Flames at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins look to continue their torrid play at home on Saturday afternoon when they welcome the spiraling Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon. Pittsburgh improved to 12-2-2 in its last 16 at Consol Energy Center with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday to extend its lead to five points over Philadelphia for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Marc-Andre Fleury has been in net for all but three games of that run of good fortune, posting an 11-1-1 mark with a 1.99 goals-against average in his last 13 starts at home. If victorious on Saturday, the 31-year-old Quebec native will become the 20th goalie in NHL history to reach 350 wins. Fleury struggled mightily in his last meeting with the Flames, yielding three first-period goals as Calgary posted its first win in 10 opportunities with Pittsburgh in a 5-2 decision on Nov. 7. Losers of seven in a row (0-6-1), the Flames would love to see that sort of offense on Saturday as they have mustered just seven goals in the first three contests of their four-game road trip.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, RSN (Calgary), ROOT (Pittsburgh), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE FLAMES (26-34-4): Sean Monahan scored a goal and set up another in Calgary's 6-3 setback to Buffalo on Thursday and did the same in the initial meeting with Pittsburgh. Mikael Backlund also tallied versus the Sabres and had three assists in the first encounter with the Penguins. Johnny Gaudreau has been held off the scoresheet in each of the last two contests since riding an eight-game point streak, but erupted for two goals and an assist in the first meeting with Pittsburgh.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (33-22-8): Sidney Crosby opened the scoring on Thursday for his 26th goal and 61st point of the season, with 20 and 41 being recorded at Consol Energy Center. The captain looks to continue his dominance versus Calgary, against which he collected three goals and five assists in four career home games. Phil Kessel, who scored in Pittsburgh's first meeting with the Flames, also tallied on Thursday to reach the 20-goal plateau for the eighth straight season.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist has scored five goals in his last three games.
2. Calgary has scored 11 power-play goals in the last 13 contests.
3. The Penguins have outscored the Flames by a 13-4 margin en route to winning the last four home meetings.