TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues are looking to regain momentum after losing both of a two-game homestand and four of their last five as they head East for a three-game trip.
A 64-second stretch in the second period made the difference on Thursday night against Carolina, in which the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals on their way to a 6-4 win.
"That's happened a lot to us this year, where (other teams) get a bunch of goals right away," said Robert Thomas. "But, we battled back well - our power play got us a couple big goals, and we came out well in the third."
Thomas recorded a power-play assist in his return to the lineup after missing one game with a lower-body injury, reaching a team-high 16 assists and 20 points on the season.
After facing off with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Blues finish the road trip with a back-to-back set against the Rangers and Islanders in New York.
They bring a record of 11-12-0, worth 22 points and sixth in the Central Division.
PENGUINS The Pittsburgh Penguins have had their own streaky start to the season, losing seven in a row earlier and later going on a five-game win streak and seven-of-nine run.
Longtime Penguins Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are both contributing this year and are No. 1 and 3 on the team in points, respectively. Crosby's 32 points this season share No. 6 in the NHL as of Friday afternoon. He ranks No. 2 on the Penguins all-time leaderboard in his 18th year with the club.
Pittsburgh is coming off a 4-3 win over Vegas, their third game of a five-game homestand. The Penguins were down 3-2 early in the third period, but Jake Guentzel and Kasperi Kapanen scored a pair of unanswered goals to win the game.
The Penguins have played an up-tempo offense this year and rank No. 8 in the NHL in shots per game. With the Blues also facing Florida (No. 1), Carolina (No. 3), and the Rangers (No. 5) all in recent succession, their defense and resiliency will continue to be tested.
Pittsburgh will host the Blues with a record of 12-8-4, worth 28 points and fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 0-1-1 against the Penguins last season, but are 6-2-1 overall in their last nine trips to Pittsburgh.
The Blues have not allowed the Penguins a power-play goal in four of their last five matchups, going 18-for-20 (90 percent) on the penalty kill over those games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Torey Krug, who scored his fourth power-play goal of the season on Thursday and now shares the NHL lead amongst defensemen in that category. In 24 career games against the Penguins, Krug has three goals and seven assists.
PENGUINS Sidney Crosby, Penguins captain and three-time Stanley Cup Champion. Crosby has 12 goals and 20 assists this season, one of just three NHL players at those marks.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues will play eight of their next 11 games on the road, including a season-long five-game trip starting on Dec. 15 in Edmonton... On Thursday vs. Carolina, Vladimir Tarasenko recorded the 283rd and 284th assists of his career, moving him past Garry Unger for No. 8 on the Blues all-time franchise list and five shy of Pavol Demitra for No. 7... Blues defensemen have scored five power-play goals this year, the most in the NHL... Brayden Schenn's next game will be No. 800 of his NHL career... Jordan Binnington's next win in goal will be No. 100 of his career, set to become the sixth goaltender in franchise history to reach the milestone.
It has been all about the response of late for the Pittsburgh Penguins and visiting St. Louis Blues heading into their meeting Saturday.
Pittsburgh reeled off five consecutive victories late last month, then stumbled through a 4-1 loss last Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was followed Tuesday by a 3-2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes that left the Penguins fuming over what they thought was a blatant missed penalty call in overtime, which led to the Hurricanes' winning goal.
Pittsburgh then fell behind 2-0 on Thursday against Vegas, one of the top teams in the NHL. But before the Penguins let things get away, they responded with a highly-competitive 4-3 win over the Golden Knights.
The Penguins came back to tie the game against Vegas, falling behind again early in the third period, pulling even once more before winning it in an inspiring way.
The game-winning goal midway through the third period came from winger Kasperi Kapanen, who had not scored in 13 consecutive games and had struggled to the point of being a healthy scratch for a stretch.
"He's trying to play the game the right way," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's trying to leverage his speed as best he can.
"Obviously, we're thrilled for him that he got rewarded."
That wasn't the only point of inspiration for Pittsburgh, which was playing its first game since it was revealed that top defenseman Kris Letang will be out indefinitely after having a stroke. It was Letang's second stroke in eight years.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said thoughts of Letang helped push the team to the win.
"I think you see the way the guys competed and rallied," Crosby said. "I'd like to think we have a lot of effort every night, but it seemed there was a little bit more urgency and desperation."
The Blues were soaring with a seven-game winning streak into the week of Thanksgiving, but that rush of victories has faded with losses in four of five games.
The slide includes a 6-4 loss at home Thursday against Carolina that included plenty of ups and downs. St. Louis went up 2-0 early in the second period, gave up three goals in a span of 1:04, tied it, then fell behind by two. They pulled within 5-4 with under a minute remaining then gave up an empty-netter.
That is how it has been of late for the Blues.
"We're competitive," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "We're in every game. ... Games like (the one against Carolina) are going to happen."
Games like that have been too frequent for St. Louis' taste. In the first three losses since the five-game win streak, St. Louis was outscored by a combined 15-5. The lone victory in the last five games came in a 5-4 overtime decision last Saturday against the Florida Panthers.
"It seems like anytime we lose a game, it's usually five to 10 minutes where we give up a few chances that ultimately lead to goals," St. Louis defenseman Torey Klug said. "That's what we've got to clean up.
"It's up to us to learn from those mistakes sooner (rather) than later. Otherwise, we're going to keep falling behind. We've got to make an adjustment there."
A recent bright spot offensively for the Blues has been forward Jordan Kyrou, who has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) over the past 10 games.
