Pittsburgh
3rd Metropolitan40-23-6-0
New York
7th Metropolitan37-28-3-2
Pittsburgh @ New York preview
Madison Square Garden
Last Meeting ( Apr 6, 2019 ) NY Rangers 4, Pittsburgh 3
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been plagued by numerous injuries to several high-profile players this season, ranging from former Hart Trophy recipient Evgeni Malkin to the now red-hot Bryan Rust. The Penguins will once again experience life without superstar captain Sidney Crosby on Tuesday when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Crosby did not practice on Monday and has been ruled out against the Rangers after sustaining an undisclosed injury following a blocked shot in the third period of Saturday's 3-2 shootout victory over Chicago. "We've gone through it before," linemate Jake Guentzel said. "Everyone has to step up when you lose a player like (Crosby), if that happens. ... Everyone has to do a bigger part." Both Pittsburgh and New York are 4-1-1 in the last six contests, with the latter, however, tasting defeat despite scoring four goals in the second period of Sunday's 6-5 shootout loss to Florida. "As has happened throughout the course of this short season, when we get some goals, all of a sudden our mindset continues to change," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "We get very sloppy, we get very pond hockey-ish at times and if we trade chances with a team like that, rarely are we ever going to get a point."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, TVAS
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (10-6-1): Rust has made an immediate impact since returning from injured reserve, scoring five goals in his last six games to help Pittsburgh continue its ascent in the Metropolitan Division. "The biggest thing for me that Rusty has shown since Day 1 of training camp is a sense of urgency," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "When he plays that way, he's at his best. I think he's done that consistently day in and day out." Rust extended his goal-scoring streak to three contests and point streak to five games (four goals, two assists) after he netted a game-tying tally in the second period of Saturday's game versus the Blackhawks.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (7-6-2): Ryan Strome has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his last 10 contests overall and had three goals in four games last season against Pittsburgh. Artemi Panarin has done pretty well for himself as well, as the offseason acquisition is riding an eight-game point streak (four goals, eight assists) and has recorded at least one point in nine of his 12 career contests versus the Penguins. Chris Kreider, who has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past 15 games against Pittsburgh, collected his first multi-point performance of the season with a goal and an assist versus Chicago.
OVERTIME
1. New York Ds Tony DeAngelo (one goal, four assists) and Adam Fox (one goal, three assists) are each riding four-game point streaks.
2. Pittsburgh is 0-for-25 on the power play in its last 11 games, although it has killed off 14 consecutive penalties and 20 of its last 21 overall.
3. The Rangers have scored six power-play goals over their last four contests.
PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Penguins 2