The Pittsburgh Penguins and host Philadelphia Flyers both hope to maintain their strong play of late when they clash Tuesday in a Keystone State showdown.
The Penguins are 5-0-1 in their last six games, punctuated by Monday’s 6-3 home victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Sidney Crosby notched a goal and two assists to reach 1,700 career points. He became the fourth player in NHL history to reach the mark with one franchise and the ninth player to hit 1,700 career points overall.
“Joining that company, those are players I grew up idolizing,” Crosby said after joining Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Ron Francis, Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux. “I didn’t ever think I’d be with them or near them. It’s something I’m grateful for, that I’ve been able to play this long and be part of that group.”
Evgeni Malkin added a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, extending his points streak to seven games (three goals, five assists).
“It’s fun to see him going like that,” Crosby said of Malkin, who has three goals and 13 assists. “He’s been a big part of our success early on.”
Malkin, 39, and the 38-year-old Crosby are each in their 20th season with the Penguins.
“They could be skeletons walking around here,” said Bryan Rust, who collected two goals, “and they’re still going to give it everything they’ve got. They’re going to work as hard as they can and they’re always going to be leading this team.”
Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for Pittsburgh and could get the night off Tuesday in the second half of a back-to-back. Arturs Silovs, who is 3-1-1 with a 2.56 goals-against average, could get the nod against Philadelphia.
The Flyers have won three of their last four games (3-0-1), including a 4-3 shootout victory over the visiting New York Islanders on Saturday.
Trevor Zegras scored twice in regulation and again in the shootout, while Matvei Michkov netted the decisive tally in the shootout to open a five-game homestand on a winning note.
“It felt nice,” said Zegras, who joined the Flyers in an offseason trade with the Anaheim Ducks. “The fans are so great. To do it in front of them is special for sure. … It was a big win for us back at home and we want to be a tough team to play here, so (we’re) pretty fired up about that.”
Samuel Ersson made 23 stops, while Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which overcame a 2-0 deficit.
“Not really too surprised with this team and this locker room,” Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “It’s what we were talking about between periods — close game and we’re going to win the game. ‘Ers’ came up huge for us with a bunch of big saves that kept us in the game, and coming out on top was really nice.”
This is the first of four meetings between the Metropolitan Division rivals, who will reconvene in Philadelphia on Dec. 1. The teams split their four meetings a season ago.
