Red Wings at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are struggling to find their offense without Evgeni Malkin on the ice. The 2012 Hart Trophy winner is expected to miss his seventh consecutive contest on Thursday with a lower-body injury as the Penguins open a modest two-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings.
"He skated the last few days and it went well, so the next step is for him to join the team (in practice)," coach Mike Sullivan told the Penguins website. "He's close." Pittsburgh has mustered just three goals in its last three contests (1-1-1), with Chris Kunitz netting the lone tally in a 2-1 shootout loss to Florida on Monday. The Penguins' sputtering offense likely won't catch much of a break against Petr Mrazek, who is looking to redeem himself after a rare clunker in a 6-5 victory over Boston on Sunday. "He's got a short memory, which is a positive thing as a goalie," coach Jeff Blashill told MLive. "... Pittsburgh's certainly got a lot of firepower, so we'll need him to be real good."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVA, FSN Detroit, ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (29-19-9): Defenseman Niklas Kronwall participated in his first full practice on Wednesday since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 19. "We can see that he's making strides and closer to being ready, so we'll continue to evaluate it day to day," Blashill told the team website of Kronwall, who is accompanying the team on the three-game road trip but is not expected to play versus Pittsburgh. Fellow defenseman Jonathan Ericsson will also be a spectator on Thursday as he'll miss his third straight contest with a lower-body injury.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (28-19-8): Patric Hornqvist scored a goal and set up two others in Pittsburgh's 5-2 win over Detroit on Dec. 31. The 29-year-old Swede has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last five encounters with the Red Wings, but just one assist in his last five games overall. Defenseman Kris Letang also recorded a three-point performance (two goals, one assist) versus Detroit in the first meeting, but had just four points - all assists - in his previous 11 encounters with the Red Wings.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh has scored at least four goals in seven of the last 10 meetings (6-2-2) with Detroit.
2. The Red Wings have dropped three in a row on the road to fall to 14-9-3 away from Joe Louis Arena.
3. Kunitz has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his last 12 contests.