Penguins at Coyotes
The Pittsburgh Penguins look to continue their dominance of the Pacific Division when they visit the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. Pittsburgh began its brief two-game road trip Thursday with a 4-1 triumph at Los Angeles as Jussi Jokinen recorded a goal and two assists while Evgeni Malkin added one of each. The Penguins scored three goals on seven shots in the first period en route to improving to 8-0-1 against the Pacific this season.
Phoenix continues its five-game homestand with hopes of snapping a three-game losing streak against Pittsburgh. The Coyotes, who haven't defeated the Penguins since Oct. 7, 2009, opened the stretch of home contests with a triumph over Los Angeles before suffering a 3-2 loss to Buffalo on Thursday. Antoine Vermette and David Moss scored as Phoenix lost for the 15th time in 22 contests (7-10-5).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Arizona Plus (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (38-14-2): Pittsburgh hopes to have Kris Letang back in the lineup after the defenseman missed Thursday's win due to illness. After losing his first two NHL decisions, Jeff Zatkoff has gone 9-0-1 with his first career shutout. The Penguins need to record a victory to become the second team to reach the 80-point mark (Anaheim, 85).
ABOUT THE COYOTES (25-19-10): Vermette enters Saturday with a three-game goal-scoring streak during which he has recorded five tallies. The 31-year-old has eight goals in his last eight contests after going 11 games without one. Vermette has reached the 20-goal plateau for the fourth time and first since netting a career-high 27 in 2009-10 while with Columbus.
OVERTIME
1. Malkin avoided his first three-game point drought of the season Thursday by posting his 15th multi-point performance.
2. Phoenix has registered only 10 regulation victories since Oct. 29.
3. Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby, who leads the league with 75 points, has gone three games without a goal.