Montreal @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 1

It's impossible to replace a player of the caliber of superstar Sidney Crosby -- but having Evgeni Malkin in the fold certainly does help ease the loss. Malkin is on the verge of a major career milestone for the surging Pittsburgh Penguins, who will go for their fourth consecutive victory against the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Malkin needs one goal to join Mario Lemieux (690), Crosby (451) and Jaromir Jagr (439) as the only players in franchise history to reach 400. "I'm thrilled with (Geno's) game right now," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said of Malkin, who had led the Penguins to a 7-3-3 mark in Crosby's absence. "The offense is obvious to everyone. But he's ... having success at both ends of the rink." While Pittsburgh has won five straight at home, Montreal is trying to pick up the pieces and has won two of three following an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3). “We went through a rough patch there -- not just about the losses -- but as a schedule we had talked about those three weeks that were going to be tough and they were tough,” coach Claude Julien said.

TV: 7 p.m., RDS, TSN2 (Montreal), AT&T Sportsnet-Pittsburgh

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (13-11-6): With Montreal facing a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Ottawa, Julien did not rule out the idea of Carey Price playing both games. Center Max Domi has scored in only one of his last 17 games and Julien offered a reason for the slump. "I just see a player who’s a little bit different," Julien said. "Not quite as (good at) getting to the inside of the dots and creating those chances. He was hungry last year ... and I think he’s got to go back to those areas if he wants to have some production.”

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (17-9-4): While Matt Murray earned his first win in nearly a month in Saturday's 5-3 victory at Detroit, fellow netminder Tristan Jarry was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday. Jarry turned aside all 61 shots in blanking Arizona and St. Louis, marking the first time a Pittsburgh goaltender registered back-to-back shutouts since Marc-Andre Fleury in February 2015. Jarry, who is 6-1-0 with 10 goals allowed in his last seven appearances, won his lone start versus Montreal in March 2018.

OVERTIME

1. Malkin has 12 points in his last six games overall and 51 in 40 meetings against Montreal.

2. Canadiens C Jesperi Kotkaniemi remains under concussion protocol and there is no timetable for his return.

3. Penguins F Jake Guentzel has scored half his team-high 16 goals in the past 11 games.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Canadiens 2