Penguins at Stars
The goals have dried out for the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins, and the offensive drought could leave them settling for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Pittsburgh looks to halt an ugly three-game losing skid Thursday night as they visit the Dallas Stars in the second of two meetings on the season. Playing without Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins are coming off a 2-0 defeat in New Jersey and have been outscored by a 9-1 margin over the length of the losing streak.
The skid has not only taken a serious bite out of Pittsburgh's chances of winning the Metropolitan, it has shrunk the Penguins' lead over Washington to just two points in the race for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the division. Dallas is left to play the spoiler role after a disappointing first half of the season, and is coming off a 3-0 loss to St. Louis. Pittsburgh will be looking to even the score following a 3-2 home loss to the Stars back on Oct. 16.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), Fox Sports Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (39-21-10): The latest loss at least featured signs of life on behalf of the Penguins, who fired 35 shots at New Jersey netminder Cory Schneider but came up empty-handed. Captain Sidney Crosby lamented his team's inability to finish, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "When you get your chances, you have to bury them." The Penguins have lost three games in regulation for just the second time all season; they dropped three in a row Dec. 23-29, then proceeded to go 4-1-1 in their next six.
ABOUT THE STARS (32-28-10): Veteran forward Shawn Horcoff is using his status as one of the team's greybeards to give the younger players direction, guidance - and the occasional kick in the pants. Brett Ritchie told the Dallas Morning News earlier this week about an incident where Horcoff shouted at both he and Curtis McKenzie as they were about to leave the ice after practice. "He told us to get back out there, because he had a workout that we edged to do," Ritchie said. "He's pushing us to get better."
OVERTIME
1. Dallas has won six straight games against the Metropolitan Division.
2. Pittsburgh has lost four of five against teams that scored two or fewer goals in their previous game.
3. Crosby has seven goals and four assists in seven games against Dallas.