Canadiens at Penguins
Superstar captain Sidney Crosby extended his five-game goal-scoring streak in much the same manner in which it began: in highlight-reel fashion. Crosby, who began his recent scoring spree by batting the puck out of the air against Montreal, looks to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a season sweep of the Canadiens on Saturday when the teams meet at PPG Paints Arena.
"It kind of leaves you in awe. I mean, We see it a lot, but every time he does it and does something special, it's crazy to see. It just speaks to what an incredible player he is," Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin said of Crosby, who converted his own rebound by batting the puck out of the air and into the net 19 seconds into overtime in Thursday's 4-3 win over New Jersey. The two-time Hart Trophy recipient has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games for the second-place Penguins, who have traded wins and losses over their last 10 (5-3-2) to reside one point ahead of Columbus and two in front of Philadelphia in the top-heavy Metropolitan Division. Montreal has won two of three after dropping nine of its previous 10 -- with a pair of 5-3 losses to Pittsburgh included in that stretch. Brendan Gallagher reached the 30-goal plateau and pushed his career-high point total to 49 after scoring twice in Monday's 4-2 triumph over Detroit.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet 360, CITY, TVAS (Montreal), AT&T Sportsnet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (28-37-12): Coach Claude Julien will have the final say on Saturday if defenseman David Schlemko ends his 12-game absence due to an upper-body injury. "You definitely want to be battling with the guys and on the ice. Hockey's a lot more fun when you're playing games instead of bag skating by yourself," the 30-year-old Schlemko said following Friday's on-ice session at the Bell Sports Complex. Julien told reporters on that former Penguins goaltender Antti Niemi will receive the start in the finale of the season series.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (44-28-6): Patric Hornqvist reached the 25-goal mark for the fourth time in his career after capping a two-point performance with his third-period tally versus the Devils. The 31-year-old Swede has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his last 10 games, highlighted by his three-point performance (two goals, one assist) in the first meeting with Montreal on March 15 before he tallied again in the second on March 21. Fellow forward Evgeni Malkin has scored and set up a goal in both encounters versus the Canadiens this season to boost his point total to 46 (16 goals, 30 assists) in 36 career outings.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh's top-ranked power play, which is 3-for-5 versus Montreal this season, has converted on just 1 of 8 opportunities over the last four games.
2. The Canadiens reached out to Laval of the American Hockey League and recalled F Kerby Rychel, who has eight goals and 12 points in his last 14 games.
3. Pittsburgh D Kris Letang has scored a goal in back-to-back outings to push his point streak to three games.