Pittsburgh @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 27, 2019 ) Vancouver 6, Pittsburgh 8

The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to continue their road dominance over western Canadian teams Saturday when they continue what’s been a successful road trip against the Vancouver Canucks. The Penguins improved to 21-4-4 in the last 15 seasons while visiting the Flames, Oilers and Canucks and after handing Calgary a 4-1 setback Tuesday, Pittsburgh went into Edmonton on Friday night and left with a 5-2 victory.

The Penguins improved to 11-4-3 since captain Sidney Crosby had core muscle surgery and have needed contributions from up and down their lineup to maintain their place in the Eastern Conference playoff picture - where they currently own one of two wild card spots alongside state-rival Philadelphia. “It’s really a team effort in the truest sense of the word,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after his team’s fourth consecutive win. “It seems like every night different people step up - and that’s what it takes. That’s how we become a team and we just have to continue in that regard.” The Canucks snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday with a 5-4 overtime victory against Vegas and earned just their second win in 10 games over the three-year-old franchise (2-7-1). “We’ve been struggling lately and it’s been tough to find wins and this is big,” Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev told the media after netting the overtime winner Thursday. “Hopefully, we can get on a roll. It’s huge to get a win against a team that you know is going to be there at the end of the season."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, Sportsnet, CITY (Vancouver), AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (21-10-4): Goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 59-of-62 shots while securing wins over the Flames and Oilers this week and improved his record to 10-2 since Crosby’s injury. Bryan Rust ran his point streak to five games Friday with a third-period assist and has amassed eight goals and 10 assists over his last 13 contests. Evgeni Malkin has been held of the scoresheet only five times in 22 games this season and has nine goals and 30 points - six behind team-leader Jake Guentzel (17 goals, 19 assists in 35 games).

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (17-15-4): Jacob Markstrom allowed four goals but made some critical saves late Thursday as part of a 39-save effort including a third period that saw the goaltender stop 18-of-19 shots. “You want to have an impact, you want to help the guys,” Markstrom told reporters. “That was my time to step up and help the guys get a win. We just needed a win and I don’t care how it looked.” Elias Pettersson scored two goals against Vegas - his seventh career multi-goal effort - bringing his team-leading goal total up to 16 and point total to a team-best 37.

OVERTIME

1. The Canucks are 10-2-1 this season when Pettersson scores a goal.

2. The Penguins have the second-most regular season wins this decade (461) behind only the Capitals (463). Pittsburgh has four games remaining in 2019 while Washington has five.

3. Tanev’s goal Thursday was his first in 33 games and four of his 22 career goals (481 games) have come in overtime.

PREDICTION: Canucks 5, Penguins 2