Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 23, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 2, Tampa Bay 3

The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to sit in a contending position for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division despite a series of injuries this season and will get another test when they visit the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. The Penguins have won eight of their last 10 games after Sunday’s 4-3 victory over first-place Washington, which leads the Metropolitan by six points but has played two more games than Pittsburgh.

The Penguins lost captain Sidney Crosby for two months, will be without one of their top scorers Jake Guentzel (shoulder) for the rest of the season and top-pair defenseman Brian Dumoulin (ankle) has missed the last two months while many others have gone down, but they are still in the hunt for a division title. “That’s not part of the conversation right now,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan told reporters of the standings. “We have so much hockey in front of us. We’re just trying to get better every day. We’re trying to win that one game that’s right in front of us, and then we’ll see where that takes us.” The Lightning, who have a point in six straight contests (5-0-1) and are 16-2-1 in the past 19, will offer a big challenge but managed only 18 shots on net and were the beneficiary of two deflection goals in Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over Vegas. “Sometimes you play your best hockey and don’t get rewarded and tonight it wasn’t our best, but we get the two points and we’ll take it,” Tampa Bay center Brayden Point told reporters after posting his first goal in 11 games.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Sun, TVA, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (33-14-5): Tristan Jarry (17-8-1, .928 save percentage overall) was outstanding in net through the first half of the season, earning a trip to the All-Star Game, and Matt Murray (16-6-4, .900) has won six straight starts with a .924 SP in the process. “(Murray) was unbelievable,” Crosby told reporters after the win over Washington. “He was great in every area, looking through traffic to pick up pucks, some quick plays in and around the net.” Crosby has four goals and eight assists in seven games since returning from sports hernia surgery and fellow center Evgeni Malkin recorded four of his team-high 54 points in the last two contests.

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (33-15-5): Andrei Vasilevskiy (27-9-3, .917 SP) made 27 saves Tuesday to extend his personal point streak to 16 games (14-0-2), tying Stanley Cup winner Nikolai Khabibulin (12 wins, four ties in 2003) for the franchise record. Right wing Nikita Kucherov, who is slated to play his 500th NHL game Thursday, has seven goals and seven assists during an eight-game point streak to lead the team with 63 points. Captain Steven Stamkos, who turns 30 on Friday, tied Kucherov for the club lead with his 24th goal Tuesday - the 417th in his career and sixth in five contests - and is also riding an eight-game point streak to push his total to 57.

OVERTIME

1. Tampa Bay D Jan Rutta suffered a lower-body injury in the first period Tuesday and is considered week-to-week.

2. Pittsburgh RW Bryan Rust (22 goals, 45 points, 38 games) missed practice Wednesday, but it was termed a maintenance day.

3. The Lightning entered Wednesday third in the league in power-play percentage (25.1), but are 1-for-26 in the last 11 games.

PREDICTION: Penguins 3, Lightning 2