Canucks at Penguins
Captain Sidney Crosby saw his pursuit of 1,000 career points unexpectedly put on hold by a pair of Western Conference cellar dwellers after being held off the scoresheet in consecutive games for the first time in nearly a calendar year. Inspired by the potential return of fellow former Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin, Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins look to get back on track on Tuesday when they open a two-game homestand versus the Vancouver Canucks.
"You can't replace 'Geno,'" Crosby said of Malkin, who participated in practice Monday and is considered a game-time decision against the Canucks after sitting out seven contests with a lower-body injury. "Getting him back just makes us that much more dangerous." While Pittsburgh has dropped two of its last three, Vancouver improved to 2-2-0 on its six-game road trip with a 4-2 triumph over Buffalo on Sunday. Bo Horvat (team-leading 17 goals, 38 points) scored and set up a goal for the second straight contest to increase his point total to 12 (six goals, six assists) in 11 games, but exited with one minute remaining in the third period after taking a slap shot from Jack Eichel off his knee. The Canucks' lone All-Star representative, Horvat had a CT scan on Monday - it was negative - and his availability to play will be determined on Tuesday, according to the team.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL.TV, NHL Network, ROOT (Pittsburgh), Sportsnet, TVAS (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (25-25-6): Alex Edler must have taken former Penguin Brandon Sutter's labeling that it was a "make or break" road trip to heart as the veteran defenseman has recorded a point in each of the first four contests of the trek. The 30-year-old Swede set up a goal for the third straight game on Sunday to give him 11 assists and 13 points on the season. Sutter hasn't been as fortunate as he has been held without a point in each contest during the road trip and has mustered just five shots in that span.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (34-13-7): Coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that he was "encouraged with (the) progress" of Conor Sheary, who was on the ice Monday after missing the last five games with an upper-body injury. Speedy Carl Hagelin, who hasn't played since Feb. 4 due to a concussion, was deemed "status quo" by Sullivan after skating on Monday while the coach labeled the absence of Bryan Rust (undisclosed) as "longer term" after the forward was injured in Thursday's 4-1 win over Colorado. When asked if Rust's injury could be season-ending, Sullivan said, "We're hopeful it's not going to be that significant. But we'll get more information when we get more information, quite honestly, from our medical team."
OVERTIME
1. Canucks LW Daniel Sedin is slated to play in his 1,200th career game on Tuesday.
2. Pittsburgh RW Phil Kessel has scored in back-to-back contests and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 12 career encounters versus Vancouver.
3. Canucks G Ryan Miller has allowed 19 goals en route to dropping five of his last six starts and owns an 8-15-3 career mark with a 3.18 goals-against average versus the Penguins.