Game 20: Canucks Vs. Penguins Preview
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking to rebound against Vancouver tonight after snatching defeat from the claws of victory against the New York Rangers.
On Monday, the Pens were on the verge of being blanked by Henrik Lundqvist, but two goals in 27 seconds stunned the Rangers and gave them the lead.
Lundqvist took a penalty after the second goal for shattering his stick over the crossbar and throwing one of the pieces up the ice.
The game appeared to be over at that point, but Marc Staal scored shorthanded to force overtime.
In overtime, Zbynek Michalek lost his footing at the New York blue line and the Rangers rushed up ice on a 2-on-1.
Brandon Dubinsky slid a pass over to Ryan Callahan around a diving Paul Martin for the game-winning goal.
The Pens will be tested tonight with the Canucks in town.
Vancouver boasts one of the league's best goaltenders in Roberto Luongo (7-4-2, 2.66 GAA, .914 save percentage) and the wonder-twin combination of Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
Henrik Sedin edged out Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring title last season and is well on his way to establishing himself as a front-runner to repeat.
In 17 games, he has scored two goals and added 21 assists. Brother Daniel, has 12 goals and 11 assists in the same number of games.
Vancouver doesn't only rely on the twins to put pucks in the net, as eight different players have at least 10 points this season. The Penguins only have six players with at least 10 points, but have three others with nine points.
Fleury (3-6-1, 3.07 GAA, .873 save percentage) has turned in three great performances after struggling to start the season.
He will also be looking for his first win against the Canucks, having gone 0-2 with a 4.02 GAA and .871 save percentage in two previous meetings.
Sidney Crosby will also be looking to keep his six-game point streak in tact. During his streak, he has soared up the NHL leaderboard and is now tied with Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos with 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists).
The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. and can be seen on FSN Pittsburgh.
