Senators at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins attempt to begin recovering from their first 0-3-0 start since 2005-06 when they host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Pittsburgh's high-powered offense has managed just three goals in the first three contests and looks to get untracked as it continues a five-game homestand against the Senators, who rolled over host Columbus 7-3 on Wednesday.
“We know we’re better than this,” Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury told reporters. “It seems like we’ve been getting better over the last three games, but still, we should have been ready to go from Game One.” The Penguins might face a road-weary team Thursday, but Ottawa has won three of four games and posted 15 goals overall to start the campaign. Former Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson notched a career-high four assists in Wednesday’s victory to give him seven on the season while Bobby Ryan and Mika Zibanejad recorded a goal and two assists apiece. The Senators must tighten up defensively after averaging 35.8 shots allowed in the early going.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS2, TSN5 (Ottawa), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (3-1-0): Kyle Turris leads a potent offense with four goals in the first four contests to go along with a pair of assists as he is tied with Mark Stone (one goal, five assists) for second on the team in points behind Karlsson (seven). The only bad news from the victory in Columbus was that forward Clarke MacArthur left the game with an upper-body injury, and his status for Thursday is uncertain. Craig Anderson has posted all three victories for Ottawa, giving up eight goals, but Andrew Hammond (groin) could get the start against Pittsburgh after serving as the backup on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (0-3-0): Pittsburgh was 0-for-2 on the power play in the 3-2 loss to Montreal on Tuesday and is scoreless in nine tries with the man advantage this season. Offseason acquisition Phil Kessel is the only player on the team with two points (goal, assist), as superstars Sidney Crosby (no points, four shots) and Evgeni Malkin (one assist, six shots) have yet to produce. Fleury, who has 322 career wins in 598 games, allowed eight goals on 93 shots in the first three games of 2015-16 after starting 13-3-1 last season.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh D Kris Letang has recorded a goal and leads the team with 15 shots while averaging 27:01 of ice time.
2. Ottawa D Marc Methot matched his total from 2014-15 with his first goal Wednesday, leaving him two points shy of 100 for his career.
3. The last five games between the two teams have been decided by a goal, with two each ending in overtime and the shootout.