On Tuesday night, the Penguins will play the second of a five-game homestand when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first matchup between these two Eastern Conference teams.
The Penguins are in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division, just ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and are desperate for wins. They have only 17 points, even though they have played the second-most games (20) of any team in the conference.
Saturday’s game against San Jose showed the Penguins’ struggles this season. They had a strong start, building a 3-0 lead, but then failed to keep it, which has been a common issue for them this year.
Pittsburgh was ahead 3-0 after captain Sidney Crosby scored his 599th career goal. However, the Sharks came back to tie the game and forced overtime.
In the shootout, Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins the lead in the fifth round, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped Alex Wennberg to secure a 4-3 victory, improving Pittsburgh’s November record to 3-3-2.
“We’ve been playing pretty good as of late, maybe haven’t gotten the results or bounces, tough calls here or there,” said Nedeljkovic, who made 26 saves in the win. “We stuck with it. I think that’s been a big point of emphasis lately. Just staying with it.”
Crosby, who is 37 years old, is close to becoming the 21st player in NHL history to score 600 goals. He will be only the second active player to do so, joining Alex Ovechkin, who has 866 goals.
Defenseman Kris Letang, who is dealing with an illness, has missed the last two games and was also absent from Monday’s practice.
After a rough stretch where they went 0-3-1 and lost one of their top point producers, the Lightning appear to have found better form. Surprisingly, they showed improvement while facing two of the NHL’s best teams during a three-game homestand.
After a 2-1 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay bounced back with two of its best performances of the season. They won 4-1 against the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets and then beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0, with goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy earning his 36th career shutout.
Coach Jon Cooper had been telling his players to shoot more, saying they weren’t taking enough shots and were trying too hard to make the perfect pass instead of taking good chances.
“I think the big issue with us, especially of late, is we’re overcomplicating an uncomplicated game,” Cooper said. “I think we’re a bottom-five team in the league for shots on goal. It’s been the extra pass, the extra play, there’s something better out there. It has kind of sucked the life out of us and what does it do? It fuels the other team.”
The Lightning sent forward Gage Goncalves back to their AHL affiliate, Syracuse, on Sunday, which has led to speculation that injured top-line center Brayden Point (lower body) could be close to returning just as the team seems to be improving.
Point, who has 8 goals and 5 assists in 12 games, has missed the last four games but skated on Saturday morning in the team’s optional practice.
Nikita Kucherov had two assists in the win over New Jersey, leaving him just one point away from 900 for his career. Kucherov has 331 goals and 568 assists in 741 games. Only two players in Tampa Bay history have reached 900 points: Steven Stamkos (1,137 points) and Martin St. Louis (953).
