By BRETT HUSTON
STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (12-4-0) at San Jose (11-4-2), 10:30 p.m. EDT

The Pittsburgh Penguins' impressive winning streak away from
home is over, as is the San Jose Sharks' similarly lengthy
string of victories that was built largely during a road-heavy
stretch.

San Jose's streak of home dominance over Pittsburgh, however, is
very much intact.

The Penguins haven't won in their last eight visits to HP
Pavilion, a drought they'll hope to snap Saturday night in a
matchup of two of the NHL's early season heavyweights.

Pittsburgh (12-4-0) reeled off seven consecutive road victories
to begin the season, tying the second-best start in league
history, before blowing a 2-1 third-period lead Thursday in a
5-2 loss to Los Angeles.

"We didn't play great, and sometimes you get away with that,"
captain Sidney Crosby said after being held without a point for
a third straight game. "It's a good lesson for us. We have
gotten away with bad periods in the past, but tonight we didn't.
We didn't capitalize on our chances and we didn't play well in
the third, and in a tight game like that, you can't afford for
that to happen."

San Jose (11-4-2) was looking for its seventh straight win
Thursday in Detroit, but also gave up a lead in the final 20
minutes. Henrik Zetterberg's goal tied it at 1-all, then he and
Pavel Datsyuk beat Evgeni Nabokov in a shootout to hand the
Sharks a 2-1 loss.

Saturday's game against the Penguins will be the first of three
in a row at home for San Jose after playing nine of 11 on the
road.

"We fought hard for the one point, and we got five out of six on
the road," defenseman Dan Boyle said. "We would have taken that
before the road trip started."

Pittsburgh is playing without reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner
Evgeni Malkin and All-Star defenseman Sergei Gonchar, but those
absences aren't the reason San Jose should feel good about its
chances of extending its home record to 5-0-1.

The Sharks have beaten the Penguins six straight times at HP
Pavilion and are 7-0-0 with a tie against them there since
Pittsburgh last won Oct. 22, 1997.

Crosby, who doesn't have a goal in three career games versus San
Jose, has never gone four in a row without a point.

He'd have a better chance of breaking those droughts if the
Penguins can improve their power play. Pittsburgh is 0 for 17
with the man advantage in the four games it's played without
Malkin, and its 15.5 percent rate of success is among the bottom
third of the league.

San Jose has allowed one goal in its last 17 times short-handed.

Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy sat out against the Kings - his
fourth absence in five games - with an undisclosed injury, but
the Sharks also have a few injury issues.

Defenseman and captain Rob Blake was placed on injured reserve
Thursday with an upper-body injury, meaning he'll miss at least
a week. Right wing Devin Setoguchi - who has seven goals in 11
games - hasn't played since Oct. 24 with a leg injury, but
Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley have picked up the slack with a
combined 21 goals.

Marleau doesn't have a point in his last four games against the
Penguins, but Heatley scored 10 goals in his last nine versus
Pittsburgh while with Atlanta.

Nabokov is 7-1-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average in eight
starts against the Penguins.