Flames at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a demoralizing three-game skid last time out and hope to continue going in the right direction when they host the struggling Calgary Flames on Monday. The Penguins allowed a total of 17 goals during their slide before recording 50 shots and grinding out a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
“I liked our team game tonight,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after Saturday’s triumph. “I thought we had the puck an awful lot. We generated a significant amount of scoring chances. I thought we controlled territory. … There were a lot of things to like about our game.” Evgeni Malkin unleashed seven of his team's shots and notched an assist to give him 16 points in his last nine contests for the Penguins, who will try to end a five game-losing streak against the Flames while handing them their fourth straight loss overall. Calgary has fallen four points behind in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference after managing just three goals on 121 shots over its last three contests. “We’ve got to dig deeper,” Flames center Mikael Backlund told reporters after Friday's 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers. “There’s still 16 games left. We’ve got to take care of our business - move on after this and see where it takes us.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, TVA (Calgary), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE FLAMES (32-25-9): Calgary could get Micheal Ferland (lower body), who has scored a career-high 20 goals while playing on the top line, back in the lineup after a four-game absence. His linemates have struggled without him as right wing Johnny Gaudreau (20 goals, 73 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in four straight games while center Sean Monahan (29, 58) is pointless in his last three. Backlund has picked it up of late with five points in four contests and Matthew Tkachuk has collected seven goals and six assists in a 12-game span.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (37-25-4): Phil Kessel notched two assists Saturday to reach 400 for his career and has recorded eight points in his last five games to place second on the team with 74 - eight shy of the career high he set with Toronto in 2011-12. Captain Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal against the Islanders and has tallied three times in his last five contests, moving within three points of 1,100 in the NHL. Derick Brassard tallied Saturday for his first goal since being acquired from Ottawa on Feb. 23 and has posted a plus-2 rating over three games with the Penguins.
OVERTIME
1. Monahan needs two goals to equal the career high of 31 he set in 2014-15.
2. The Penguins have recorded the most home wins in the Eastern Conference (24-8-1) while the Flames are 18-10-5 on the road but have lost their last two.
3. Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang became the franchise leader in assists by a defenseman Saturday by notching his 333rd, passing Paul Coffey.