The Pittsburgh Penguins hope to extend one streak and halt another on Tuesday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Winners of three in a row at home, the Penguins were left with a sour taste in their mouths after losing all three contests of their recent road trip (0-1-2). Pittsburgh dropped a 4-2 decision in Detroit on New Year’s Eve before falling in a shootout and overtime against Florida and Carolina, respectively.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson collected a goal and an assist in the Penguins’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday, boosting his point total to nine (two goals, seven assists) in his last nine games.
“Getting a point is better than none,” Karlsson said. “But I think the way that we started (Sunday), it was a little bit of a disappointing one.”
The start in question was a quick 2-0 lead for Pittsburgh. The Penguins, however, saw their early advantage go by the boards after surrendering three goals while being outshot 14-5 in the second period.
“We just got outcompeted (in the second period). They raised their level and we didn’t push back,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t win a puck battle. Our D would pinch on the walls, we’d lose that battle on the walls. Their D would pinch on the walls and keep pucks alive. You’ve got to win the walls.”
Kevin Hayes scored a goal in his second contest after sitting out the previous nine as a healthy scratch.
“After the start we had, I think we dug deep and got ourselves into a position where every game’s meaningful,” Hayes said. “I think as of late, there’s a lot more better games than bad games.”
Michael Bunting, who scored a goal on Sunday, also found the net in Pittsburgh’s 6-2 loss to Columbus on Nov. 15.
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski and forward Dmitri Voronkov each collected a goal and an assist in the previous encounter versus the Penguins.
Werenski notched two assists to extend his home point streak to 15 games (nine goals, 21 assists) in Columbus’ 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. His run in this regard is the longest by an NHL defenseman since Hall of Famer Ray Bourque in 1992-93 (17 games).
“I know I’m not articulate enough to explain or to say how great a player and/or a person he is,” Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason said of Werenski, who leads the team in assists (33) and points (45).
“He’s so, so good offensively, but he’s also fantastic defensively, and he’s a pro.”
Voronkov scored two goals on Saturday for the Blue Jackets, who improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight games.
“We know that we have to work hard and everything else will come after it,” defenseman Ivan Provorov said. “We’ve shown that so far this season, and we’re improving as a team, overall, game in and game out. We’ve just got to continue climb up and keep getting better as a team.”
–Field Level Media
