Penguins at Red Wings
The Metropolitan Division crown may be a far reach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they hope to at least maintain their lead for second place when they visit the struggling Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Pittsburgh trails Washington by five points for first place in the division with six games remaining but is three ahead of Columbus and Philadelphia for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Penguins completed a 2-0-1 homestand this past Sunday, squandering a lead in the final minute of the third period before Bryan Rust scored 2:25 into overtime for a 5-4 victory over Philadelphia. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby netted a tally and set up another in the win, giving him a goal and an assist in each of his last three contests. Detroit returns home after its road losing streak reached 11 games with Monday's 4-2 setback in Montreal. The Red Wings, who have allowed at least four goals in 11 of its 13 contests this month, have dropped 13 of 14 overall (1-12-1) as they prepare to be postseason spectators for the second straight campaign following a 25-season participation streak.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (43-27-6): Patric Hornqvist scored on Saturday, giving him six goals and an assist over his last eight games. The 31-year-old Swede, who shares the team lead with a career-high 14 power-play goals, is two tallies away from 200 for his career. Evgeni Malkin, who leads the team in scoring, is eight points away from reaching the century mark for the fourth time in his career and first since notching 109 in 2011-12.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (27-38-11): Gustav Nyquist ended his four-game point drought Monday by scoring once to reach the 20-goal plateau for the third time in his career and adding an assist. Rookie Tyler Bertuzzi has tallied in back-to-back games after recording only two goals over his first 47 NHL contests. Anthony Mantha leads the team with 23 goals but is mired in a 10-game drought, registering just two assists in that span.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins C Derick Brassard is riding a six-game point streak during which he has recorded two goals and four assists.
2. Detroit LW Justin Abdelkader is one goal shy of 100 for his career while D Niklas Kronwall's next point will be his 400th in the NHL.
3. Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz registered three points (all assists) on Sunday, matching the output over his previous 15 games.