsNet PT for television broadcast starting from 7:00 PM ET.