Sabres at Penguins preview

SABRES (6-16-4) at PENGUINS (14-10-3)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN-US, ATTSN-PT, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to three games with a 4-0 win at KeyBank Center on Friday. The Penguins had lost their previous three games in regulation before the streak.
The Sabres have lost 10 of their past 11 games (1-8-2) and have been shut out in three straight games. They lost 3-0 to the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 25 and 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 28 before failing to score against the Penguins on Friday
Penguins goalie
Casey DeSm
ith could make his first NHL start. Tristan Jarry, starting in place of
Matt Murray
, who is week to week with a lower-body injury, made 34 saves for his first NHL shutout Friday. DeSmith stopped 12 of 15 shots in his debut against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 29, after Murray allowed four goals on nine shots and was pulled.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart had three points (one goal, two assists) in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Penguins on Nov. 14.
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had two points (one goal, one assist) on Friday. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"It's quite embarrassing [to be shut out three straight games]. Our coaching staff comes up with a game plan, and I just don't think we're executing our game plan." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"We're doing some good things and getting pucks to the net. So, we have to continue to build off that." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Sabres projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jordan Nolan -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Benoit Pouliot --
Kyle Criscuolo
-- Jason Pominville
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Matt Moulson
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Nathan Beaulieu -- Zach Bogosian
Jake McCabe -- Victor Antipin
Chad Johnson
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Hudson Fasching, Josh Gorges, Justin Falk
Injured: Taylor Fedun (lower body), Jacob Josefson (ankle)

Penguins projected lineup

Conor Sheary -- Sidney Crosby -- Patric Hornqvist
Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Carl Hagelin -- Riley Sheahan -- Bryan Rust
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Carter Rowney -- Ryan Reaves
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Matt Hunwick
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Greg McKegg, Chad Ruhwedel
Injured: Matt Murray (lower body)

Status report

Bogosian made his season debut Friday after missing the Sabres' first 25 games because of a lower-body injury. He had two hits in 20:48. … Malkin returned Friday from an upper-body injury that forced him to miss four games. He had one assist in 15:26.

Stat pack

If he dresses Saturday, Scandella will appear in his 400th NHL game. … The Penguins are 13-0-1 against the Sabres since a 4-2 loss to Buffalo on April 23, 2013.