Saturday, November 17, 2018

PENGUINS TRAVEL TO OTTAWA


PENGUINS VS. SENATORS
WHEN: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 17, 2018
WHERE: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

The Pittsburgh Penguins have plenty of gloom and doom circling their team with setbacks in seven of their last eight games (1-6-1) in addition to the injury absence of superstar captain Sidney Crosby. The Penguins could see a ray of light with the potential return of Derick Brassard on Saturday when they visit the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Brassard, participated in practice Friday after he was sidelined for nine games with a lower-body injury. Crosby skated on his own Friday just three days removed from sustaining an upper-body injury in a 4-2 loss to New Jersey, although coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that he expects the two-time Hart Trophy winner to be sidelined for a week. Ottawa has picked itself up after dropping six of seven (1-4-2), with Drake Batherson scoring a goal in his NHL debut on Thursday as the club posted its third victory in five outings with a 2-1 triumph over Detroit. Batherson's power-play tally was the Senators' ninth in their last eight games (9-for-28).
TV7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, Sportsnet, CITY (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (7-7-3): Patric Hornqvist recorded his second three-point performance of the season by scoring two goals and setting up another in Thursday's 4-3 setback versus Tampa Bay while linemate Evgeni Malkin (team-leading 23 points) had two assists for his seventh multi-point effort of the season. Tanner Pearson joined the line and finished with a plus-1 rating in his debut with Pittsburgh after being acquired from Los Angeles for speedy Carl Hagelin. "It was good obviously playing with Horny and Geno," the 26-year-old Pearson said. "I thought we created some stuff, which was nice."
ABOUT THE SENATORS (8-8-3): Craig Anderson denied speedy Andreas Athanasiou and Michael Rasmussen on penalty shots in the third period and finished with 34 saves against the Red Wings to secure his third win in four starts. "You'd have to go back in the record books to see how many times that's happened," the 37-year-old Anderson said of his penalty shot success. Anderson hasn't been fortunate with his overall results versus Pittsburgh, posting a 5-10-2 mark with a 2.85 goals-against average.
OVERTIME
1. Ottawa C Matt Duchene has two goals and seven assists in his last five games.
2. Pittsburgh RW Phil Kessel, who leads the team with eight multi-point performances, collected a power-play goal and an assist in his second straight contest to boost his point streak to three games (two goals, three assists). 
3. Penguins C Matt Cullen was fined $1,000 on Friday for a dangerous trip against Lightning C J.T. Miller.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Senators 2


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