After receiving some good news about one of their players, the Pittsburgh Penguins will turn their focus toward finishing off a perfect Canadian trip.
The Penguins will also seek their seventh consecutive victory Saturday night by adding to their recent mastery over the Calgary Flames.
Pascal Dupuis was taken to a hospital prior to Friday's game against Edmonton. The veteran forward, who had blood clots that limited him to 16 games last season, was back in the locker room in time to receive a gladiator helmet award from his teammates.
"He went for precautionary tests before the game, and the tests came back negative," coach Mike Johnston said. "He'll be re-evaluated in Pittsburgh. We want to make sure so he'll get checked out and won't play (Saturday)."
The Penguins (9-4-0) claimed a 2-1 win in his absence with Phil Kessel scoring the go-ahead power-play goal with 10:15 remaining.
"We're getting better. We're starting to improve," Kessel said. "We had chances, but, a little crisper and we'll be better."
Pittsburgh will next seek its first six-game road win streak since taking a franchise record-tying seven in a row Nov. 6-Dec. 11, 2010. The Penguins will also try for their 10th victory in 11 overall contests and 10th in a row against the Flames (4-9-1) in the conclusion to their four-game trek.
They have also won in their last five trips to Calgary, and Sidney Crosby scored a pair of goals in the previous visit Feb. 6, a 4-0 victory. Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for that shutout and has a 1.29 goals-against average in his last seven starts versus the Flames.
He'll likely be in net for Saturday's matchup with backup Jeff Zatkoff having started Friday.
Calgary earned just its second win in seven home games with Thursday's 2-1 overtime victory over Philadelphia. Mikael Backlund scored the winner and assisted on Josh Jooris' first-period tally.
Karri Ramo made 26 saves as the Flames allowed their fewest goals this season. He gave up a combined 13 goals in his prior three starts and Calgary allowed 28 over its prior six contests.
"No matter how many goals you score, if you give four or five a game you make it real tough on yourself," coach Bob Hartley told the team's official website. "You don't need to be a genius to figure that one out, but at the same time that's where our game's going to build. It was a good building block."
Ramo is 0-4-0 with a 3.61 GAA in five career appearances against Pittsburgh. Fleury, meanwhile, has a 1.00 GAA in a string of four consecutive winning starts, all on the road.
"It's another great team who's been playing really well themselves and really well defensively," Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said. "It'll be a challenge. I think we've got to play another simple game and try to keep those goals against down."
Crosby has eight goals and four assists in eight career games against Calgary. He's trying to continue moving past a slow start that saw him record three points in nine games.
The Penguins superstar has four points in his last four contests (one goal, three assists) and had an assist Friday.
Pittsburgh's longest win streak last season was a seven-gamer Oct. 25-Nov. 8, 2014.
