Nashville @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 27, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 5, Nashville 2

The surging Pittsburgh Penguins look to complete an impressive home-and-home sweep following the Christmas break when they host the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. The Penguins came out flying with three goals in the first period and never let up en route to a 5-2 victory at Nashville on Friday to improve to 8-2-0 over their last 10 games as they still await the return of captain Sidney Crosby from sports hernia surgery.

Pittsburgh showed its depth by getting four of its goals from four players who had combined to score eight times coming into Friday’s contest, while Bryan Rust added his 14th of the season in just 23 games - placing him second on the team behind Jake Guentzel (18). Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry (12-5-0) extended his winning streak to five games by making 30 saves Friday but likely will surrender the net on Saturday to two-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray (10-6-4), who has allowed 25 goals in his last six appearances. It’s uncertain who will be between the pipes for the Predators on Saturday as starter Pekka Rinne was pulled after giving up three goals on six shots and backup Juuse Saros made 17 saves on 19 attempts in the loss. Nashville had built a five-game point streak (4-0-1) before the break, but could not take advantage of a 23-16 edge in shots over the first two periods and lost both defenseman Dan Hamhuis (upper body) and forward Colton Sissons (lower body) during the contest.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Tennessee (Nashville), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (18-13-6): Nashville was down to three defensemen at one point during Friday's game with Hamhuis out, Mattias Ekholm ejected and Matt Irwin in the penalty box as forward Calle Jarnkrok took a shift on the blue line. Captain Roman Josi saw his goal streak end at five contests against Pittsburgh, but the talented defenseman picked up an assist to extend his point run to six games while increasing his team-high point total to 36. Forward Craig Smith scored one of the goals for Nashville to give him four in the past five contests and six points during that stretch.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (22-11-4): Defenseman Juuso Riikola registered his first goal of the season and added an assist Friday while forwards Alex Galchenyuk, Teddy Blueger and Dominik Simon also scored in the victory. The 25-year-old Guentzel picked up the 99th assist of his career in the win at Nashville and tops the team with 38 points while center Evgeni Malkin set up Rust’s goal Friday and extended his point streak to seven games. Forward Patric Hornqvist (six goals, 11 points) is practicing with the team and close to returning from a lower-body injury that has kept him out the last 10 games.

OVERTIME

1. Nashville C Matt Duchene has scored eight goals this season but has managed just one in his last 13 contests.

2. Pittsburgh D Kris Letang was kept off the scoresheet for the second straight game Friday, leaving him three assists shy of 400 in his career.

3. Predators F Filip Forsberg is tied with Josi for the team-lead with 14 goals - three of which have come in the last five games.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Predators 3