Penguins at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings continue their surge toward a playoff spot when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The reigning Stanley Cup champion, Los Angeles has won 10 of its last 13 games to climb within two points of both Calgary and Vancouver for third place in the Pacific Division and Winnipeg for the second wild card in the Western Conference. The Kings posted their second straight win on Thursday, a 4-3 triumph over Montreal in which Marian Gaborik scored his second power-play goal of the night with 45 seconds left in the third period and Anze Kopitar netted the decisive tally in the fourth round of the shootout.
Pittsburgh is coming off its fifth victory in six games, a 5-2 win at Anaheim on Friday. Patric Hornqvist registered his fourth two-goal performance of the season while Evgeni Malkin, captain Sidney Crosby and Blake Comeau each netted a tally and set up another as the Penguins moved within two points of the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan. Pittsburgh took the opener of the two-game season series on Oct. 30, skating to a 3-0 home triumph as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots while Chris Kunitz recorded two goals and an assist.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, RSN, TVA2, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (37-18-9): Malkin enters Saturday's contest with a seven-game point streak during which he has collected seven goals and seven assists. The two-time Art Ross Trophy winner grabbed a share of the league scoring lead, pulling even with New York Islanders captain John Tavares and Washington teammates Nicklas Backstrom and captain Alex Ovechkin with 67 points. Crosby, who also has won the scoring title twice, is one point off the mark.
ABOUT THE KINGS (31-21-12): Jeff Carter netted his team-leading 22nd tally Thursday to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games. Gaborik's two-goal effort was his third of the season and first against a team other than St. Louis. The 33-year-old Slovakian had recorded only two tallies over his previous 19 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Comeau has scored 15 goals this campaign, one fewer than his total from the previous three seasons.
2. Hornqvist, who has reached the 20-goal plateau for the fifth time in his career, and Malkin both have tallied a league-leading six times since Feb. 21.
3. Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick is just 1-2-2 lifetime against Pittsburgh with a 2.90 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage.