Crosby one assist from tying Bourque's single-franchise assist mark

The Pittsburgh Penguins close a four-game Western swing tonight against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, puck drop 9 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh and 105.9 The X. Pittsburgh is 0-3 on the trip after losses at Chicago, at Colorado and 6-2 at Vegas on Saturday, and a loss tonight would send the Penguins home winless. Read more: Crosby one assist from tying Bourque's single-franchise assist mark

Sidney Crosby is the reason to watch regardless of the trip's record. He has 1,110 career assists, one shy of tying Ray Bourque's mark of 1,111 for the most assists with a single franchise, set with Boston.

The total also has Crosby seventh all-time in NHL assists, past Joe Thornton. He has three goals in his last three games and three points in three career games against Utah.

Blue line patched again

Pittsburgh recalled defenseman Ilya Solovyov from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday and sent Ryan Johnson back down, thinning depth on the left side after Samuel Girard went down in the second period Saturday. Girard was tripped by Vegas forward Brett Howden and landed shoulder-first into the boards, and he is day-to-day.

Trevor van Riemsdyk (lower body) and Ryan Graves (knee) remain on injured reserve, and Justin Brazeau (lower body) isn't expected back until Thursday. Egor Chinakhov, hurt in practice before the Colorado game, is listed as out with a return date of tonight. Utah is missing winger Michael Carcone (upper body) and defenseman Maveric Lamoureux, out long-term with a shoulder injury.

Related: Penguins falls 6-3 in Vegas

In goal, Arturs Silovs is 3-2 with a 3.20 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage in five games for Pittsburgh, while Sergei Murashov is 0-2-1 with a 2.99 GAA and a .911 save percentage in three. Utah's options are Karel Vejmelka, 5-1 with a 2.39 GAA and an .898 save percentage, and Sebastian Cossa, 1-1 with a 3.16 GAA.

Power play still cold

Pittsburgh is 1-4 in its last five games, scoring twice in each of its first two contests this season and then going 0-for-20 on the power play since.

"The power play has been a little bit of a letdown for us lately, and it's bleeding a little bit into our game," said Erik Karlsson, defenseman, after Friday's loss in Colorado. "Our starts haven't been good for a while now," said Bryan Rust, pointing to slow starts as the bigger issue and simplifying as the fix.

The Penguins are averaging 3.25 goals a game and killing penalties at an 87.0 percent clip. Utah has won three of its last five, averaging 3.88 goals a game with a power play humming at 37.5 percent.

Pittsburgh leads the all-time series with Utah 2-1-1 and is 2-0 at Delta Center. Karlsson has 5 points in four career games against the Mammoth, and Tommy Novak had two assists Saturday against Vegas and sits two away from 100 for his career.

A fourth straight loss would close the road trip at 0-4. One more assist ties Bourque's single-franchise assist record.