PITTSBURGH -- A game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers can be circled on the calendar well in advance for the matchup between stars Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.

Perhaps it will play out that the centers who are widely considered the top two players in the world -- Crosby, 30, who has captained Pittsburgh to three Stanley Cups, including the past two; and McDavid, 20, who won the NHL scoring title and the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season -- will steal the show Tuesday night when the teams meet at PPG Paints Arena.

The teams, however, are more interested in getting on the right track.

The Penguins (5-3-1) are coming off their second blowout loss, 7-1 at Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Oilers (2-5-0) are trying to better fill out the win column.

"Obviously, there's some added interest because of the statures of the players," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. "That's always exciting for everybody involved. We understand that.

"But our focus right now is on our team and trying to get better each and every day so that we're playing the game more consistently."

Edmonton coach Todd McLellan is on the same hunt for his club.

"We've had good practices. It's transferring it over to the game (that has been a problem)," he said. "We worked hard (Monday). We got a lot done."

So while the teams have game-planned for each other, their focus is primarily turned inward.

"I don't think we can elevate our play right now based on our opponent," McLellan said. "We have to elevate our play based on our standard. Is there a bit more of a motivating factor because these guys are back-to-back champs? I'd like to think so, but that shouldn't be what's driving our team.

"I'm sure their team and their leaders and their coach weren't very happy with what happened in Tampa and they want to make amends for it. We should be the exact same way for where we're at."

Edmonton could get a boost with the potential return of center Leon Draisaitl (concussion) and winger Drake Caggiula (undisclosed injury). Both practiced but still need medical clearance to play.

For Pittsburgh, center Riley Sheahan is expected to play after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in a trade Saturday.

In addition, the Penguins could dress freshly recalled rookie Casey DeSmith as the backup to goaltender Matt Murray. Antti Niemi, who has struggled and gave up all seven goals Saturday, was placed on waivers Monday. He was 0-3-0 with a 7.50 goals-against average this season.

Club officials did not disclose their plans regardless of whether Niemi is claimed by another team.

Those things could all be overshadowed if Crosby, McDavid or both put on a show.

McDavid leads the Oilers with eight points. Crosby leads Pittsburgh with five goals and is tied with Evgeni Malkin for the team lead with 10 points.

"When you're watching him, you're hoping he'll do something cool, and when you're playing against him you're not hoping that," McDavid said of Crosby.

Crosby downplayed the matchup.

"There are always matchups, story lines, things like that," he said. "We sit here and we talk about them, but our job is to go out there and play. That's what I try to do."

DETROIT (AP) Sven Baertschi scored twice, and the Vancouver Canucks used a dominant second period to pull away for a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.

Vancouver scored three times in the second, outshooting the Red Wings 18-6 in the period. Baertschi, Derek Dorsett and Jake Virtanen scored in the second for the Canucks, who are 3-1 so far on a five-game trip.

Detroit has lost four in a row. Anthony Mantha scored the only goal for the Red Wings, tying it at 1 late in the first.

Vancouver opened the scoring when Bo Horvat's shot was deflected and trickled right to Baertschi in front of the net. He stickhandled around goalie Jimmy Howard and backhanded the puck in.

Mantha's equalizer came on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

Dorsett gave Vancouver the lead back with his fifth goal in the past five games. Horvat found him in front of the net with a pass, and Dorsett's shot bounced in the air off Howard before coming down behind him and going in the goal.

Baertschi's second goal came on a wrist shot from the top of the slot, then the Canucks added another in the final minute of the period.

Detroit's Mike Green was unable to control the puck entering the Vancouver zone and ended up knocking it backward to Daniel Sedin, who went the other way on a 2-on-1. Sedin passed to Virtanen, whose initial shot was stopped before he put away the rebound.

Sedin's assist on that goal brought his career point total to 990.

UP NEXT

Canucks: At Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: At Buffalo on Tuesday night.

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NEW YORK (AP) Kevin Hayes and Jimmy Vesey each had a goal and an assist to help the New York Rangers snap a five-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Chris Kreider added a power-play goal and David Desharnais extended his point streak to four games as the Rangers picked up their second victory of the season.

Mattias Ekholm and Fillip Forsberg each scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 11 saves for the Predators.

The Rangers, who have struggled in first periods this season by allowing 13 goals in nine games, earned a two-goal advantage at the end of the first 20 minutes.

Jesper Fast tallied his first of the season just 5:12 into the game as New York scored the first goal for only the fourth time in nine games. Predators defenseman Alexei Emelin had trouble controlling a bouncing puck and Hayes was able to race up ice for a breakaway opportunity. Fast trailed the play and cashed in on the rebound.

After killing off three penalties of their own in the first 20 minutes, the Rangers power-play unit doubled their lead at 19:34. J.T. Miller was able to slip out of the corner with control of the puck and fed a wide-open Chris Kreider in front. It was only the second time this season that the Rangers have had a multi-goal lead.

Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for New York and picked up career victory No. 407. He is now tied with Glenn Hall for ninth place on the NHL's all-time wins list.

Early in the middle period, the Predators were able to cut the deficit in half. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm was able to walk into the slot all alone and blasted a slap shot past Lundqvist at the 1:44 mark of the second period.

Later in the second period, Filip Forsberg scored his sixth goal of the season when he deflected a soft Roman Josi wrist shot at 15:30.

However, later in the middle period, Hayes danced around defenseman Matt Irwin, and beat Saros on the short side with a pretty backhand, forehand maneuver to help the Rangers regain a two-goal advantage. Vesey and Brady Skjei assisted on the play.

With 4:30 remaining in the second period the Predators cut the Rangers lead in half once again. Filip Forsberg deflected a soft Roman Josi wrister as he tallied his sixth of the season, Ryan Johansen and Josi assisted on the play.

Vesey added an empty-netter in the final minute to secure the victory for New York. It was Vesey's first goal of the season.

The Predators have lost four consecutive games at MSG with their last win coming December 10, 2013.

NOTES:

Lundqvist became the 20th NHL goalie to appear in 750 games and became the third to accomplish that feat with one team (Martin Brodeur, Devils and Tony Esposito, Blackhawks). ... Alternate captain Marc Staal skated in his 698th game, tying Mark Messier and Steve Vickers for 12th on the franchise's all-time games played list. ... New York scratched F Paul Carey, F Adam Cracknell and D Steven Kampfer. ... Nashville placed C Nick Bonino on injured reserve Friday with a lower-body injury. ... D Yanick Weber was activated from injured reserve Friday, and skated in his first game since suffering an upper-body injury on October 12th against the Stars. ... Predators scratched F Pontus Aberg, D Anthony Bitetto and D Samuel Girard.

UP NEXT:

Predators: Host Calgary Flames Tuesday

Rangers: Host San Jose Sharks Monday

OTTAWA -- Looking for their first home victory of the season, the Ottawa Senators will face a monumental task when they entertain the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night.

They will have to slay a dragon -- or at least what some people view as the hottest team in the NHL.

On Friday, the Maple Leafs (6-1-0) were declared 8-1 favorites to win the Stanley Cup by Bodog, an online gambling site that had them at 14-1 on Oct. 4. The Tampa Bay Lightning were next on the updated list at 9-1.

"All that stuff is fluff," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock told the Toronto Sun. "I have coached lots of good teams that were (No. 1) in the ranking, that won the Presidents' Trophy, that tied for the Presidents' Trophy and didn't win the Cup. It's hard to win the Cup. It's darn near impossible. Let's not worry about that, let's try to get in the playoffs. Let's do that by winning the game in Ottawa."

The Senators (3-1-3) are trying to catch the Maple Leafs and the Lightning, who they trail by three and four points, respectively, in the Atlantic Division standings.

After sweeping their three-game road trip to western Canada for the first time in franchise history, the Senators thought they'd have a chance to gain some traction with a five-game homestand. But after losing the first two, Ottawa's record at Canadian Tire Centre is 0-1-3.

The most recent loss, a 5-4 overtime setback at the hands of the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, was the second time the Senators have thrown away a two-goal, third-period lead in their own building.

Coach Guy Boucher blamed turnovers for both losses.

"We've just got to manage the puck," Boucher said Friday. "We know at the beginning of the year it's harder. Every coach is talking about that. That's normal. Having said that, if you look at last year after seven games, and you look at this year, we're ahead in every department.

"The process starts back at zero, and we have to understand that the bad habits that were engrained are still there, but they're just going away faster than last year."

Boucher said that winger Zack Smith, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Devils, will be lost for "at least" a week. He added that defenseman Mark Borowiecki, who is also dealing with an upper-body injury, is doubtful for Saturday's game.

Making his seventh start of the season in goal for the Senators will be Craig Anderson, who has a career record of 13-6-3 against the Maple Leafs.

Toronto, which has won its last three games, is expected to counter with Frederik Andersen, who is 3-1-2 against the Senators.

The Senators held a 3-1-0 record against their provincial rivals last season, back when the young Maple Leafs were followed by only modest expectations.

"Sometimes in life when things go too good, you get a little complacent," said Babcock. "That's my job to make sure that doesn't happen, to do everything I can about that. But our players have to understand that if you get ahead of yourselves, you don't win. You just have to be diligent, but solution-based and get better every day and then you have a chance to be successful."

LOS ANGELES (AP) Adrian Kempe had his first career hat trick to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

Michael Cammalleri scored the other two goals for the Kings, who have opened their season with their best six-game start (5-0-1) in franchise history.

Montreal (1-5-1) still hasn't won in regulation this season.

Jonathan Quick made 36 saves for the Kings.

The 21-year-old Kempe scored the go-ahead goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway for the Kings at 7:34 in the third period. He scored again at 16:42 and added another at 18:24 as hats were thrown onto the ice.

The game was tied heading into the third period before the Kings scored four times.

Paul Byron scored his first goal of the season midway through the first period, capitalizing on Derek Forbort's turnover, to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.

On his first goal, Cammalleri batted the puck out of the air to score on a power play and tie the game at 1 in the first period. It was Cammalleri's first goal of the season and first goal as a King since 2008. The 35-year-old Cammalleri is in his second stint with the Kings. He scored the second goal midway through the third period.

Al Montoya made his first start of the season in goal for the Canadiens. Montoya relieved Carey Price on Oct. 7 and played 40 minutes but that was his only work of the season prior to Wednesday.

Alex Galchenyuk started on Montreal's top line with Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Drouin. He was called for two penalties in the first period, an illegal check to the head and slashing. The latter led to the Kings' power-play goal by Cammalleri.

The Canadiens last won on Oct. 5 in overtime.

NOTES:

Jeff Carter sustained a lower-body injury after a collision near the end of the first period and didn't return ... Canadiens defenseman David Schlemko had surgery Wednesday to remove a bone fragment in his right wrist and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks ... Right winger Justin Augler, 23, made his NHL debut for the Kings on Wednesday ... ''It was Hockey Fights Cancer Night'' in Los Angeles and the Kings auctioned their purple jerseys used in warmups online to benefit the cause ... It was also ''Ontario Reign Night,'' the American League Hockey franchise of the Kings. Reign players were in attendance and shown on the JumboTron.

UP NEXT:

Canadiens: Finish their three-game roadtrip by playing the Ducks Friday in Anaheim.

Kings: Head out on their longest roadtrip of the season, a six-game, 11-day trek that starts Saturday in Columbus and ends in St. Louis.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) Jaden Schwartz had his third career hat trick to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Schwartz has four goals and six assists this season and has at least one point in six of the Blues' first seven games. It was his 51st career multi-point game and fourth this season.

Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Kyle Brodziak also scored, and Jake Allen made 22 saves. The Blues snapped a two-game losing streak

Duncan Keith and Ryan Hartman had late goals for Blackhawks, and Corey Crawford made 28 saves.

Schwartz opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first period, tucking in a backhander off Tarasenko's feed.

Schwartz left the game eight minutes later after going awkwardly head-first into the boards after getting tangled with Richard Panik on a partial short-handed break.

Schwartz returned in the second period, and gave the Blues a 2-0 lead at 5:59. Allen's outlet pass off the boards created a 2-on-1 with Schwartz and Sammy Blais. It was Allen's fourth career assist.

Tarasenko made it 3-0 two minutes later, scoring his fifth of the season by stripping Artem Anisimov in front of the Chicago net.

St. Louis outshot Chicago 26-8 in the first two periods, including 17-4 in the second. The four shots in each of the first two periods were a season low for the Blackhawks in a period.

Brodziak scored at 7:01 of the third. It was the first time this season the Blues' third or fourth line scored.

After Keith and Hartman scored for Chicago, Schwartz completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal.

NOTES: Blackhawks television analyst Eddie Olczyk, who is battling colon cancer, received a standing ovation from the crowd of 18,752 after being recognized late in the first period. Olczyk was back in the booth for the first time since his diagnosis in August. ... Blues F Alexander Steen (broken left hand) was activated from injured reserve and made his season debut. To make room, the Blues waived F Wade Megan. ... Blues F Paul Stastny is one point shy of 600 for his career. ... Blackhawks C Nick Schmaltz (upper body) returned after missing four games.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Host Edmonton on Thursday night.

Blues: Travel to Colorado on Thursday night.

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EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Teuvo Teravainen had a pair of goals and Jordan Staal a goal and three assists to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Elias Lindholm and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes (2-1-1), who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Mark Letestu, Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic tallied for the Oilers (1-4-0), who have now lost four in a row.

Teravainen elected to shoot on a two-on-one break, beating Oilers backup Laurent Brossoit stick-side for the first goal of the game just 20 seconds into the game.

He staked his team to a 2-0 lead five minutes later on the power play, blasting a shot from the top of the circle up high and past Brossoit.

Carolina took a three-goal lead on another power play with 1:20 remaining in the opening period. Staal made a nice feed across the crease to Lindholm, who had a wide-open net to deposit the puck into.

Edmonton actually outshot the Hurricanes 15-8 in the first.

Letestu banged in a rebound in tight past Carolina goalie Cam Ward, who was making his first appearance in net this season, to make it 3-1.

The Hurricanes regained their three-goal edge four minutes into the third period as Staal picked off a pass and scored on a short-handed breakaway.

Strome tipped in his first goal as an Oiler past Ward to make it 4-2. The power-play goal came a minute after Staal's.

The Oilers pulled to within a goal eight minutes into the third as Lucic beat Ward with a slapshot.

Carolina ended the comeback bid two minutes later as Slavin undressed Brossoit with a deke. Staal picked up his fourth point of the night and of the season on the play.

Ward was credited with 48 saves in the win, as the Oilers outshot Carolina 51-21.

NOTES: Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl remained out with an eye injury/concussion symptoms. ... Center Martin Necas, selected by 12th in the 2017 NHL Draft by Carolina, made his NHL debut.

UP NEXT:

Hurricanes: visit Calgary on Thursday.

Oilers: play at Chicago on Thursday.

DETROIT (AP) Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game with 18:13 remaining in the third period, lifting the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.

Tyler Johnson also scored for the Lightning, who now have the NHL's top record after winning their fourth game in a row. Justin Abdelkader and Mike Green scored in the second period to help Detroit erase a 2-0 deficit, but Kucherov broke the tie early in the third with his seventh goal of the season.

Kucherov reached out with one hand on his stick and barely got a piece of a loose puck in front of the net, deflecting it under Jimmy Howard and slowly into the net.

Kucherov had exactly one goal in each of Tampa Bay's first five games this season, and he added two more Monday. He's now second in the league in goals, two behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin.

Johnson opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the first period, collecting the puck near his own blue line and outskating Trevor Daley the other way before beating Howard. Kucherov scored on a power play 101 seconds later with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Abdelkader's goal came after some extensive deliberation by the officials. He was hooked from behind by Victor Hedman on a breakaway, but he was able to get a shot off. Andrei Vasilevskiy made the save, and Abdelkader went sliding into him. Detroit's Darren Helm, who was trailing the play, put the rebound into the net.

After a review, officials took the goal away, ruling that Abdelkader had interfered with the goalie and Hedman was guilty of a hooking penalty. After additional discussion, Abdelkader was given a penalty shot, which he converted.

Green's tying goal was set up by Tomas Tatar, who started a rush with some impressive stickhandling in his own zone, and then eventually passed to Green, who followed his own shot and scored on the rebound.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Visit New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Visit Toronto on Wednesday night.

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For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister