Penguins at Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are playing their best hockey of the season and they will need to be on top of their game as they prepare for a visit from the surging Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. The Jets have ripped off three consecutive victories, allowing one goal in that span, and are riding a six-game point streak (5-0-1) to rebound from a 1-4-0 start to the season. Winnipeg, which hits the road for five in a row after Thursday's matchup, has lost four straight and seven of eight to the Penguins.
Pittsburgh opened a five-game road trip with a 4-1 victory at Minnesota, extending its winning streak to five contests during a dominating stretch that has seen the team outscore the opposition 23-4. In fact, the Penguins had amassed 18 unanswered goals until the Wild scored a third-period tally to end their shutout streak at 205 minutes, 28 seconds. Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin has registered a point in all 11 games to move closer to Jaromir Jagr's franchise-record 15-game point streak to open a season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (8-2-1): Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week Monday after posting back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts, was signed to a four-year, $23 million contract extension Tuesday. The 29-year-old Fleury has won his last four starts - three via shutout - to improve to 7-2-0 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. "He's had some great moments and faced some adversity too. To see the way he's handled all that is pretty amazing," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "It seems fitting he's going to be the goalie here for a long time."
ABOUT THE JETS (7-5-1): Fleury is not the only netminder in the midst of a torrid stretch as Winnipeg's Ondrej Pavelec is 4-0-1 in his last four starts while allowing a total of six goals - including a stellar 38-save performance in a 1-0 shutout at the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Jets have killed off 13 straight penalties over the past four games but not must contend with a power-play unit that is converting 41.3 percent of its chances. "You’re wondering, should you just fire the puck in our own net, save the two minutes. Use the two minutes to get (the goal) back," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said.
OVERTIME
1. Malkin has 16 goals and 44 points in 26 games against Winnipeg.
2. Pavelec is 2-12-0 with a 4.33 GAA in 14 starts versus Pittsburgh.
3. The Penguins have killed off 30 consecutive penalties over the past four games.