Game 70: Oilers Vs. Penguins Preview
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – After getting shutout by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins will get right back on the ice Sunday afternoon.
The Penguins will skate against the Edmonton Oilers in the only meeting between the two teams this season.
Last season, the Penguins notched a 3-2 victory on the road against Edmonton.
Edmonton is the not-so proud owner of the worst record in the NHL at 23-37-9 for 55 points.
The team does have a bright future with a roster full of young guns including Sam Gagner, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi and Ales Hemsky.
However, the Penguins won't have to deal with Gagner, Hall, Hemsky and former Penguin Ryan Whitney who are all out with injuries.
Hemsky, Hall and Gagner were all tied for the team lead in points with 42. Eberle leads all active Oilers with 36 points in only 56 games. He's also tied with Ryan Jones for the team lead in goals (15).
Edmonton started the month of March on a three-game winning streak, but have gone 0-2-1 in their last three games.
In their most recent game, Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom scored with 25 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1. Pavel Datsyuk won it in overtime with only 42 seconds left to give Detroit the 2-1 victory.
Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 of 31 shots in the loss and Jones scored the lone goal for the Oilers.
Dubnyk is quicly emerging as the goalie of the future for the Oilers and has posted a record of 10-10-7 with a 2.75 GAA and .915 save percentage this season.
He hasn't allowed more than three goals in a game in his last five starts. During that same span, he's posted a 2-3 record.
Nikolai Khabibulin (10-27-2, 3.37 GAA, .892 save percentage) missed three weeks of action after getting an ice chip in the eye during practice, but returned to the lineup this week.
Against Pittsburgh, Khabibulin is 7-7-3-1 with a 2.74 GAA and .893 save percentage.
For Pittsburgh, they will be looking to shake off a lackluster performance during a 3-0 loss to the Canadiens on Saturday.
Pittsburgh outshot the Canadiens 26-20, including a 10-2 margin in the third period, but the damage had already been done.
Tomas Plekanec's goal 46 seconds into the first period proved to be the game-winner.
Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots, by no fault of his own.
Brent Johnson came in and stopped all eight shots he faced including a spectacular left toe save on David Desharnais.
Fleury is 3-2 with a 3.01 GAA and ,905 save percentage against the Oilers, while Johnson is 2-3-1 with a 2.72 GAA and .894 save percentage.
The puck is set to drop at 3 p.m. and can be seen on FSN Pittsburgh.
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