PITTSBURGH -- The projected lines and defensemen pairings for tonight's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers at Consol Energy Center:
PANTHERS
Tomas Fleischmann - Marcel Goc - Tomas Kopecky
Jack Skille - Stephen Weiss - Shawn Matthias
Jonathan Huberdeau - Drew Shore - Peter Mueller
Alex Kovalev - Mike Santorelli - George Parros
Dmitry Kulikov - Brian Campbell
Erik Gudbranson - Tyson Strachan
Injured: Ed Jovanovski, Kris Versteeg, Scottie Upshall, Sean Bergenheim, Michael Caruso
Scratches: Jose Theodore, Jerred Smithson
Coach Kevin Dineen will not speak with reporters until 90 minutes before game time, but Kovalev reportedly will play against his former team, leaving either Santorelli or Smithson as the final member of the fourth line. Dineen also was unavailable to confirm that Markstrom will make his first start of the season, but he was recalled from the American Hockey League earlier this week and the Miami Herald reported on Thursday that Markstrom will play Friday.
PENGUINS
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal
Beau Bennett – Brandon Sutter – Tyler Kennedy
Tanner Glass – Dustin Jeffrey – Craig Adams
Simon Despres – Deryk Engelland
Injured: None
Scratches: Robert Bortuzzo, Zach Boychuk, Joe Vitale
Fleury returns to the net after sitting out Wednesday's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers following a stretch of six starts in a seven-game span. Jeffrey likewise is poised to return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for nine of the past 10 games. Coach Dan Bylsma has been shuffling rookies Despres and Bortuzzo in and out, and it's likely Despres will return after a two-game absence.
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