Penguins at Canucks
Now that they've reclaimed top spot in the Metropolitan Division race, the Pittsburgh Penguins can focus exclusively on one thing Saturday night: gaining their revenge on the Vancouver Canucks. The Penguins look to avenge a December home loss to the Canucks as they visit Vancouver in a rare trip to British Columbia for captain Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh moved back ahead of the New York Islanders and into first place in the Metropolitan with Friday's 3-0 win over Calgary.
While the Penguins seek to wrap up a three-game Western Canadian swing with a perfect record, the Canucks have bounce-back on their minds following Thursday's ugly 5-1 home loss to the San Jose Sharks. The defeat left Canucks coach Willie Desjardins fuming, to the point where he stopped Friday's practice midway through and spewed expletives at his players. The Canucks are in a bit of a funk, having lost five of their last seven home games.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), CBC (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (30-14-8): While Crosby will make just his ninth appearance against the Canucks, he has plenty of history in Vancouver outside his NHL career - having scored the winning goal for Canada in the gold-medal game at the 2010 Olympics at Rogers Arena. Crosby has three goals, four assists and a minus-4 rating in eight regular-season games versus Vancouver. New linemate David Perron continued his hot streak with a goal and an assist against Calgary, and has eight goals in 14 games since being acquired from Edmonton.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (28-19-3): So what had Desjardins so fired up? According to the coach, it was a concerning lack of intensity during the team's first practice following the one-sided loss to the Sharks. "We've got to play with lots of intensity in our game and I expect that in practice ... I expect that all the time," said Desjardins, who had no issue with teammates Yannick Weber and Shawn Matthias engaging in a heated argument moments after the coach's tirade. "I think the way you practice is the way you play."
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh won four straight meetings - including three via a shootout - prior to its 3-0 loss to Vancouver on Dec. 4.
2. The Canucks are 13-11-1 at Rogers Arena, compared to 15-8-2 away from Vancouver.
3. The Penguins have lost five straight games on the tail end of a back-to-back.