NHL Preview: Dallas Stars (16-7-5) at Pittsburgh Penguins (16-8-4)

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DALLAS STARS NOTES:

LAST DALLAS STARS GAME
Dec. 10, 2022 – STARS 3 vs. RED WINGS 2 (OT)
For the second consecutive game, the Stars came up victorious in sudden death as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in overtime in front of a sellout crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center. Dallas closed out a five-game homestand with a 3-1-1 record, including wins against Anaheim (5-0 on Dec. 1) and Ottawa (4-3 OTW on Dec. 8). Defenseman Nils Lundkvist (1-0—1) pushed his goal streak to two consecutive games with his first career overtime/game-winning tally. The Stars also received goals from captain Jamie Benn (1-0—1) and forward Denis Gurianov (1-0—1), while forwards Mason Marchment (0-2—2), Tyler Seguin (0-1—1), Jason Robertson (0-1—1) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (0-1—1) recorded assists. Goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped 24 of 26 shots for his second consecutive victory. With the win, Oettinger improved to 11-3-3 this season. PP: 1-4 | PK: 2-2 | SF: 33 | SA: 26 | DAL TOI: Heiskanen (29:56 – game high) | Attendance: 18,532 (sellout)
Three Stars: 1. DAL – N. Lundkvist 2. DAL – J. Benn 3. DET – D. Perron

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time (CT) Location TV/Radio
Mon., Dec. 12, 2022 Pittsburgh Penguins 6 p.m. PPG Paints Arena BSSWX/KTCK
Tue., Dec. 13, 2022 New Jersey Devils 6 p.m. Prudential Center BSSW/KTCK
Thu., Dec. 15, 2022 Washington Capitals 6 p.m. Capital One Arena BSSW/KTCK
Sat., Dec. 17, 2022 Carolina Hurricanes 6 p.m. PNC Arena BSSWX/KTCK
Mon., Dec. 19, 2022 Columbus Blue Jackets 6 p.m. Nationwide Arena BSSWX/KTCK

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 19 – Recalled forward Matej Blumel from Texas (AHL)
Nov. 22 – Loaned forward Matej Blumel to Texas (AHL)
Nov. 22 – Recalled forward Fredrik Karlstrom from Texas (AHL)
Nov. 29 – Loaned forward Fredrik Karlstrom to Texas (AHL)

INJURIES
Man-games lost, 2022-23: 14
NAME INJURY # OF GAMES DATES
D Miro Heiskanen Upper body 3 Oct. 25-29
G Jake Oettinger Lower body 4 Nov. 1-8
F Denis Gurianov Upper body 6 Nov. 11-21
F Roope Hintz Lower body 1 Nov. 19

DALLAS STARS NOTES
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Stars hit the road for their longest road trip thus far in the 2022-23 regular season, a five-game trek that kicks off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. (6 p.m. CT, TV: Bally Sports Southwest Extra, Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM/1310-AM). This opens a two-game season series between the two clubs, which concludes March 23, 2023 at American Airlines Center. Dallas comes in with a 16-7-5 record (37 points), good for second place in the Central Division. The Stars’ road trip continues with games against New Jersey tomorrow, Washington (Dec. 15), Carolina (Dec. 17) and Columbus (Dec. 19).

A THOUSAND NIGHTS OR MORE, WE TRAVEL EAST AND NORTH

  • The Stars went 2-0-0 against the Penguins last season, winning 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 19, 2021 at PPG Paints Arena and 3-2 at American Airlines Center on Jan. 8.
  • Forward Jason Robertson led the Stars with three points (0-3—3), all earned in Dallas’ 3-2 victory on Jan. 8.
  • Four different skaters recorded goals in the two games last season: Denis Gurianov (1-0—1), Roope Hintz (1-0—1), Michael Raffl (1-0—1) and Joe Pavelski (1-0—1).
  • Defenseman Miro Heiskanen (0-2—2) had two assists in two games vs. Pittsburgh last season and ranked second on the team with 24:05 TOI.
  • The Stars snapped a four-game losing streak at PPG Paints Arena with their win on Oct. 19, which represented their first road win against them since Oct. 22, 2015 (4-1).
  • Dallas has recorded points in 10 of the past 17 games against Pittsburgh, logging a 9-7-1 record against them over that span.
  • The Stars are 66-70-14 all-time against the Penguins, including a 22-46-6 mark on the road.
  • Forward Joe Pavelski enters Monday’s contest with six points (1-5—6) over his past eight games against Pittsburgh.
  • Pavelski leads active Stars in assists (11) and co-leads in points (4-11—15) in 22 career games vs. the Penguins.
  • Forward Tyler Seguin leads active Stars in goals (9) and games played (27) and co-leads in points (9-6—15) against Pittsburgh.
  • Captain Jamie Benn enters Monday’s contest with five goals and 12 points (5-7—12) in 20 career contests against the Pens.
  • Goaltender Jake Oettinger is 1-0-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in one career appearance vs. Pittsburgh.
  • Netminder Scott Wedgewood is 2-2-0 with a 2.72 GAA and .927 SV% in six career appearances against the Penguins.

2022-23 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
Dec. 12 at Pittsburgh
March 23, 2023 vs. Pittsburgh

BRIGHTEST STAR FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER

  • Robertson was named the NHL’s First Star for the month of November after leading the league with 15 goals and 26 points in 14 games (15-11—26) to power the Stars to an 8-3-3 November.
  • Robertson, who became the first player in franchise history to top the league in both goals and points during a calendar month, found the scoresheet in each of his 14 November appearances.
  • Robertson’s November goal and point totals also ranked second for a single month in franchise history, behind Dino Ciccarelli’s 16 tallies in March 1986 (14 GP) and Tom McCarthy’s 27 points in November 1983 (12-15—27 in 13 GP).
  • Overall, Robertson recorded multiple points in nine of his 14 outings and a quartet of multi-goal performances, highlighted by three straight such games from Nov. 21-25 (6-1—7).

A LOOK BACK AT ROBO’S 18-GAME POINT STREAK

  • Jason Robertson had 21 goals and 34 points (21-13—34) over his 18-game point streak, which goes down as the longest point streak in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) and the second-longest point streak in franchise history (1967-present). Only Brian Bellows’ 20-game point streak from Jan. 11-Feb. 21, 1986 with the Minnesota North Stars is longer.
  • Only two active players recorded a longer point streak age 23 or younger: Paul Stastny (20 GP in 2006-07), Sidney Crosby (19 GP 2007-08 & 16 GP in 2008-09).
  • He had goals in 15 of those 18 games and had 12 multi-point efforts over that span, including three consecutive multi-goal performances (Nov. 21 vs. Colorado, Nov. 23 vs. Chicago and Nov. 25 vs. Winnipeg).

DATE G A P
Dec. 4 vs. MIN 1 1 2
Dec. 1 vs. ANA 3 0 3
Nov. 28 @ STL 1 0 1
Nov. 26 @ COL 0 1 1
Nov. 25 vs. WPG 2 1 3
Nov. 23 vs. CHI 2 0 2
Nov. 21 vs. COL 2 0 2
Nov. 19 vs. NYI 1 0 1
Nov. 17 @ FLA 0 1 1
Nov. 15 @ TBL 1 1 2
Nov. 13 @ PHI 1 1 2
Nov. 11 vs. SJS 0 2 2
Nov. 8 @ WPG 1 0 1
Nov. 5 @ EDM 1 2 3
Nov. 3 @ ARI 2 0 2
Nov. 1 vs. LA 1 2 3
Oct. 29 vs. NYR 1 1 2
Oct. 27 vs. WSH 1 0 1
TOTAL: 21 13 34

TURN THE IGNITION, FIRE UP THE SYSTEM, PLAY MY LITTLE PART IN SOMETHING BIG

  • Jason Robertson (23) ranks second behind Connor McDavid (25) in goals and ranks third in points (23-19—42), trailing only McDavid (54 points) and Leon Draisaitl (46 points) in that category.
  • Robertson recorded his third career hat trick (3-0—3) in a 5-0 victory vs. Anaheim on Dec. 1 at American Airlines Center.
  • He joined Kirill Kaprizov, Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mario Lemieux as players to score at least 80 goals in the first 152 career NHL games.
  • With 54 goals dating to Jan. 1, Robertson trails only Auston Matthews (55) for the most goals in the 2022 calendar year so far.
  • Robertson has recorded three hat tricks since his debut season in 2019-20, surpassing Jamie Benn (2) for the most by a Stars player of that span.
  • Robertson had goals in six consecutive games from Oct. 27-Nov. 8, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to have a goal streak of six games or more before turning 24, and the second player in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) to do so. Robertson followed Neal Broten from Jan. 23-Feb. 4, 1982 (7-12—19 in 7 GP), Jamie Benn from March 1-11, 2011 (6-1—7 in 6 GP), Mike Modano from Feb. 29-March 10, 1992 (7-2—9 in 6 GP) and Danny Grant from Oct. 16-29, 1969 (6-1—7 in 6 GP).
  • Robertson has been named the NHL’s First Star of the Week twice already this season for the weeks ending Nov. 27 and Nov. 6.
  • The Arcadia, California native is averaging better than a point-per-game pace through his four NHL seasons (81-86—167 in 156 GP).

SAY HELLO TO GOOD TIMES, TRADE UP FOR THE FAST RIDE

  • On Dec. 10 vs. Detroit, rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist (1-0—1) became the 10th rookie in franchise history (1967-present) to score an overtime goal and just the fourth rookie defenseman to do so, joining Julius Honka (April 4, 2017), Esa Lindell (Dec. 23, 2016) and John Klingberg (March 28, 2015).
  • Lundkvist became the third rookie to score an overtime goal this season, joining New Jersey’s Fabian Zetterlund (Nov. 5 at CGY) and Seattle’s Matty Beniers (Dec. 1 vs. WSH).
  • Lundkvist, who has goals in consecutive games (2-1—3), has eight points (3-5—8) in 25 games with the Stars.
  • Selected by the Rangers in the first round (28th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Lundkvist was acquired by the Stars for a conditional first-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft on Sept. 19.
  • He made his Stars debut and picked up his first point with the club (0-1—1) in the regular-season opener Nov. 13 at Nashville.
  • Lundkvist shares second among Dallas d-men in goals (5), ranks third in points (3-5—8) and second among club blueliners in shots on goal (46).

I’M ON MY FEET, I’M ON THE FLOOR, I’M GOOD TO GO

  • Defenseman Miro Heiskanen skated in his 300th career NHL game on Saturday vs. Detroit.
  • Heiskanen ranks 14th among Dallas Stars (1993-present) defensemen in games played, two games shy of tying Jordie Benn (302) for 13th and 33 away from tying Nicklas Grossmann (333) for 12th.
  • Heiskanen enters tonight’s game riding a two-game point streak (2-1—3) and has six points (2-4—6) over his past five games.
  • He potted the first two goals of the game in the first period on Dec. 8 vs. Ottawa to become the seventh defenseman in franchise history (1967-present) to record two goals in an opening frame.
  • Heiskanen’s two-goal night represented his third career multi-goal game. Among blueliners in franchise history, only Craig Hartsburg (6) and Brad Maxwell (3) had as many before age 24.
  • Heiskanen’s two goals were scored in a span of 1:48 – the fifth-fastest two tallies by a defenseman in franchise history. Sergei Zubov holds the franchise mark (0:57 on Nov. 25, 2001).
  • Heiskanen had a season-high three points (0-3—3) in the Stars’ win over Anaheim on Dec. 1, which, at the time, gave him 19 points (3-16—19) in 23 games.
  • The 23-year-old ranks fifth on the Stars and shares ninth among NHL defensemen in points (5-17—22). He also paces the Stars and ranks fifth in the league in TOI/GP (25:27).
  • Heiskanen has 38 goals, 115 assists and 153 points in 300 career NHL games while averaging 24:13 TOI over that span.

SALT, SWEAT, SUGAR ON THE ASPHALT

  • Captain Jamie Benn has 16 points (7-9—16) over his past 15 games and 27 points (11-16—27) overall (28 GP).
  • Scoring his 340th career NHL goal on Dec. 10 vs. Detroit, Benn is just two goals from tying Brian Bellows (342) for second place on
    the franchise’s all-time goals list.
  • With the most points in a single month in his career (10-13—23), Benn trailed only Jason Robertson (15-11—26) for the most points by any player in the NHL during the month of November. He also ranked fifth during that time in goals (10).
  • Benn registered his 10th multi-point game of the season with a two-assist night (0-2—2) against St. Louis on Nov. 28.
  • Benn recorded the 45th multi-goal game of his NHL career on Nov. 11 vs. San Jose and moved within two of tying Bill Goldsworthy (47) for fourth place on the Stars/North Stars franchise’s all-time list.
  • With a hat trick (3-0—3) against the Oilers on Nov. 5, Benn (333) surpassed Dino Ciccarelli (332) for sole possession of third place among franchise leaders (1967-present) in goals.
  • In addition, Benn (7) trails only Ciccarelli (14) and Bill Goldsworthy (8) for the most three-goal outings in Stars/North Stars franchise history (1967-present). Note: Mike Modano also had seven hat tricks with the Stars/North Stars franchise.
  • Among team leaders, the 33-year-old shares second in goals (11), ranks fourth in points (11-16—27) and is tied for fifth in assists (16). He also ranks second in power-play points (12) and shares second in power-play goals (5).
  • In the dot, Benn ranks second on the club in faceoff wins (181), faceoffs taken (302) and faceoff win percentage (59.9%).

CHASE THIS LIGHT WITH ME

  • With the game-winning goal in sudden death on Dec. 8 vs. Ottawa, forward Tyler Seguin (1-0—1) scored his 10th career overtime goal to surpass Mike Modano for sole possession of second place in franchise history (1967-present) behind only Jamie Benn (11).
  • The OT tally marked Seguin’s 47th game-winning goal with Dallas. Only two players in franchise history have more: Modano (92) and Benn (52).
  • The Brampton, Ontario native Monday’s matchup against Pittsburgh with six points (1-5—6) in his past nine games and 21 points (5-16—21) in 28 games overall this season.
  • With his first of two assists (0-2—2) on Nov. 19 against the New York Islanders, Seguin recorded career point No. 700, becoming the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach the 700-point mark.
  • Seguin leads the 2010 draft class in points (310-397—707), ranks second in goals (310) and ranks fifth with a +67 rating. He also leads the class with 56 game-winning goals and shares second with 10 overtime markers.

CUT IT TO THE LEFT AND I ROCK

  • Forward Roope Hintz ranks third on the team in multi-point games (9) behind Jason Robertson (14) and Jamie Benn (10).
  • Hintz has eight points (3-5—8) in his past five games and 25 points (9-16—25) in his previous 20 overall.
  • The 26-year-old has skated in 27 contests this season with Dallas and ranks second on the club with 32 points. Among team leaders, he ranks first in assists (21), co-leads in shorthanded goals (1) and shares second in game-winning goals (2). He’s also third in plus-minus (+15), ranks second among forwards in TOI/GP (17:23) and third in power-play TOI/GP (2:46).
  • Hintz (3-1—4) recorded his second career hat trick and tied his career high for points in a game on Dec. 4 vs. Minnesota.
  • Hintz’ three-goal effort gave the Stars two consecutive games with hat tricks (Jason Robertson, Dec. 1 vs. ANA).
  • He had a 10-game point streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 17, tallying 15 points (6-9—15) over that span including four multi-point efforts.
  • With two goals on his 26th birthday on Nov. 17 at Florida, Hintz became just the second player in franchise history (1967-present) to score multiple goals on his birthday (also Dave Gagner, Dec. 11, 1990).
  • Hintz is one of four players on the Stars to have a shorthanded goal this season (also Radek Faksa, Luke Glendening and Joel Kiviranta).
  • Hintz and Robertson became the third pair of Stars/North Stars teammates with simultaneous 10-game point streaks, joining Brian Bellows and Neal Broten (10 GP from Jan. 23-Feb. 13, 1986) as well as Steve Payne and Bobby Smith (10 GP from Feb. 10-28, 1980).
  • On Nov. 29 the Stars signed Hintz to an eight-year contract extension, which begins in the 2023-24 season and runs through the 2030-31 campaign. The eight-year contract extension is worth $67.6 million and has an average annual value (AAV) of $8.45 million.
  • In five NHL seasons, Hintz has earned 202 points (91-111—202) in 266 career NHL games. He’s tied for sixth in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) with six career shorthanded goals and shares 10th with 18 career game-winning goals.

WHEN THE DANCE IS THROUGH, IT’S ME AND YOU

  • Appearing in his 1,196th career NHL game on Dec. 10 vs. Detroit, forward Joe Pavelski passed Todd Marchant (1,195) for 17th all-time in games played by U.S.-born players.
  • Plucked in the seventh round (205th overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft, Pavelski ranks seventh in games played among players from that draft class.
  • Pavelski (0-3—3) assisted on three of Dallas’ four third-period goals on Dec. 4 vs. Minnesota to match the franchise record for most in a single period – a feat last achieved by Tyler Seguin on April 2, 2022 (0-3—3 in the first period).
  • Pavelski (38 years, 146 days) also became the third player in franchise history (1967-present) to register three points in a period at age 38 or older, joining Dean Prentice (40 years, 65 days) on Dec. 9, 1972 and Sergei Gonchar (39 years, 245 days) on Dec. 14, 2013.
  • He passed Chris Chelios (948) for 12th all-time in points among U.S.-born skaters with an assist against the Ducks on Dec. 1.
  • With his 157th career power-play goal scored on Nov. 26 at Colorado, Pavelski tied Mike Modano for the fourth most by a U.S.-born player. (Jeremy Roenick is third all-time with 184 PPG). It marked Pavelski’s 10th goal of the season and the 431st of his NHL career.
  • With 431 career NHL goals, Pavelski needs three more to tie Patrick Kane (434) for seventh all-time in goals among U.S.-born skaters. Kane is also the only active U.S.-born skater with more goals than Pavelski.
  • Pavelski has eight multi-point games on the season and 44 since joining the Stars in 2019-20.
  • Only two Stars have notched more multi-point games for the franchise than Pavelski over that span: Jason Robertson (50) and Roope Hintz (49).
  • Pavelski has points (6-16—22) in 14 of his past 20 games and has earned at least one point in 17 of 28 overall (10-19—29).
  • Through 28 games this season, the Plover, Wisconsin native ranks third in points (10-19—29), fourth in goals (10) and shares second in assists (19). He also leads the club in plus-minus (+18), ranks third in even-strength points (5-15—20) and sixth in even-strength goals (5).

I, I ALWAYS BELIEVED IN FUTURES

  • Rookie forward Wyatt Johnston (0-2—2) registered his second career multi-point game with two assists, including the primary helper on Tyler Seguin’s overtime-winning marker on Dec. 8 against Ottawa.
  • Johnston has five points (2-3—5) in his past six games and 12 points (7-5—12) in 28 games overall.
  • He potted his seventh goal of the season on Dec. 1 vs. Anaheim. The only rookies with more are Seattle’s Matty Beniers (11) and Ottawa’s Shane Pinto (9).
  • At 19 years, 173 days, he became the first teenager in Stars/North Stars history (1967-present) to record a three-game goal streak on the road with his goal on Nov. 3 at Arizona. The last teenager to have a longer road run was Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov (4 GP in 2019-20).
  • With a goal (1-0—1) on Oct. 25 against Boston, Johnston became the third youngest player in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) to
    score in consecutive games. Johnston followed Valeri Nichushkin (2 GP in 2013-14) and Miro Heiskanen (2x in 2018-10, both 2 GP).
  • With a goal (1-0—1) in the season opener on Oct. 13, Johnston became the youngest player in Dallas Stars history to score a goal in his NHL debut (19 years, 151 days) and second youngest in franchise history (1967-present) with at least one goal in his NHL debut, behind Dave Archibald (18 years, 179 days on Oct. 10, 1987). Mike Modano (19 years, 120 days on Oct. 5, 1989) scored in his first regular-season NHL game but had debuted during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

WE’RE THE SAME, WE’RE THE SAME, YEAH, IT’S UNDERSTOOD

  • Defensemen Esa Lindell and Colin Miller are among the league’s leaders in plus-minus for defensemen with a +14 rating.
  • Lindell, who is +7 over his past 12 games and has finished with a plus or even rating in 22 of his 28 games this season, shares sixth among league blueliners with a +14 rating.
  • The Vantaa, Finland native tied his single game high with a +4 rating on Nov. 3 at Arizona.
  • Lindell ranks third on the squad in blocked shots (44) and hits (47) and ranks second among Stars defensemen with nine points (2-7—9) in 27 games.
  • The 28-year-old matched a career-high with three points (1-2—3) on Nov. 13 at Philadelphia.
  • Miller, who has finished with a plus or even rating in 22 of his 27 games this season, also shares sixth among NHL d-men with a +14 rating and is +7 over his past 11 games.
  • Among team leaders, the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native ranks fourth overall in hits (42) and shares sixth in blocked shots (24).

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:

LAST 2 GAMES
Dec. 10: Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 1 – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Rakell, Crosby (2)
Multiple Points: Crosby (2G-1A), Guentzel (2A)
Goalie: DeSmith (37 saves/38 shots)
Key Stats: Sidney Crosby’s sixth three-point night of the year helped the Penguins to their fifth-straight win.
PP: 1-3
PK: 3-3

Dec. 6: Pittsburgh 4, Columbus 1 – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Crosby (2), Rust, Blueger (EN)
Multiple Points: Rust (1G-1A), Crosby (2G), Guentzel (2A)
Goalie: Jarry (38 saves/39 shots)
Key Stats: Sidney Crosby’s two-goal effort helped the Penguins extend their win streak to three games.
PP: 1-5
PK: 5-5

INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
N/A None
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 37

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Nov. 15 F Teddy Blueger activated off of LTIR. F Filip Hallander re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Nov. 13 D Mark Friedman re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Nov. 11 D Mark Friedman recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL). F Sam Poulin re-assigned to WBS.
Nov. 7 F Filip Hallander recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Nov. 6 F Drew O’Connor re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).

Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Stars: 72-63-15
In Pittsburgh: 46-21-7
In Dallas: 26-42-8
OT Record vs. Stars: 3-1-5
Shootout Record vs. Stars: 2-2
2021-22 Results: Pittsburgh is 0-1-1.

Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. STARS:
Rick Kehoe – 36GP, 46 PTS (19G-27A)
Jean Pronovost – 52GP, 42 PTS (24G-18A)
Mario Lemieux – 27GP, 41 PTS (17G-24A)

TONIGHT’S GAME
-Pittsburgh concludes a brief two-game homestand as they take on the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena (TV: AT&T SportsNet; Radio: 105.9 The X).
-The Penguins have points in seven of their last eight games against the Stars (5-1-2) dating back to Feb. 9, 2018.
-Pittsburgh has points in five-straight home games versus Dallas (4-0-1).
-Pittsburgh has won four-straight at home and look to continue their winning trend as they are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games overall.

QUICK HITS
1) Brian Dumoulin’s three assists in December are most among all Penguins defensemen and fourth overall on the team. His three points this month also lead all Pittsburgh blueliners.

2) Sidney Crosby’s three-point effort (2G-1A) on Saturday was the 165th three-point game of his NHL career, surpassing Jari Kurri (164) for sole possession of the ninth-most three-point games in NHL history.

3) Sidney Crosby has two game-winning goals over Pittsburgh’s last three games. In that span (Dec. 6-Present), his two game-winners are tied for first in the NHL. Overall, his five game-winning goals are tied for second in the NHL.

4) Pittsburgh has won six-straight games against Western Conference opponents dating back to Nov. 17.

5) Kris Letang has seven points (2G-5A) in his last nine games against the Dallas Stars dating back to December 1, 2016.

TEAM NOTES
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
Pittsburgh enters tonight’s game with a five-game winning streak, which is the longest active win streak in the NHL. The Penguins have also won each of their last four home games, which is also the longest active home winning streak in the league.

Dating back to November 9, Pittsburgh has points in 14 of its last 16 games overall (12-2-2). Since this 16-game stretch began, no one has picked up more points than the Penguins (26) and during this span, and they have vaulted from 27th in the league standings to seventh (tied).

Stat First 12 Games Last 16 Games
Record 4-6-2 12-2-2
Points 11 26
PTS% .417 .813
Standings 27th 1st
GF/GM 3.50 3.56
GA/GM 3.67 2.44

POWER PLAY PRODUCING
Pittsburgh’s power play converted for the fifth-consecutive game last night in Buffalo, as Rickard Rakell scored on the man advantage. The Penguins power play has gone 7-for-21 (33.3%) in the past five games, a figure that is tied for fourth in the NHL. In this span, only Buffalo (8), Edmonton (8) and Ottawa (8) have more power-play goals than the Penguins.

Power Play % Since Dec. 1
Team PP%
Edmonton 47.1%
Ottawa 36.4%
Buffalo 34.8%
Pittsburgh 33.3%
Vegas 33.3%