Penguins at Ducks
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks both look to rebound from tough losses when the conference leaders face off at Honda Center on Friday. Pittsburgh is coming off a 5-3 defeat at San Jose on Thursday, when it squandered leads of 2-0 and 3-2. Rookie defenseman Olli Maatta recorded his first career two-goal performance, but it wasn't enough to keep the East-leading Penguins from falling to 1-2-0 on their five-game road trip, which wraps up at Washington on Monday.
Anaheim, which sits atop the West, extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1) despite dropping a 4-3 shootout decision to visiting Montreal on Wednesday. The Ducks erased a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered goals in the second period, but Brendan Gallagher tallied 36 seconds before the second intermission and defenseman Andrei Markov scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the bonus format. Pittsburgh posted a 3-1 home victory over Anaheim on Nov. 18 as Brian Gibbons recorded a goal and an assist.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (41-17-4): New acquisitions Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak made their debuts Thursday, one day after being acquired from Florida and Calgary, respectively. Goc registered an assist and a plus-1 rating while winning 7-of-13 faceoffs in 11:03 of ice time, while Stempniak was minus-1 in 15:08 of action. Pittsburgh, which failed to address its defense at the trade deadline, has allowed 16 goals over its last four games.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (43-14-6): Stephane Robidas practiced with the team Thursday, two days after being acquired from Dallas, but is not scheduled to play until March 14 due to a broken leg suffered on Nov. 29. The veteran defenseman was greeted with a handshake from new teammate Corey Perry, who was involved in several heated incidents with the 37-year-old Robidas over the years. "He's a competitor and a great player," Robidas said. "It wasn't easy playing against him, and I'm just happy I don't need to watch him anymore."
OVERTIME
1. Ducks RW Teemu Selanne hopes to return to the lineup after missing Wednesday's game with the flu.
2. Penguins C Sidney Crosby had a forgettable game against San Jose as he failed to record a point and finished minus-5 for the first time in his illustrious career.
3. Anaheim is 2-0-1 on its five-game homestand, which concludes Monday against Toronto.