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Penguins close out homestand versus Hurricanes

Nov 19, 2010 - 4:23 PM (Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to close out their three- game homestand on a positive note tonight, when they welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to CONSOL Energy Center.

The Penguins have won three of their last four games overall and are 1-0-1 so far on their current residency. After losing the first three games at the franchise's new arena, Pittsburgh is now 4-5-1 at home this season.

Wednesday's victory over Vancouver was the Penguins' first home win over the Canucks in quite some time. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29-of-30 shots to lead the way for Pittsburgh, which had dropped its previous four home tests against Vancouver since last beating the Canucks in the Steel City on February 14, 2000.

Sidney Crosby and Arron Asham scored for the Penguins, while Maxime Talbot added a goal and one assist.

"They're a good team and we've been playing some good hockey so we had to make sure we got the two points," Crosby admitted. "We played a great game, solid all the way through and got some timely goals."

Crosby is carrying a seven-game point streak into tonight's contest and has seven goals and seven assists during the run. Sid the Kid is Pittsburgh's leading point producer this year, as he is pacing the Pens with 13 goals and 16 assists.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, hope to build off of Wednesday's lopsided win over the Ottawa Senators, although the Sens were playing under difficult circumstances in that game.

The Senators were still in Ottawa on Wednesday morning to attend the memorial service for Daron Richardson, daughter of Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson. Daron passed away at the age of 14 on Saturday, succumbing to injuries suffered during a suicide attempt the day before. Because of the team's attendance at the service, Ottawa didn't arrive in Raleigh until Wednesday afternoon.

Still, Eric Staal recorded his 11th career hat trick and dished out two assists in leading the Hurricanes to the 7-1 blowout at RBC Center.

Chad LaRose added two goals and two assists for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game skid. Tim Gleason had a goal and an assist for Carolina, which got 23 saves from Cam Ward.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the organization and the Richardson family," Staal said. "It's obviously an awful situation. We weren't happy with our last two games, we came out ready to play and they looked like a team with a lot of their mind."

Prior to Wednesday's game, the Hurricanes acquired defenseman Ian White and troubled forward Brett Sutter from the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenseman Anton Babchuk and forward Tom Kostopoulos. Neither White nor Sutter played in Wednesday's contest, but the former is expected to play tonight.

Sutter, meanwhile, was traded by the Flames just one week after he was arrested and charged with assault for an incident that occurred in Phoenix while Calgary was on a road trip. Sutter, who hadn't played in a game with the Flames since Oct. 16, was dealt to Carolina by his father and Flames general manager Darryl Sutter.

Carolina hopes to snap a three-game road losing streak tonight. The Hurricanes are just 4-6-0 as the guest this season.

Pittsburgh posted a 3-0 victory in Carolina earlier this year, but the Hurricanes have won five of seven and six of the last 10 meetings overall. The 'Canes, who are playing their first-ever game at CONSOL Energy Center, had won its last three games at the Igloo.