Scoring more goals would sure be plus

OTTAWA, Ontario — Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray could both play Friday for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final against Ottawa, but who starts in goal won’t matter if the Penguins can’t score.

They have scored nine goals in their past six games. That’s not good enough for any team, let alone one that employs Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, three of the best offensive players on the planet.

Despite the lack of goalscoring, the Penguins are confident things are about to turn around.

“Everyone has to play to their role, and I think the goals will come,” Crosby said. “The chances have been there. Regardless of who gets them, I think this time of year it doesn’t matter, as long as they’re going in the net. We’ve had the chances to do that. Unfortunately, they haven’t gone in to this point. We don’t have tochange too much.”

More goals from the stars would help, but the same goes for secondary scoring. Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Jake Guentzel have combined for 26 goals these playoffs. Everybodyelse has 18.

Malkin talked about having more of a shooting mindset for Game 4, trying to increase their chances.

“We need to shoot more,” he said. “We had a couple good chances last game, but we need our [big] moment. It’s not easy to score. We have to forget the first three games and turn the page.”

The Penguins piled up 35 goals in their first nine playoff games (3.9 average) but have averaged just 1.5 since. It has led to some frustration — they have scored once in five consecutive games against Ottawa dating to the regular season — but the Penguins insisted they’re not gripping their sticks too tight and remain confident they’re going tobust out of this slump.

“I believe that we’ll score goals,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I know that we have what it takes. As I said, it’s not that we haven’t generated scoring chances because we have. We’ve controlled a lot of the play in the first three games. Zone time, territory, chances … a lot of the statistics are suggesting that we’re going to score goals.”

The numbers actually don’t paint that rosy of a picture. Five-on-five, the Penguins averaged 10.30 scoring chances per 60 minutes in the regular season, according to Corsica Hockey. That was No. 1 in the league. In the postseason, they rank ninth at 7.52.

In terms of shot-attempt percentage — Corsi For — per 60 minutes, the Penguins were sixth in the regular season at 58.75. They’re 15th in the post season at 49.52.

So, yes, the chances have been there but not as often as hey were in the regular season. Although, to be fair, the Penguins gather their own numbers and could have different information.

“All we can do is control the process, right?” Sullivan said. “It’s trying to get pucks on the net. It’s trying to look for the right opportunities. I think we’re generating scoring chances. The next step is to convert. We’ve hit a fair amount of posts in this series so far. I’d like to believe that some of those will go in the net moving forward.”

The most obvious burden will fall to Crosby and Malkin, the franchise centers. Crosby had 44 goals in the regular season, the second most of his career. Malkin led the playoffs in points with 20 entering Thursday’s Western Conference game.

Expecting more from them is not unreasonable. However, if you’re going to point that out, don’t bother. They know. “Me, Sid, Phil … we always feel pressure,” Malkin said. “Every game. It doesn’t matter if you play against Ottawa or Washington, we like that.That’s our life. ”

Injury updates

Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist skated on their own before practice; Justin Schultz did not. None of the three joined the group. All have upper-body injuries. Sullivan said the Penguins are “hopeful” they’ll be available Friday. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously they didn’t skate with the team. They’re probably not probable.”

Tom Kuhnhackl is day to daywith a lower-body injury.

‘Dad’ still mad

Matt Cullen made no secret of his displeasure with the Penguins’ effort in Game 3. Asked Thursday whether he could remember the previous time he was that mad after a game, Cullen replied, “Nope.”

“If you don’t bring your best effort and you don’t bring your best intensity to a game of that importance, you should be [ticked] off,” he said.

“But part of playoff hockey is turning the page, being resilient and bringing your best game next game. We have an opportunity to learn what we just did. Obviously, we can’t afford to do that any more. We have to be at our best. We’re in the conference finals.

“We’re getting down to it. Coming off of last year and the opportunity we have in front of us, I’d expect our best effort next game.”

New power play look

A day after the Penguins used Mark Streit as the quarterback on the top power play, Trevor Daley assumed that role at practice. “Keep the puck moving, try to get pucks to the net,” Daley said. “I’m not going to try and change too many things. Just stick to my game and doing what I do.”