Rangers at Penguins
THE STORY: The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to stop a two-game skid
when they host their Atlantic Division rival New York Rangers on
Friday. The Rangers sit atop the Atlantic Division, with the Penguins
third, eight points behind. This is the second of six meetings this
season. The Rangers won the first contest 4-3 on Nov. 29 in New York.
All four New York goals came in the second period. Marian Gaborik
scored, and Brad Richards had a goal and two assists to lead the
Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves. Evgeni Malkin had a goal for
the Penguins, who also got two assists from captain Sidney Crosby in one
of his eight games this season. The superstar has been sidelined with
concussion symptoms.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, MSG2 (New York), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (25-9-4):
New York is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory at home over the Florida
Panthers on Thursday. Marian Gaborik scored the winner, while captain
Ryan Callahan and Anton Stralman also scored for the Rangers. Callahan
has two goals and five assists in his six-game point streak. Backup
goaltender Martin Biron made 19 saves to improve to 8-2-0 on the season.
The Rangers have won three straight and are 13-6-2 on the road this
season.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (21-13-4): Pittsburgh is coming
off a 3-1 road loss to the New Jersey Devils. Chris Kunitz scored the
lone goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves and fell to 19-9-2 on the
season. The Penguins are opening a three game homestand and are 11-4-2
at home this season. The Penguins will rely on Malkin to continue the
strong play that earned him the First Star honors from the NHL for
December. Malkin had six goals and 20 points in 13 December games. He
had 19 points during a nine-game streak from Dec. 8-29, tying Anaheim’s
Teemu Selanne and Chicago’s Patrick Sharp for the longest streak of the
season.
OVERTIME:
1. The Rangers are 8-1-0 against Atlantic Division teams. The Penguins are 5-4-0.
2.
The Penguins are a double special teams threat as they are fifth in
penalty killing (87.6 percent) and tied for fifth (New York Islanders)
in power play percentage (19.8).