NHL Game Preview - Carolina at Pittsburgh
Sun Apr 2, 2017 5:00 PM EDT

BOS
3
CHI
2
F
NYI
4
BUF
2
F
NSH
1
STL
4
F
CAR
2
PIT
3
F
WSH
3
CBJ
2
F
DAL
3
TBL
6
F
COL
2
MIN
5
F
SJS
3
VAN
1
F
PHI
3
NYR
4
F
ANA
4
CGY
3
F
ARI
2
LAK
1
F
Penguins look to continue mastery of Hurricanes
Sun Apr 2, 2017 12:19 AM

PITTSBURGH -- This close to the end of the season, teams sometimes have to look for motivation. That won't be the case for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes when they meet Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

The teams figure to have enough on the line to keep them focused -- especially the Hurricanes.

Carolina (35-28-14) is in a desperate run toward what it hopes will be a playoff spot. The Hurricanes fell to Dallas 3-0 on Saturday, ending a 9-0-4 run that set a franchise record of 13 consecutive games with at least one point.

That left Carolina six points behind Boston for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot with five games to play. The Hurricanes, who lost their last games against the Penguins, must also leapfrog Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders.

"Guys are playing for each other," Carolina leading scorer Jeff Skinner told the News & Observer in Raleigh. "You need contributions from everyone, and we're getting it from different guys on different nights."

The Hurricanes haven't been around for the postseason since 2009, when they got swept by Pittsburgh in the conference finals. So having a shot to return with a week left in the regular season has them caught up in playoff fever and a bit of scoreboard watching.

"That's why you play. You want to be in games that matter, right?" defenseman Justin Faulk told the News & Observer. "We haven't been in the playoffs in a long time. We have put together a pretty good string of games, but we have to hope another team or two stumbles, too. We just need to worry about doing our part, and we have been."

Carolina goaltender Eddie Lack, who suffered a neck strain Monday against Detroit and was taken off on a stretcher, seems likely to return and start Sunday after the injury proved less frightening than it looked.

The Penguins' injury luck hasn't been as good.

Just when they got their injury list "whittled" to six players -- including top defenseman Kris Letang and star center Evgeni Malkin -- on Friday when top-line winger Jake Guentzel and defenseman Ron Hainsey returned, they lost veteran winger Chris Kunitz, who is now with a lower-body injury.

They recalled forward Josh Archibald from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.

Pittsburgh broke a four-game slide (0-2-2) with a 4-3 shootout victory Friday against the Rangers in New York. It has a playoff spot secured, and even a likely first-round opponent in Columbus. But the Penguins (47-19-11) would like to have home-ice advantage. They are third in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Blue Jackets.

After being one of the best teams at home most of the season, they also would like to break an 0-2-1 stretch at PPG Paints Arena.

"We've done some good things over the course of the year -- played through a lot of different guys being out -- so, yeah, it would be nice to have that home-ice advantage and make it meaningful," Pittsburgh leading scorer Sidney Crosby said.

The Penguins have an outside shot at catching Washington for the Metropolitan title.

"Anytime we can keep climbing in the standings, it's beneficial to us," Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin said.

That said, preparing for the playoffs and perhaps getting something close to a healthy lineup on the ice an on the same page also is a priority.

"We look to try to continue to improve each game," Dumoulin said. "We know that we're playing some desperate teams right now, some teams that are fighting for their lives. We're getting everybody's best games right now. Most of the teams that we're playing right now are in that playoff hunt. It's starting to get down to that playoff time where teams are playing their best. All the games are tight, and each team is meaningful."

Pittsburgh is 6-0-1 against the Hurricanes in their past seven meetings. The Penguins' last regulation loss to Carolina was Dec. 19, 2015.

Team Record Comparison

Standings W-L-OTL Aw/Hm Stk L10
Carolina  
Pittsburgh  

Hot Players (Last 10 team games)

Injury Report

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