Hurricanes at Penguins preview
Carolina looks to climb in Eastern wild card; Pittsburgh can gain in Metropolitan
by Wes Crosby / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
HURRICANES (36-25-5) at PENGUINS (39-22-6)
1:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, FS-CR, NHL.TV
The Game
The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to move within three points of first place in the Metropolitan Division with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.
Pittsburgh, third in the division, lost 5-2 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday and is five points behind Washington and the Philadelphia Flyers after losing seven of its past nine games in regulation.
The Hurricanes are two points behind the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets for the two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They ended an 0-3-1 skid with a 3-2 overtime win against the Islanders on Saturday.
Players to watch
Hurricanes forward Justin Williams has scored in each of his past three games following a 13-game goal drought.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby has one goal in each of his past three games. He has six points (three goals, three assists) during that span.
They said it
"Can we do things a lot better? Yes. Could we play a little bit better with a lead? Yes." -- Hurricanes forward Justin Williams
"We understand we need to play better. … We need to step up. It doesn't matter who's in the lineup." -- Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin
Hurricanes projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele -- Vincent Trocheck -- Martin Necas
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams
Ryan Dzingel -- Jordan Martinook -- Nino Niederreiter
Joel Edmundson -- Jaccob Slavin
Jake Gardiner -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Haydn Fleury -- Brady Skjei
Alex Nedeljkovic
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: None
Injured: Dougie Hamilton (leg), Brett Pesce (shoulder), Sami Vatanen (lower body), Petr Mrazek (concussion protocol), James Reimer (lower body)
Penguins projected lineup
Jason Zucker -- Sidney Crosby -- Conor Sheary
Patrick Marleau -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Jared McCann -- Nick Bjugstad -- Patric Hornqvist
Brandon Tanev -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Tristan Jarry
Matt Murray
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola, Evan Rodrigues
Injured: Jake Guentzel (shoulder surgery), Zach Aston-Reese (lower body), Dominik Simon (upper body), Anthony Angello (upper body)
Status report
Nedeljkovic could make his sixth NHL appearance (fourth start) after Forsberg made 24 saves Saturday. He is 0-2-1 with a 3.45 goals-against average and .866 save percentage this season. … Jarry will start for the Penguins after Murray made 23 saves against the Capitals on Saturday. Murray has started the past three games.
Stat pack
The Hurricanes will play the first of four games against the Penguins this season. They are 4-8-0 in the previous 12 meetings. … Malkin has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past three games. … Marleau needs one goal to pass Mike Modano (561) for 25th in NHL history.