DALLAS -- It's been a week since the Penguins won a game. Seems like a long time, and it is.
But not as long as they've gone without scoring a power-play goal.
For while the Penguins will take a three-game losing streak into their meeting with the Stars tonight at 8:08 p.m. at the American Airlines Center, they have gone five without capitalizing on a man-advantage. Considering that, when empty-net goals are removed, each of their past three losses has been by one goal, that's a significant stat. In each of those games, if the Penguins had scored once on the power play, they would have gotten at least a point.
Part of the problem has been that they haven't had many opportunities with the extra man during those five games. They are 0-for-11 during that stretch, including one chance each in their 4-2 loss at Florida Tuesday and a 3-2 defeat in Tampa the next night.
"We haven't gotten too many looks," Justin Schultz said Saturday morning. "What did we have, one, last game, and one the game before? When you have one in a game, especially late in the game, it's tough to get a rhythm going."
Power plays are notoriously streaky, and that's certainly been the case for the Penguins this season. They scored at least one man-advantage goal in five of their first six games, going 6-for-23 during that stretch.
That's a pretty good indication that the Penguins are capable of capitalizing when they get an extra man.
"I just feels like the puck's not going in," Jake Guentzel said. "I think we've had our fair share of (scoring) chances when we've had the opportunities. We just have to stay with it."
And try to draw enough penalties to force opponents to play shorthanded more than once or twice per game, as has been the case in three of the past four games.
"It's just kind of crazy how that happens," Guentzel said. "Sometimes, you're getting five or six and sometimes you're getting one. You just have to stay with it and when you get that one chance, you have to make the most of it because you know it's a big part of the game."
• Mike Sullivan declined to say whether Bryan Rust and/or Nick Bjugstad will be in the lineup tonight, or whether Juuso Riikola will move into Erik Gudbranson's spot on defense.
• Zach Trotman, who has been recovering from sports hernia surgery, cleared waivers. He has been with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning assignment.
• Stars coach Jim Montgomery said that Ben Bishop will be in goal tonight, while Matt Murray will get the start for the Penguins. Anton Khudobin played in Dallas' 4-1 loss at PPG Paints Arena last Friday.
• Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who the Penguins traded back to the Stars last season, said today that the adjustment to his new/old team was "pretty quick," and that he doesn't have any particular feelings about playing against the Penguins. "There's always emotion, but for the most part, I've been in the league long enough where I know at least a couple of guys on each team," Oleksiak said. "So it's nothing new facing guys that you know, or guys that you played with."
