This season, the Boston Bruins will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Part I of the 2024 Thanksgiving Showdown, which will occur on Friday, November 29th. Neither team has started the season on the right note, which resulted in the Bruins firing their coach. As for the Penguins, well, few know what’s going on with them right now or where their season is headed.
But the Bruins have recently strung some wins together, so maybe they’ll get even further ahead of the curve this Friday. So, if you’re looking to tune into the Bruins-Pens game this week, what time is the game, and what do you need to know about it?
What time is Penguins vs. Bruins in the Thanksgiving Showdown?
You can catch the puck drop at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, but you don’t need to wait until then to get your hockey fix. Black Friday is a day when almost every team in the NHL will play, and the first game on the slate is the NY Rangers at the Philadelphia Flyers, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
If you’re interested in watching Part II of the Thanksgiving Showdown, be sure to stick around for the late game between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, which will start at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Yeah, it’s going to be a fun day for hockey.
What might the lines look like for both teams?
While there’s no clear-cut way to tell who will be lining up alongside who until the day of, we can get an idea of what the lines will look like from some of the more recent lineups. Therefore, what you’re about to check out below is an educated guess as of Monday, November 25th.
Bruins
Forwards
- David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie
- Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm, Justin Brazeau
- Tyler Johnson, Cody Coyle, Trent Frederic
- Cole Koepke, John Beecher, Mark Kastelic
Defense
- Charlie McAvoy, Mason Lohrei
- Andrew Peeke, Nikita Zadorov
- Brandon Carlo, Parker Wotherspoon
Source: The Morning Puck: Lines, and pairings subject to change.
Penguins
Forwards
- Brian Rust, Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell
- Michael Bunting, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Beauvillier
- Matt Nieto, Kevin Hayes, Noel Acciari
- Jesse Puljujarvi, Drew O’Connor, Sam Poulin
Defense
- Erik Karlsson, Marcus Pettersson
- Kris Letang, Owen Pickering
- Matt Grzelcyk, Ryan Graves
How to watch and listen to the Thanksgiving Showdown?
You can catch both Thanksgiving Showdown games on TNT or Max, but if you’re looking to stream the games, fuboTV is a great option.
fuboTV has live NHL games on ESPN, which you can stream from your phone, television, and all your favorite devices. This is a service that broadcasts live TV over the internet, no cable is required. Watch your favorite teams, network shows, news, and movies on 100+ channels. Plus on-demand entertainment including full TV series. fuboTV is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Spain.
You can also listen to the game on 98.5 The Sports Hub if you’re tuning in from Boston, and if you’re in Pittsburgh, 105.9 The X is your go-to.
If you’re interested in following the game and interacting with fans of your favorite team, you’ll find all the interactions you can ask for at the Bruins and Penguins subreddits.
What’s at stake for both teams?
For the Bruins, it’s all about creating distance from teams like the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning. The season hasn’t gone the way the Bruins envisioned, but the coaching change might be helping when we look at early results.
That said, the Lightning are once again a tough team, and the Sabres look like they’ve gotten their act together. Trust me; they’re an inspired bunch that wants nothing more than to finally put that playoff drought to sleep. The Bruins will also want to keep pace with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, and a big win on Friday will work in their favor.
As for the Penguins, they just need to get relevant again, or it should surprise nobody if big changes loom on the horizon. This team hasn’t been relevant going on three years now, and it looks like their era of dominance is over, something the Bruins might contribute to should they win this one.