Pittsburgh and Montreal meet in game 1 of Eastern Conference qualifying round
Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, fifth in the Atlantic Division during the regular season) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, third in the Metropolitan Division during the regular season)
Toronto; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUALIFYING ROUND: Pittsburgh and Montreal begin series
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Penguins play the Montreal Canadiens in game one of the Eastern Conference qualifying round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The teams meet Saturday for the fourth time this season.
The Penguins are 20-16-4 in Eastern Conference games. Pittsburgh has given up 34 power-play goals, killing 82.1% of opponent chances.
The Canadiens are 9-13-2 against opponents from the Atlantic Division. Montreal leads the NHL shooting 34.1 shots per game while averaging 2.9 goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brian Dumoulin leads the Penguins with a plus-17 in 28 games this season. Evgeni Malkin has seven goals and nine assists over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Tomas Tatar leads the Canadiens with 39 total assists and has 61 points. Max Domi has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.
LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 3-7-0, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.1 assists, 3.9 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 3.7 goals per game with an .860 save percentage.
Canadiens: 4-5-1, averaging 2.8 goals, 3.8 assists, 3.6 penalties and 9.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game with a .896 save percentage.
INJURIES: Penguins: Sidney Crosby: day to day (undisclosed).
Canadiens: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.
