The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.
PENGUINS (14-9-9) at SENATORS (15-13-4)
7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, SN-PIT
Penguins projected lineup
Rickard Rakell — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha — Tommy Novak — Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty — Ben Kindel — Kevin Hayes
Connor Dewar — Danton Heinen — Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea — Kris Letang
Brett Kulak — Jack St. Ivany
Arturs Silovs
Stuart Skinner
Scratched: Ville Koivunen, Ryan Graves, Connor Clifton
Injured: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Caleb Jones (lower body), Filip Hallander (blood clot), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed)
Status report
The Penguins held an optional morning skate. … Silovs will start, coach Dan Muse confirmed. … Mantha and Novak were moved up to the second line in practice on Wednesday. … Forwards Malkin and Lizotte each skated on Wednesday but neither is ready to return from injury.
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Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk — Tim Stutzle — Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron — Dylan Cozens — Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio — Ridly Greig — Claude Giroux
Kurtis MacDermid — Stephen Halliday — Nick Cousins
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence
Nikolas Matinpalo — Nick Jensen
Linus Ullmark
Leevi Merilainen
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Olle Lycksell
Injured: Thomas Chabot (upper body), Shane Pinto (lower body), Lars Eller (broken foot)
Status report
The Senators held an optional morning skate with four skaters and two goalies. … Ullmark and Sanderson left practice early on Wednesday, but coach Travis Green said Thursday “they’ll both be fine” and each will play. … Chabot, a defenseman who has missed 11 games with an upper-body injury, was a full participant in practice Wednesday and skated again Thursday, but will not dress. … Pinto, a center, skated for the first time Wednesday since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 4.
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