Blue Jackets at Penguins
Matt Cullen is in line to make his return to the lineup at a time when the veteran forward is most needed by the Pittsburgh Penguins. With Conor Sheary sidelined four-to-six weeks due to an undisclosed injury, Cullen could join captain Sidney Crosby (NHL-leading 28 goals) and Patric Hornqvist on the top line Friday as the Penguins host the Columbus Blue Jackets in a battle of two of the top-three scoring teams in the NHL.
"If we play him there, he's a guy that has hockey sense," coach Mike Sullivan said of the 40-year-old Cullen, who has been sidelined by a foot injury since Jan. 16. "He's very sound defensively. He can take faceoffs. He can take some of the load off Sid down low in our end zone. He's got real good hockey sense and puck skills on the offensive side of the game." Crosby scored less than three minutes in a game versus Columbus on Dec. 22 before the Blue Jackets' third-ranked offense erupted in a 7-1 rout. Veteran Scott Hartnell netted his ninth career hat trick and Brandon Saad also tallied, with the latter collecting a goal and an assist on Tuesday as Columbus jumped out to a six-goal lead before holding on for a 6-4 victory over the New York Rangers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), TVAS, ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (33-12-4): Alexander Wennberg scored a goal and set up two others on Tuesday to record his second three-point performance in four outings and establish career highs for goals (nine), assists (team-leading 34) and points (43) in a season. Fellow Swede William Karlsson has notched an assist in four of the last five games overall and scored a goal in the first encounter with Pittsburgh. Cam Atkinson scored one of his club-best 24 goals in the first meeting, but has just four points (three goals, one assists) in 15 career encounters.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (31-13-5): The lopsided setback in the first meeting was fresh in the mind of forward Nick Bonino, who quickly dismissed needing any incentive for Friday's game. "We don't need motivation. I'm sure they don't," Bonino said on Thursday. "It's just going to be a good game between two good teams." Fellow forward Evgeni Malkin sat out practice on Thursday and likely will be missing from Pittsburgh's top-ranked offense for the third straight contest with a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus' top-ranked power play (24.6 percent) is just 2-for-15 with the man advantage in the last seven games.
2. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray, who made 37 saves in a 4-2 win over Nashville on Tuesday, owns a 10-1-1 mark at PPG Paints Arena this season.
3. Blue Jackets D Markus Nutivaara (lower body) participated in practice Thursday before traveling with the team to the Steel City, but it's unclear if he will play versus the Penguins.