Penguins at Kings
One team seeks its fifth consecutive victory while the other looks to avoid being shut out a fourth straight time when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Pittsburgh is coming off its fourth win in a row, a 5-1 triumph at Anaheim that boosted its record to 2-0-0 on its four-game road trip.
The Penguins got big contributions from a pair of returning players as defenseman Kris Letang recorded a goal and an assist after missing five games with an upper-body injury while Matt Murray (broken thumb) stopped 32 shots in his season debut. Los Angeles has gone three games without a goal, last scoring in overtime of a victory over Nashville on Oct. 27. The Kings, who haven't tallied in regulation in 199 minutes, 19 seconds, hadn't been blanked in three consecutive contests since Jan. 1-7, 1969. Prior to its drought, Los Angeles posted a four-game winning streak that featured three overtime victories and a shootout triumph.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (7-2-1): Matt Cullen celebrated his 40th birthday on Wednesday with his second goal in as many games. The veteran center has notched a point in five of his last six contests. With the return of Murray, Pittsburgh traded Mike Condon to Ottawa for a fifth-round pick in the 2017 draft. The 26-year-old goaltender, who went 21-25-6 as a rookie with Montreal in 2015-16, turned aside all seven shots he faced in one relief appearance for the Penguins prior to the deal.
ABOUT THE KINGS (4-6-0): Tanner Pearson leads the team with four goals but has been kept in check over the last five games while no other player on the club has more than two tallies, leaving coach Darryl Sutter wondering where the offense will come from. "There's nobody coming in on a white horse to play goal for us or score goals or to come up from (American Hockey League affiliate) Ontario," he told the Kings' website. "This is our team." Peter Budaj could be on the bench Thursday after making three starts in four days, a stretch during which he allowed seven goals on 69 shots.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins C Sidney Crosby has collected four goals and two assists during a four-game point streak to start his season.
2. Los Angeles D Alec Martinez, who leads the team with seven points, enjoyed a four-game streak prior to the team's offensive struggles.
3. Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin is riding a three-game goal-scoring streak during which he has tallied four times and a four-game point run on which he has added two assists.