Penguins at Hurricanes
THE STORY: Never known as a sharpshooter throughout his career, James Neal has suddenly morphed into one of the NHL’s top goal-scorers this season. Neal netted a career-best 24 tallies during his rookie campaign with the Dallas Stars in 2008. The 24-year-old has already scored 11 times this season after notching two more on Friday against his former team, moving him within one goal of the league lead. Neal has at least one point in all but three of his team’s 15 games. He will put his scoring prowess on display when the Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins visit the sputtering Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at the RBC Center.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT, FXSO.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (10-3-3): No Sidney Crosby, no problem. The Penguins have won seven of nine, including Friday’s 3-1 triumph over the Stars. With Crosby still on the mend, the Penguins have been getting contributions across the board. Defenseman Kris Letang assisted on Neal’s go-ahead goal against the Stars, giving him an assist in five consecutive games. Center Evgeni Malkin also drew an assist on the tally and has seven points in his last five games.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (5-8-3): The Hurricanes haven’t had much go their way lately, losing eight of their past 10 games. Carolina dropped its fourth in a row, a 5-1 thrashing courtesy of the New York Rangers on Friday. Much of the Hurricanes’ issues can be traced to the struggles of goaltender Cam Ward, who has allowed 17 goals in the four defeats. On the bright side, the 27-year-old has fared well in his career versus the Penguins, going 10-5-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
OVERTIME:
1. Talk of Crosby returning this weekend was premature. The Penguins captain has already been ruled out for Saturday’s tilt but appears closer by the day to returning from concussion-related symptoms.
2. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been nearly unbeatable in his last seven outings, going 6-0-1.