Pittsburgh
3rd Metropolitan40-23-6-0
Dallas
3rd Central37-24-5-3
Pittsburgh @ Dallas preview
American Airlines Center
Last Meeting ( Oct 18, 2019 ) Dallas 2, Pittsburgh 4
The Dallas Stars are finally finding their footing after a wretched start to the season in which they dropped eight of their first nine games. The resurgent Stars have ripped off three consecutive victories since their last defeat, a loss they will have a chance to avenge when they host the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Dallas fell to 1-7-1 with a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Oct. 18 but posted its first regulation victory the following night in Philadelphia before notching back-to-back 2-1 home wins this week. "We are finding ways to win," forward Corey Perry said following Thursday's victory over Anaheim. "It's not pretty, but it's been effective and it's getting the job done. Like I said, we're one step at a time, one day at a time, and take it day by day." The Penguins had extended their winning streak to five in a row after beating the Stars, but they have lost straight since entering the last stop of a three-game road trip. "It's unfortunate we didn't get the results here over the last couple of games, but if we keep playing this way the results will come," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said after Wednesday's 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (6-5-0): Pittsburgh welcomed back injured forwards Bryan Rust, Nick Bjugstad and Alex Galchenyuk to practice Friday, with only the latter ruled out for Saturday. “They obviously felt good in practice,” Sullivan said of Rust and Bjugstad. “They had a strong practice. They’ll be game-time decisions, but it certainly looked encouraging watching practice today.” The Penguins pared down their roster, sending defenseman Erik Gudbranson to Anaheim in exchange for minor league forward Andreas Martinsen and a 2021 seventh-round pick.
ABOUT THE STARS (4-7-1): Forward Denis Gurianov, a first-round draft pick in 2015 who was sent to the miniors two weeks ago, scored a pair of first-period goals -- his first two of the season -- versus Anaheim. "You can tell his confidence is growing. He's finishing a lot of checks and causing turnovers," coach Jim Montgomery said. "I think mentally he's starting to believe that not only can he do it, but he can do it really well in this league." Tyler Seguin is mired in an eight-game goal drought but has nine tallies and 15 points in 24 games versus Pittsburgh.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has nine goals and 20 points in 17 games versus Dallas.
2. Stars G Ben Bishop, who was won his last two starts, is 2-2-0 with a 3.97 goals-against average versus Pittsburgh.
3. The Penguins have won four straight meetings in the series, limiting Dallas to six goals.
PREDICTION: Penguins 3, Stars 2