Sidney Crosby tries to extend his point-scoring streak to 24 games as the Penguins face off against the Ottawa Senators Sunday night. The Ottawa Citizen notes that Crosby will be "a handful" for the Senators, who are coming off a 2-1 win over the Predators but who lost their two previous games to the Capitals (3-2) and Avalanche (6-5 in overtime). Only seven teams have allowed more goals per game than the Senators, and goalie Pascal Leclaire is currently struggling with a lower-body injury. It isn't yet clear whether he'll play against the Pens, but if not, it'll be Brian Elliott, who has faced criticism from fans this season but played well against Nashville.
Ottawa's goal-prevention issues might get you to thinking about former Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who left for the Senators this offseason. SB Nation's Senators blog Silver Seven's take on Gonchar so far isn't especially flattering:
Holy crap, he is slow. Sllllooooowww. I think Erik Karlsson could outrace him skating backwards. It's not a surprise that our defense struggles with speed, and I am suddenly less pleased with knowing he's on our team for two more years. Still, his vision on the power play is frightening. He really, really, REALLY needs to shoot more.
The Senators haven't scored terribly many goals this season either, and they're probably a worse team than you might think from the fact that they're on the fringes of the playoff hunt - they've allowed 24 more goals than they've scored this year. The Penguins are 2-0 against the Senators this season.