Stars at Penguins preview

STARS (38-24-6) at PENGUINS (39-26-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

The Penguins fell to second place, one point behind the Washington Capitals, with a 5-2 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Capitals' 2-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Pittsburgh is one point ahead of the third-place Philadelphia Flyers.
Goalie Casey DeSmith could start after stopping all nine shots he faced in relief of Tristan Jarry on Saturday. Jarry allowed four goals on 16 shots.
The Stars, who start a six-game road trip, will pull to within one point of the third-place Minnesota Wild in the Central Division with a victory. They hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche.
Dallas is 5-5-2 in its past 12 games following a five-game winning streak.

Players to watch

Stars forward Tyler Seguin has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 13 games. He has scored more than one point in four of his past five games (nine points; four goals, five assists).
Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games and 38 (nine goals, 29 assists) in his past 27. He needs four assists to reach 700 in the NHL.

They said it

"We're feeling good going into the road trip, and then we will put it behind us and prepare for the next one." -- Stars forward Devin Shore
"I know our guys are capable of making it more difficult [on opponents]." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Stars projected lineup

Mattias Janmark -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Antoine Roussel -- Jason Spezza -- Brett Ritchie
Remi Elie -- Jason Dickinson -- Devin Shore
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Marc Methot -- Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Mike McKenna
Scratched:Julius Honka, Gemel Smith
Injured:Martin Hanzal (back), Ben Bishop (lower body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Conor Sheary
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist
Riley Sheahan -- Derick Brassard -- Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Josh Jooris -- Carter Rowney
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Jamie Oleksiak -- Justin Schultz
Olli Maatta -- Chad Ruhwedel
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Scratched:Matt Hunwick
Injured: Matt Murray (concussion), Zach Aston-Reese (upper body), Bryan Rust (concussion), Dominik Simon (lower body)

Status report

Janmark (illness) and Methot (lower body) should play after participating in morning skate Sunday. They were late scratches Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. … Bishop skated without pads Sunday. … The Penguins did not hold a morning skate. No updates were provided, but none of their injured players are expected to return against the Stars.

Stat pack

The Stars have allowed fewer than three goals in six of their past nine games. … The Penguins have scored at least four goals in 13 of their past 19 games.