Penguins at Rangers
The Pittsburgh Penguins look to extend their winning streak to eight games and exact a bit of revenge against the New York Rangers when the Metropolitan Division rivals collide at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Penguins were on the verge of advancing to the Eastern Conference final last season before unceremoniously dropping the final three contests of their best-of-7 series to the Rangers. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby recorded just three points in the second-round series, but the NHL's leading scorer is coming off his third-career five-assist performance in Pittsburgh's 6-1 triumph over Buffalo on Saturday.
While the Penguins are clicking on all cylinders, New York misfired for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2) while getting booed out of its own arena in Sunday's lackluster 3-1 loss to Edmonton. "You're expecting your group to come back (from the 5-4 loss in Toronto on Saturday), show the character and leadership that you know that they have," coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Daily News. "To come up with that type of performance (Sunday) is – if you say disappointing, it would be the understatement of the week."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSN, ROOT (Pittsburgh), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (10-2-1): Special teams continue to be the name of the game for Pittsburgh, which has killed off all 37 short-handed situations in a franchise-record 10 consecutive contests. The Penguins' potent power play hasn't been too shabby in its own right as Patric Hornqvist netted a pair of goals with the man advantage versus the Sabres. Pittsburgh is 13-for-34 on the power play during the winning streak and 21-for-56 (37.5 percent) on the season, as opposed to New York's 5-for-38 performance (13.2 percent).
ABOUT THE RANGERS (6-6-2): New York will receive a boost to its ailing blue line as defenseman John Moore is expected to return to the lineup after serving a five-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of Minnesota's Erik Haula on Oct. 27. The Rangers certainly can use the help with captain Ryan McDonagh (shoulder separation) and fellow blue-liner Dan Boyle (broken hand) on the sideline. With Moore returning, New York assigned defenseman Conor Allen and left wing Ryan Malone to Hartford of the American Hockey League while recalling forward Jesper Fast.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin has recorded at least one point in 12 of his 13 contests this season and has 39 (20 goals, 19 assists) in 42 meetings with New York.
2. Rangers LW Carl Hagelin has scored a goal in consecutive contests and collected four tallies and two assists in his last nine games.
3. The Penguins have outscored their foes by a 32-8 margin during their winning streak.