Preview: Blues at Penguins

[November 25, 2015]  Sidney Crosby has struggled to find the net this season and his track record against his next opponent suggests that won't change when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. Crosby has zero goals and five assists in 10 career games against the Blues - the only team he has failed to score a goal against.

Pittsburgh came up short in its bid to win three straight games, falling to visiting San Jose 3-1 on Saturday. Crosby has three goals and eight assists in 20 games; conversely, he registered 29 points in the first 20 games a year ago. St. Louis scored a pair of third-period goals to come away with a 2-1 victory at Buffalo on Monday night to improve to 3-3-1 over its last seven games. Jake Allen, who allowed two goals to beat the Penguins in his only appearance against them, will make his 12th start in the past 14 games for the Blues.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

ABOUT THE BLUES (14-6-2): Forward Paul Stastny returned to the lineup against Buffalo after missing more than five weeks with a broken foot and wound up logging 19:37 of ice time. “It didn't feel like he played as much as he did but obviously he did," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters. "I thought his tempo was fine, he kept up speed-wise, I thought he looked fine. ... He's in good shape. We're going to need him.” Blues leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko was shut out in Buffalo but has six goals and nine points in seven games.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (12-8-0): While Crosby has struggled, Pittsburgh is getting solid production from the line of Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and David Perron, who have combined for 11 goals and 27 points in the past 12 games. Kessel, in his first season with the Penguins, has points in three straight games and eight in hs last nine contests. “I think Geno and Phil are such good players that whoever they play with they’re going to make plays,” Perron told reporters. “They’re going to make them look good in the offensive zone."

OVERTIME

1. The Blues have won five of the last seven meetings, including the past three visits to Pittsburgh.

2. The Penguins are 4-for-16 on the power play over the past three games.

3. The Blues have killed off 17 of their last 18 short-handed situations.

PREDICTION: Blues 3, Penguins 2

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