Hurricanes at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins may not be playing their best hockey but they have still managed to earn points in six of their last seven games entering a home-and-home series with the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. The Penguins have been pushed beyond regulation four times during a 5-1-1 stretch but bounced back from consecutive losses to the New York Islanders with back-to-back overtime wins over Toronto and Boston. Pittsburgh has not lost in regulation at home since Oct. 22 versus Philadelphia.
The Hurricanes got off to a miserable start to the season, losing their first eight games (0-6-2), but appeared to regain their equilibrium by going 5-0-1 in their next six games. That momentum was short-lived, however, as Carolina arrives in Pittsburgh having dropped three in a row and six of its last seven, including a 1-0 loss at Florida on Wednesday in the fourth stop of a five-game road trip. The Hurricanes ended a string of five straight defeats to the Penguins with a 4-1 victory in Pittsburgh on April 1.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (6-12-3): Carolina had three days off entering Wednesday's matchup in Florida but came out flat-footed and allowed a goal 21 seconds into the contest while getting outshot 17-5 in the first period. "You've got to play 60 minutes, right?" coach Bill Peters told reporters after the game. "I don't think we started on time here today. The game-winning goal was scored on the first shift. Every shift is important, and you have to be ready to start on time." The Hurricanes, who have scored only seven goals in their past six losses, are a league-worst 2-9-2 away from home.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (15-4-2): Captain Sidney Crosby became the sixth-fastest player to reach 800 career points in Wednesday's win, but he was upstaged by Blake Comeau, who registered his second career hat trick and delivered the game-winner in overtime. Comeau, in his first season with the Penguins after spending the past two seasons as a spare part with Columbus, already has eight goals and is on pace to surpass his career-best total of 20 set in 2010-11. “In the back of my mind, I always felt like I had more to offer and here I’m getting a great opportunity to show that,” Comeau said. “I just want to take that opportunity and run with it.”
OVERTIME
1. Penguins C Evgeni Malkin has five goals and six assists during a six-game point streak.
2. Hurricanes G Cam Ward is 12-6-3 lifetime against Pittsburgh.
3. Crosby, the league's leading scorer, had 34 points in 26 games versus Carolina.