Blue Jackets at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins may not be lighting up the scoreboard, but they are winning nonetheless. With a sluggish start in their rear-view mirror, the Penguins vie for their eighth win in nine outings when they host the Metropolitan Division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
"We haven't really played our best through this first (15) games but we're still winning games," said forward Patric Hornqvist, who scored the tying goal in Pittsburgh's eventual 4-3 shootout victory over Montreal on Wednesday. While the Penguins are ascending despite scoring just 2.27 goals per contest, the Blue Jackets look to snap a two-game skid by continuing their recent success versus the division foe. Nick Foligno had a hat trick in Columbus' 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh on April 4 for the team's third win in four encounters last season, but the captain currently is mired in an 11-game goal drought. Coach John Tortorella refused to let Foligno off the hook after he failed to convert into an open goal on Tuesday, telling the Columbus Dispatch that "he needs to make a big play."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, FSN Ohio (Columbus), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (4-12-0): Brandon Saad has struggled to get untracked since being acquired from Chicago in a blockbuster deal in the offseason. The 23-year-old Pittsburgh native has scored just two goals and set up two others in his last 10 games overall and has three assists in four career meetings with the Penguins. Boone Jenner netted his team-leading eighth goal in Columbus' 5-3 loss to Vancouver on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (10-5-0): Captain Sidney Crosby is showing signs of ending his early-season slump, notching two assists against the Canadiens to increase his point total to six in as many games. Phil Kessel has recorded two goals and three assists on his four-game point streak but fellow star Evgeni Malkin has been held without a goal in each of his last five contests. Marc-Andre Fleury overcame a cut near his left eye to finish with 32 saves versus Montreal and will attempt to continue his success versus Columbus (7-3-1).
OVERTIME
1. Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky has split his eight decisions on the road this season after going 0-5-0 at home.
2. Pittsburgh has yielded a power-play goal in each of the last two contests after killing off all 18 short-handed opportunities in the previous six.
3. The Blue Jackets have scored four times with the man advantage in the last four games.