(SportsNetwork.com) – The Pittsburgh Penguins may be in position to post their
longest winning streak in almost two months, but that doesn’t mean they are
happy with their most recent play.
The Penguins hope for a stronger finish on Sunday afternoon when they visit
the red-hot Marian Hossa and his Chicago Blackhawks.
Pittsburgh picked up its second two-game winning streak of the month with
Thursday’s 5-4 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators, but not with ease.
The Penguins allowed the Sens to score four times in the third period, giving
up a pair of goals in a 13-second span with less than five minutes left in
regulation.
David Perron and backup goaltender Thomas Greiss saved their club from defeat
though, as Perron had the lone shootout tally and Greiss prevented Bobby Ryan,
Kyle Turris and Mika Zibanejad from scoring for the Senators.
Sidney Crosby scored twice in regulation, Kris Letang had a goal and an assist
and Evgeni Malkin tallied to help support Greiss’ 29 stops through overtime.
“You have to be realistic and see your game for what it was,” said Crosby, who
is fourth in the NHL with 58 points. “We’re not coming out of here thinking we
played a great game. We learned a good lesson here.”
Regardless of what was taught, the Penguins remain in the thick of a tight
race atop the Metropolitan Division. They are second in the standings, three
points back of the New York Islanders and one up on the third-place New York
Rangers.
Pittsburgh can help its cause today by winning three straight for the first
time since Dec. 15-20 and Marc-Andre Fleury figures to get the start in net.
He is 5-2-3 lifetime versus the Blackhawks with a 2.52 goals against average
and .919 save percentage in 10 meetings.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, try to extend their five-game point streak (3-0-2)
as they play the fourth contest of an eight-game homestand. They began the
residency with a shootout loss to Arizona and an overtime setback versus
Vancouver, but rebounded with Friday’s 3-1 decision over the New Jersey
Devils.
Hossa continued his scoring surge with a goal and an assist. The 36-year-old
winger had scored a pair of goals in each of his previous three games and now
has 17 tallies on the season.
“It’s going in for me so I try to put pucks on the net,” Hossa said. “When you
have more confidence, more things can happen offensively.”
Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg also lit the lamp for the Blackhawks, who got
25 saves from netminder Corey Crawford and sit third in the Central Division,
four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets.
Crawford, who tied Jocelyn Thibault for the fourth on the franchise’s all-time
wins list for a goaltender with 137, is 3-1-0 in his career versus the
Penguins with a 1.93 GAA and .933 save percentage.
He made 33 saves in a 3-2 shootout victory in Pittsburgh on Jan. 21, with
Toews and Patrick Kane scoring in the tiebreaker. Hossa had a goal and an
assist in that meeting as well.
Kane currently leads the NHL with 63 points, having totaled seven over his
past five games.
Fleury posted 24 saves for the Penguins, who have lost three of their last
four in Chicago as well. That includes a 5-1 setback on March 1 of last year
outdoors at Soldier Field.
