Devils at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins' quest for the Presidents' Trophy has stalled of late, but they hope to get back on track when they host the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Pittsburgh has followed a five-game winning streak with a shootout defeat in Calgary and Wednesday's shutout loss at Philadelphia that concluded a 3-1-1 road trip but still trails Washington for first in the NHL by only three points.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (35 goals) is in a bit of a scoring funk, tallying just once over his last nine games to relinquish the league lead to Boston's Brad Marchand (37), but Evgeni Malkin has scored seven times in as many contests to raise his season total to 33. Both superstars also are in the running for the Art Ross Trophy, which each already has won twice, as Crosby entered Thursday fourth in the NHL with 74 points and Malkin fifth at 72. New Jersey is coming off its first win in nearly a month, rolling to a 6-2 home victory over Philadelphia on Thursday to halt its 10-game slide (0-8-2). Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique scored two goals apiece for the Devils, who won for the first time since edging the New York Islanders 3-2 on Feb. 18 but have dropped six straight on the road since posting a 5-1 triumph in Columbus on Feb. 4.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360, MSG Plus (New Jersey), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (26-31-12): Kyle Palmieri recorded a goal and an assist Thursday to remain even with Hall for the team lead with 46 points. Palmieri has registered three tallies and an assist over his last two games - and 13 points in his last 11 - while Hall has produced the same in his past three contests. Henrique's two-goal performance versus Philadelphia was his first of the season and ended his seven-game drought.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (43-17-9): Pittsburgh demoted a pair of forwards Thursday, assigning right wing Josh Archibald and center Oskar Sundqvist to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. The 24-year-old Archibald recorded two goals in three games with the Penguins this season while Sundqvist - a 22-year-old Swede - failed to notch a point in four contests. Mark Streit was in the lineup Wednesday after suffering a lower-body injury two days earlier, but fellow defenseman Ron Hainsey sat out the third period with an undisclosed ailment and is questionable to face New Jersey.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins D Ian Cole entered Thursday third in the league with a franchise-record 167 blocked shots, eclipsing the previous mark of 164 set in 2008-09 by Rob Scuderi.
2. New Jersey C Travis Zajac returned Thursday after missing a game due to the birth of his child and notched two assists to halt his five-game point drought.
3. Pittsburgh has earned points in 22 of its last 24 home games (20-2-2).