The Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins, two teams jockeying for position atop the Eastern Conference standings all season, will have their last chance to take points from one another in Saturday's headliner.
Here are three things you need to know:
Bizarro series
At a quick glance, the Canadiens and Penguins appear to have battled it out in two hotly-contested games, each coming away with a pair of points. But in actuality, the competition has been oddly erratic in the lead-up to Saturday's rubber match.
The Penguins shamed the Canadiens at the Bell Centre in their first meeting on Nov. 18, coming away with a 4-0 win. Then on Tuesday, Montreal answered with a 4-1 triumph to cap a 5-0 road trip over the holidays.
With both teams coming off a loss and looking to avoid the makings of a skid, we should finally expect some rigidity - or at least another scored on home ice - in a series otherwise void of any real competitiveness.
Push in goal
While we are on the topic of odd, Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury - the two goaltenders expected for Saturday's game - have near identical numbers this season.
Check 'em out:
| Goaltender | Wins | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carey Price | 22 | 2.20 | 0.927 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 20 | 2.20 | 0.925 |
Price may have the slightest edge this season, but Fleury's got it in the long run. He is 10-3-1 lifetime versus the Canadiens while Price has won just 10 of 22 starts.
Malkin's ice
For Sidney Crosby, who's locked in a tie for 62nd (!!!) in goal-scoring league-wide, the Bell Centre figures to be the perfect sheet of ice to bust out of a near two-month long scoring drought.
But while Crosby loves the venue, Evgeni Malkin - who is producing at better than a point-per-game pace - has keys to the dang building.
Malkin, now just four points off the scoring lead, is quietly building a case to contend for hardware in June, leading the Penguins offensively all season while his captain battles through illness and unfamiliarity with wingers.
