Pittsburgh (32-26-6) at Tampa Bay (21-30-12), 7:30 pm EST
TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have thrived
without their captain in the lineup - thanks to All-Star Evgeni
Malkin.
Sidney Crosby may return to the lineup Tuesday for the Penguins,
who will seek their fourth consecutive victory when they visit
the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Crosby has missed the last three games with a groin injury, but
Malkin has propelled Pittsburgh to its longest winning streak
since November. The 22-year-old Russian, who leads the NHL with
92 points this season, is on an eight-game scoring streak.
Malkin recorded a power-play goal and two assists in Sunday's
4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Jordan Staal, defenseman
Kris Letang and Miroslav Satan also scored for Pittsburgh, which
has climbed to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
"We're playing right now without Sid - an outstanding player -
and eventually we will get him back and add to how we're
playing," Penguins interim coach Dan Bylsma said. "We still
need to get better and better going down the stretch, play 60
minutes and play more consistently."
Captain Vincent Lecavalier recorded two goals and set up another
and Mark Recchi notched five assists as the Lightning skated to
a wild 8-6 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Martin St. Louis had a pair of goals - including an empty-netter
- and an assist and rookie Steven Stamkos also tallied and had
an assist for Tampa Bay, which scored three times on the power
play to snap a seven-game road losing streak (0-6-1).