Oilers at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins struggled with the offense during their four-game road trip, but the team may be ready to flex its muscle when it hosts the defensively challenged Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Pittsburgh mustered just eight goals and failed to convert on all 12 power-play opportunities during the trek, but managed to skate away with a 2-1-1 mark. Captain Sidney Crosby scored his team's lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to San Jose on Monday, but has recorded six points (one goal, five assists) in his last three meetings with Edmonton.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves versus the Sharks, but recorded one of his league-leading nine shutouts when he turned aside 22 shots in a 2-0 triumph over the Oilers on Feb. 4. Edmonton has enough problems on its plate, as it enters Thursday's tilt mired in a five-game skid (0-4-1) and is permitting a league-worst 3.31 goals per contest. The Oilers were gashed for 12 tallies in a two-day stretch, following up a 7-4 setback to Carolina on Sunday with a 5-2 loss to Detroit to fall to 0-2-1 on their five-game road trip.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSW (Edmonton), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE OILERS (18-38-11): Interim coach Todd Nelson was selected by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 1989 draft, but only played in one game for the Penguins during his career. Despite his short stint, Nelson has fond memories of the club - including a brief meeting upon being recalled on Nov. 23, 1991. "As soon as I walked in, Paul Coffey came over to me and welcomed me to the team," Nelson told the Oilers' website. "Second guy was Mario (Lemieux)."
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (38-18-10): David Perron has prospered since being acquired from Edmonton on Jan. 2 for Rob Klinkhammer and a first-round pick in the 2015 draft. The 26-year-old Perron has scored 10 goals and set up eight others in 28 games with Pittsburgh after recording just 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 38 contests with the Oilers. Perron scored in the first meeting with Edmonton, as did Evgeni Malkin, who has been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back contests after notching seven goals and as many assists during a blistering seven-game run.
OVERTIME
1. Klinkhammer scored his first goal with his new team on Monday.
2. Pittsburgh D Kris Letang, who had an assist in the first meeting with Edmonton, has a career-high 51 points.
3. The Oilers have allowed four power-play goals in the last two games after stopping all 10 short-handed situations in the previous four contests.