Penguins at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning look to remain unbeaten on home ice and knock off the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in 10 days at Amalie Arena when the Eastern Conference heavyweights meet on Saturday. The Lightning are 4-0-0 at home and have earned at least one point in six straight games overall after blanking Columbus 2-0 on Thursday.
“What I really liked (Thursday) was the defensive effort,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters after the win. “You look at the stat sheet and it says 40 shots, or whatever (43), but most of them were harmless. I thought we kept them outside.” Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 72-of-74 shots in two of the games on the Lightning’s recent 2-0-1 road trip and made 36 saves in the 5-4 victory over the Penguins on Oct. 12. Pittsburgh comes in on a roll as well, with five wins in its last six games after Conor Sheary broke a tie with 2:53 left in the third period for a 4-3 victory over Florida on Friday. Tampa Bay would be smart to stay out of the penalty box Saturday as the Penguins scored three power-play goals against the Panthers, including the winner, and are 9-for-21 with the man advantage in their last five contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (5-2-1): Captain Sidney Crosby scored his team-leading fifth goal Friday while Evgeni Malkin notched a tally and an assist as the two former Hart Trophy winners forged a tie for the team lead with 10 points apiece. Phil Kessel registered a pair of assists to push his season total to nine points, but the right wing remains two goals shy of 300 for his career. Matt Murray has helped the team earn at least one point in all six of his starts (5-0-1), giving up a total of seven goals in the last two, while backup Antti Niemi lost both of his outings - giving up nine tallies on 47 shots against Chicago and Tampa Bay.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (6-1-1): Rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is making Tampa Bay’s decision - which comes after his ninth game - to use the first year of his three-year entry-level contract an easy one after scoring his first two NHL goals on Thursday and posting six points in eight contests. “The last couple games have been his strongest of the year,” Cooper told reporters. “He’s earning his ice time. You can see the skill.” Captain Steven Stamkos (14 points) and Nikita Kucherov (13) each have registered at least one point in every game while linemate Vladislav Namestnikov (eight) has notched one in seven of his eight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Sheary has scored three of his four goals in the last five games, including one against the Lightning.
2. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman needs one goal to pass Dan Boyle (66) for the second-most among blue-liners in franchise history.
3. Despite the loss earlier this season, the Penguins have beaten the Lightning five of the last six times they've met - including the 2016 playoffs.