Mikko Rantanen looks to continue his strong start to the season when the Dallas Stars visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Rantanen has six points in his past three games, including four points in a 4-0 road win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
The Penguins will be playing the second contest of a back-to-back set and looking to snap a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) following a 3-2 shootout loss to the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
A goal from Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin early in the third period tied it 2-2 and forced overtime. The Penguins had that opportunity because backup goalie Sergei Murashov stopped 43 shots.
“He was awesome. Just really steady and made some big saves for us,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said about Murashov. “There were some extended shifts there where they controlled a lot of the play. I thought that he allowed ourselves to get organized a bit.”
Malkin notched his third goal of the season, but Crosby has just two points (both assists) through five games.
Bryan Rust has provided a spark and scored his second goal in two games back from injury for the Penguins, who opened the season by scoring 13 goals in two games but have totaled seven in their past three.
“I mean, the guys battled back to get that point,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said, “but at the same time, I feel like we just left too much of that game on the table. You’re going to walk away, good to get the point, but you’re disappointed in the overall game and what I know we’re capable of.”
Rantanen had a goal and three assists on Thursday as Dallas beat Buffalo for its second straight win. It was Rantanen’s 26th career game with at least four points.
Dallas’ Jason Robertson, Sam Steel and Roope Hintz also scored, and Wyatt Johnston had three assists.
“I just like the game all of our guys are giving us right now,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Our ‘D’ has been moving the puck great the last couple games, and our forwards are working to spots for them, so we’re a little connected. We’ve just got to keep stacking here. We’ve got to stack plays and games up on each other.”
If Jake Oettinger starts in goal Saturday night, he would be looking for his third straight shutout. He made 26 saves against the Sabres to follow up on 13-save effort in a 5-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
“I thought (Thursday) we were even better than the last game,” Gulutzan said. “I thought we were good against a really good hockey team.”
It is the second time in his career that Oettinger has posted back-to-back shutouts. His shutout streak is at 146:55, the second longest of his career behind a 154:20 stretch from March 28-April 7, 2024.
Oettinger is 7-1-0 with a 1.87 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage versus the Penguins in his career.
Pittsburgh’s likely starter, Arturs Silovs, has never faced the Stars.
The Stars took both games against the Penguins last season. Rantanen scored the shootout winner in a 3-2 game at Dallas last December, and the Stars prevailed 6-3 at Pittsburgh in March.
