The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the NHL’s hottest teams since the Christmas break.
Boasting a scintillating 10-2-2 record during that stretch, the Penguins will look to complete a four-game sweep of their road trip Sunday when they visit the reeling Vancouver Canucks.
Pittsburgh followed up a pair of three-goal victories with a 6-2 romp over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Anthony Mantha tallied twice in 22 seconds, and superstar captain Sidney Crosby scored 15 seconds later to stake the Penguins to an early 3-0 lead.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think you expect that,” Crosby said of the team’s blistering start to the game. “Moe (Mantha) had a big shift there, got a couple goals. Gave us a boost, and I thought we were just ready to play from the start. And sometimes, it works out that way.”
Evgeni Malkin collected a goal and an assist for the second consecutive contest to boost his point total to 10 (four goals, six assists) in nine games.
“I think we have a great team. Just stay same level,” Malkin said. “We have a chance to win every game.”
Rickard Rakell and Egor Chinakhov also tallied on Friday, and defenseman Jack St. Ivany notched two assists for the second consecutive contest.
“Really liked the offensive execution, but I liked a lot of things we were doing on the defensive side,” Pittsburgh head coach Dan Muse said. “Just the way the guys were working, just the overall team game.”
Justin Brazeau, who had two assists Friday, scored a goal and set up two others in Pittsburgh’s 5-1 victory over Vancouver on Oct. 21.
Mantha collected a goal and an assist in that game, while Crosby also tallied during the team’s three-goal second period.
Crosby, who is riding a five-game point streak (three goals, five assists), leads the Penguins in goals (27), assists (30) and points (57).
While the Penguins are marching forward, the Canucks continue to take steps in the wrong direction.
Vancouver lost for the 12th time in 13 games (1-10-2) with a 5-4 setback to the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Brock Boeser scored with 1:12 remaining in the third period. However, the Canucks could not net the equalizer.
“Really good push, felt like a pretty even game,” said Teddy Blueger, who spent parts of his first five seasons with the Penguins. “Good teams probably find a way to win those and right now, we’re not quite there yet.”
Linus Karlsson collected a goal and an assist, rookie defenseman Zeev Buium scored his first goal in 18 games and Blueger also tallied.
“Just take what’s given, use my feet and try to make a play,” Buium said. “We got a couple picks, so it makes it easy for me to kind of attack downhill, and then also create net-front presence.”
Conor Garland, who has been held without a point in nine consecutive contests, scored on Vancouver’s first shot of the game against Pittsburgh in the previous meeting.
–Field Level Media
