Penguins @ Blues

Who will WIN this matchup?

Pittsburgh Penguins (19-12-6)

@ St. Louis Blues (15-16-4)

Starting Goalies:

Matt Murray (PIT): Confirmed

Jake Allen (STL): Likely

Current odds:

Pittsburgh Penguins: (-120)

St. Louis Blues: (+100)

• The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t appreciate residing in the cellar of the Eastern Conference last month, as the team answered a disastrous 1-7-2 stretch by recording at least a point in 15 of its next 19 contests (12-4-3). The surging Penguins bid to win their season-best fifth straight outing on Saturday when they open a three-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues. Phil Kessel scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period of Thursday’s 5-2 victory versus Detroit, boosting his team-leading total to seven while tying captain Sidney Crosby with a club-best 16 tallies overall. Crosby set up two goals versus the Red Wings to give him 24 (eight goals, 16 assists) of his team-leading 43 points in the last 18 games.

• Kessel and Crosby will look to continue their good fortune on Saturday versus Jake Allen, who turned aside 30 shots as St. Louis collected its fifth win in seven outings by opening a five-game homestand with a 4-1 triumph versus Buffalo. “He’s giving us a chance to win every night,” Blues interim coach Craig Berube said of the 28-year-old. “He’s aggressive. He’s challenging. He’s confident right now and we’re playing good in front of him, too.”

• Matt Murray turned aside 27 shots versus Detroit to win his fourth straight start since missing nine games with a lower-body injury. “It’s not easy coming off an injury like that, but I just try to dive in head first each and every day and try to improve every day,” the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender said. “I think, myself and as a team, we’re trending in the right direction. We seem to be getting better as we go.” Jake Guentzel, who signed a five-year contract extension worth $30 million, notched two assists in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis on Oct. 4, 2017.

• Ryan O’Reilly returned from the Christmas break by scoring his team-leading 14th goal in the third period versus his former team, with 10 of his tallies and 22 of his club-best 33 points being recorded in the Gateway City. The 27-year-old has seen chemistry continue to build as the Blues bid for their season-high third straight win on Saturday. “It comes with playing together,” O’Reilly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I think we’re finding rhythm more and more. It’s talking things out. I think from the beginning of the year to now, the way we talk, communicate with each other, it’s much more positive.”

• St. Louis C Robby Fabbri was activated from injured reserve Friday after missing 10 games with a separated shoulder.

• Penguins RW Bryan Rust, who saw his career-best five-game point streak halted on Thursday, collected one goal and three assists in two meetings with the Blues last season.

• St. Louis LW David Perron, who played in parts of two seasons with Pittsburgh, recorded his second straight multi-point performance by notching a pair of assists against the Sabres.