Blue Jackets at Penguins
The struggling Pittsburgh Penguins look to take some positive thoughts into the holiday break when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. The Penguins are searching for answers after scoring just six times during their five-game winless streak (0-4-1) and may have to do so without captain Sidney Crosby, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after missing Sunday's practice.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin told reporters after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Carolina. “I see we play better. We talk on the bench. We’re pretty together. We’re tight. It’s a tough loss again, but (we’re keeping our) heads up. … We have one game before the (Christmas) break. It’s two points. We need to win. Just win.” Columbus will try to prolong the agony with a fourth straight win over the Penguins and third this season. The Blue Jackets own a pair of 2-1 victories over Pittsburgh but won’t have Sergei Bobrovsky (groin) in net this time. Columbus is coming off back-to-back wins, including a 3-2 shootout triumph over Philadelphia on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (13-19-3): Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves for his first career victory Saturday as Bobrovsky (11-12-1) continued to progress toward a return by participating in the morning skate. Ryan Johansen returned to the lineup against Philadelphia after being a healthy scratch in the previous contest and extended his point drought to four games. Scott Hartnell leads the team with 26 points after recording four in his last three games while Brandon Saad has tallied in each of his last two contests.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (15-14-3): Malkin has scored three goals in his last five games and Crosby has recorded 13 points in 14 contests, but the Penguins aren’t getting much from others. Phil Kessel, who played in his 700th NHL game Saturday, has notched one point in eight games while offensive defenseman Kris Letang (upper body) and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) are not expected to play until later this month, at the earliest. Blue-liner Ian Cole was a healthy scratch Saturday after posting a minus-6 rating in his last four games.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus captain Nick Foligno has recorded at least one point in four straight contests.
2. The Penguins sent rookie RW Daniel Sprong back to juniors Saturday after the 18-year-old scored two goals in 18 games.
3. With fellow Ds Jack Johnson (upper body) and David Savard (ankle) sidelined, Columbus' Ryan Murray logged a career-high 31:49 of ice time Saturday.