Preview: Penguins (19-16) at Hurricanes (18-18)
Date: January 12, 2016 7:00 PM EDT
Jordan Staal's continued production has helped the Carolina Hurricanes make up for the absence of one of their leading scorers.
Victor Rask's status is unknown for Tuesday night when Staal will face his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Rask, Carolina's second-leading scorer with 26 points, has missed the past two games due to an upper-body injury. The Hurricanes (18-18-7) swept a home-and-home series against Columbus while he sat out, with Staal finishing off a 4-3 overtime victory on the road Saturday.
Staal has one goal and one assist in three consecutive games.
"It's nice. I think for a while there I was playing some really good hockey, and (the puck) just wasn't going in," he said. "The last few, it's been going in, which is always nice and rewarding. I've got to stick with a consistent hockey game that I can do whether the points are going in or not.
"It's nice to get rewarded now, so hopefully I can keep doing it."
Rask, Phillip Di Giuseppe (concussion) and Nathan Gerbe (lower body) all skated Monday, but Gerbe's injury is considered long term. The Hurricanes' health is unclear for the first of two matchups with the Penguins (20-16-5) in six days. The teams play again Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Staal is facing the Penguins for the 10th time since a June 2012 trade that sent the former No. 2 overall pick to Raleigh to join his older brother, Eric. He scored his first goal against Pittsburgh in a 2-1 road victory Dec. 19, the first of four 2015-16 matchups.
Carolina is 3-0-1 in its last four games on its own ice but needed a 5-2 win March 26 to end a four-game home losing streak against the Penguins.
Pittsburgh, which has alternated wins and losses in its last eight road games, had another strong special-teams showing in a 3-1 victory in Montreal on Saturday.
The Penguins denied the Canadiens on four power plays and haven't given up a goal in 24 times short-handed in their last nine games.
"We can read off of each other pretty well," forward Eric Fehr told the team's official website. "When you have a chance to clear, we try to get it all the way down the ice. At the same time if we get a chance to go, we want to eat some time up and go on offense. I like the way we all think on the same page, and it's worked for us so far."
Patric Hornqvist scored their opening goal on a power play, putting his team 11 for 31 with a man advantage in the past 10 contests.
Carolina has gotten the better of special teams play in the past eight matchups with Pittsburgh, going 9 for 26 on the power play and 16 of 17 on the penalty kill. The Hurricanes went 2 for 4 with a man advantage in the December meeting.
They're 2 for 22 in their last 10 games but have killed off 31 of 34 penalties in their past 15.
Carolina has won three in a row just once this season, from Oct. 27-30.
Date: January 12, 2016 7:00 PM EDT
Jordan Staal's continued production has helped the Carolina Hurricanes make up for the absence of one of their leading scorers.
Victor Rask's status is unknown for Tuesday night when Staal will face his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Rask, Carolina's second-leading scorer with 26 points, has missed the past two games due to an upper-body injury. The Hurricanes (18-18-7) swept a home-and-home series against Columbus while he sat out, with Staal finishing off a 4-3 overtime victory on the road Saturday.
Staal has one goal and one assist in three consecutive games.
"It's nice. I think for a while there I was playing some really good hockey, and (the puck) just wasn't going in," he said. "The last few, it's been going in, which is always nice and rewarding. I've got to stick with a consistent hockey game that I can do whether the points are going in or not.
"It's nice to get rewarded now, so hopefully I can keep doing it."
Rask, Phillip Di Giuseppe (concussion) and Nathan Gerbe (lower body) all skated Monday, but Gerbe's injury is considered long term. The Hurricanes' health is unclear for the first of two matchups with the Penguins (20-16-5) in six days. The teams play again Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Staal is facing the Penguins for the 10th time since a June 2012 trade that sent the former No. 2 overall pick to Raleigh to join his older brother, Eric. He scored his first goal against Pittsburgh in a 2-1 road victory Dec. 19, the first of four 2015-16 matchups.
Carolina is 3-0-1 in its last four games on its own ice but needed a 5-2 win March 26 to end a four-game home losing streak against the Penguins.
Pittsburgh, which has alternated wins and losses in its last eight road games, had another strong special-teams showing in a 3-1 victory in Montreal on Saturday.
The Penguins denied the Canadiens on four power plays and haven't given up a goal in 24 times short-handed in their last nine games.
"We can read off of each other pretty well," forward Eric Fehr told the team's official website. "When you have a chance to clear, we try to get it all the way down the ice. At the same time if we get a chance to go, we want to eat some time up and go on offense. I like the way we all think on the same page, and it's worked for us so far."
Patric Hornqvist scored their opening goal on a power play, putting his team 11 for 31 with a man advantage in the past 10 contests.
Carolina has gotten the better of special teams play in the past eight matchups with Pittsburgh, going 9 for 26 on the power play and 16 of 17 on the penalty kill. The Hurricanes went 2 for 4 with a man advantage in the December meeting.
They're 2 for 22 in their last 10 games but have killed off 31 of 34 penalties in their past 15.
Carolina has won three in a row just once this season, from Oct. 27-30.
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