Pittsburgh @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2018 ) Pittsburgh 3, NY Rangers 4

The Pittsburgh Penguins hope their success carries over from one calendar year to the next as they enter the 2019 portion of their schedule with a season-best six-game winning streak. The Penguins look to notch their campaign-high fifth straight road victory on Wednesday when they complete a three-game trek against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh continues to be fueled by its superstars, as Phil Kessel (one goal, two assists) collected his third straight three-point performance in Monday's 3-2 triumph versus Minnesota and captain Sidney Crosby (one goal, one assist) produced his fourth consecutive multi-point effort while playing in his 900th career contest. "We still need to improve I think, but our mentality and we're doing a better job of keeping it simple and not forcing things," said Crosby (two goals, eight assists), who joins Kessel (three goals, seven assists) in riding a four-game point streak into a tilt versus New York. The Rangers pushed their point streak to four games (2-0-2) and improved to 10-3-7 in contests decided by one goal with Saturday's 4-3 win at Nashville and a 2-1 victory in St. Louis two nights later. "Two huge road wins here against two pretty good teams, tough buildings to play in as well. We got it done. Nice way to finish off 2018," forward Mika Zibanejad said.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (21-12-6): Matt Murray has returned from his lower-body injury with a flourish, sporting a 5-0-0 mark with a 1.38 goals-against average and .959 save percentage. The two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender is a stellar 6-0-1 with a 1.74 GAA and .950 SP away from the Steel City and has turned aside 100 of 110 shots to boast a perfect 4-0-0 record in four career encounters with the Rangers. Former Hart Trophy recipient Evgeni Malkin has done his fair share of damage against New York with 54 points (25 goals, 29 assists) in 54 career meetings, including scoring in overtime to cap a four-point performance (one goal, three assists) in a 5-4 win on Oct. 17, 2017.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (17-14-7): Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 20th goal and added two assists against the Predators before setting up Mats Zuccarello's power-play tally late in the first period versus the Blues to extend his point streak to a career high-tying five games. "We're finding ways to win games," the 27-year-old Kreider said. "Obviously (Monday) was not as good as the other night (in Nashville), but we found a way, and that's what good teams do. We've got to continue to do that. That's a greasy road win. You've got to do what it takes." Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 37 shots to run his personal point streak to six games (2-0-4) heading into the tilt versus Pittsburgh, against which he owns a 29-23-11 mark with four shutouts in 63 career encounters.

OVERTIME

1. New York D Marc Staal, who is slated to play in his 800th game on Wednesday, has logged at least 20 minutes of ice time in 14 of his last 15 contests.

2. Penguins D Kris Letang has one goal and five assists on his four-game point streak.

3. New York has converted on the power play in each of the last three games and registered seven man-advantage goals in the past eight.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Rangers 2