Preview: Blues at Penguins

[January 24, 2017]  Conor Sheary has been on the roll of his young career and the Pittsburgh Penguins are riding the wave of success at home. Named the NHL's First Star of the Week, Sheary looks to extend the Penguins' winning streak to five games overall and a season-best eight at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday when the club hosts the St. Louis Blues.

"I think it's a mixture of a lot of things, the way we're playing as a team and the way our line's playing. I think it’s just been clicking right now," the 5-foot-8 Sheary told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after recording his third two-goal performance in four games following Sunday's 5-1 rout of Boston. "These streaks usually don't last, so I'm just going to enjoy it while it's here." St. Louis isn't enjoying its recent streak as one of the stingiest clubs over the last five years has been singed for 18 goals on its three-game slide, dropping the Blues to 26th in average goals per game allowed (3.1). Carter Hutton is expected to get the nod versus Pittsburgh, but fellow goaltender Jake Allen returned to practice on Monday after being left home two days earlier for St. Louis' 5-3 setback at Winnipeg.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, ROOT (Pittsburgh)

ABOUT THE BLUES (23-19-5): Paul Stastny scored and set up a goal against the Jets to raise his point total to 10 (five goals, five assists) in his last nine games. Fellow forward Patrik Berglund has cooled down with a minus-4 rating in his last two contests after scoring 10 of his 11 goals during a 15-game stretch. Vladimir Tarasenko is singing a similar tune as the team leader in goals (20), assists (26), points (46) has been held without a tally for seven straight contests, prompting coach Ken Hitchcock to shuffle the Russian to a new line with Berglund and Robby Fabbri.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (30-11-5): Sheary (15 points in 11 games) has joined Bryan Rust (seven points in last four contests) in being the latest to flourish on a line with captain Sidney Crosby, who scored his league-leading 28th goal to highlight his three-point performance versus the Bruins. Evgeni Malkin (54 points) has no qualms with his line and kept pace with Crosby (54 points) as the former Hart Trophy winner notched two assists Sunday to record his 16th multi-point contest of the season. Malkin carries a season-best seven-game point streak (six goals, five assists) into Tuesday's tilt versus St. Louis, against which he has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in as many career encounters.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis D Kevin Shattenkirk scored twice on Saturday to record his fourth multi-point performance in the last eight contests.

2. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray has stopped 90 of 93 shots in his past three games and owns a 13-0-2 mark in his last 15 home starts.

3. Blues F Jaden Schwartz (knee) joined veteran D Jay Bouwmeester (lower body) in enjoying maintenance days at practice Monday, but Hitchcock told reporters that both should play versus the Penguins.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Blues 2

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