Ducks at Penguins
The biggest challenge for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday could be to maintain the intensity they displayed in Thursday's 3-2 shootout victory over Columbus. Two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh finds itself in the unusual predicament of outside playoff position but continued efforts such as Thursday - complete with Evgeni Malkin receiving a fighting major and Sidney Crosby involved in a scrum - should soon have them above the line.
"I think it's the best game in the last six or seven games," Malkin, who scored a goal in three straight games, told reporters. "We understand that we need to play so much better. (Thursday), we showed that it wasn't pretty, but we're hungry. We played 60 minutes. … Two points were very important." The Penguins are 3-5-0 since a season-high four-game winning streak and must avoid looking ahead to their first game after the Christmas break - another meeting with the Blue Jackets at home. The Ducks are 2-2-1 on their six-game road trip after a 5-4 overtime victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday as they struggle to find cohesiveness with the revolving door of injuries slowly beginning to stop spinning. "We’re going to feel better about ourselves,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle, whose club also sits just outside playoff position, told reporters. “It was a huge character win. We really needed these two points.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN West (Anaheim), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE DUCKS (15-13-8): Rickard Rakell shares the team lead in goals with Jakob Silfverberg (nine) after snapping a 10-game scoring drought Thursday. Ryan Getzlaf recorded four assists Thursday and has a five-game point streak, and eight points in six games since returning from a fractured bone in his face. Pittsburgh native John Gibson (10-11-4, 2.88 goals-against average, .920 save percentage this season) is expected to be in goal, although he is 1-3-0, 4.95, .859 in four games versus the Penguins.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (18-15-3): Patric Hornqvist scored Thursday after missing one game with a lower-body injury and has 12 goals - third-most on the team along with Malkin and Jake Guentzel. Sidney Crosby had an assist Thursday and has two points in his last five games after recording 16 in his previous nine contests. Matt Murray (13-9-1, 2.83, .908) is 2-2-0, .919 in four games since returning from a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim C Ryan Kesler, who has yet to play this season while recovering from off-season hip surgery, accompanied the team on the road trip and could return soon after the calendar flips to 2018 while RW Corey Perry remains out with a knee injury.
2. Pittsburgh scored twice on the power play Thursday to snap an 0-for-13 drought over the previous four games as the No. 3 unit in the league entering Friday at 24.8 percent takes on the Ducks' 10th-best penalty-killing unit (82.3).
3. The Penguins have won the last three meetings, including two last season by a combined 8-3, and seven of the last eight encounters.