PITTSBURGH -- The projected lines and defensemen pairings for tonight's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals at Consol Energy Center:
PENGUINS
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis
Zach Boychuk – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal
Matt Cooke – Brandon Sutter – Tyler Kennedy
Tanner Glass – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams
Robert Bortuzzo – Deryk Engelland
Injured: Matt Niskanen
Scratched: Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey, Dylan Reese
Coach Dan Bylsma traditionally has been loathe to make any changes in his lineup during a winning streak, and the Penguins are riding a stretch of four consecutive victories. Reese, a native of suburban Pittsburgh, was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League late Wednesday. During the morning skate, he alternated shifts with Bortuzzo alongside Engelland. Also, Letang left the ice early, but it is not expected he has an ailment that will keep him from playing tonight.
CAPITALS
Wojtek Wolski - Mike Ribeiro - Alex Ovechkin
Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera - Joey Crabb - Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks - Jay Beagle - Eric Fehr
Jeff Schultz - John CarlsonTom Poti - Tomas Kundratek
Michal Neuvirth
Braden Holtby
Scratches: Roman Hamrlik, Mathieu Perreault
Suspended: John Erskine
Injured: Jack Hillen, Brooks Laich, Dimitri Orlov
Erskine is serving the final game of a three-game suspension for an elbow on Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds on Friday. Coach Adam Oates was coy about the forward lines, but he did say that the lineup would remain the same.
