Stars at Penguins preview

Pittsburgh has outscored its opponents 19-9 during its four-game winning streak after losing two of its first three games this season. Each of those four wins has come without forwards Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Alex Galchenyuk (lower body), Nick Bjugstad (lower body) and Bryan Rust (upper body).

The Stars have lost four straight (0-3-1), and have been outscored 13-5 during that stretch. They were outscored 8-3 in two games (0-2-0) against the Penguins last season.

Players to watch

Stars forward Jamie Benn has two points (one goal, one assist) in his first eight games. He had 53 points (27 goals, 26 assists) in 78 games last season.

Penguins forward Sidney Crosby has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) on a seven-game point streak to start the season.

They said it

"We've talked out a lot of stuff. Hashed out a lot. ... I think you have to sit back and realize these eight-game, 10-game stretches happen." -- Stars forward Tyler Seguin

"We know [the Stars] are a dangerous team. They can be one of the top teams in this league." -- Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin

Stars projected lineup

Jason Dickinson -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov

Jamie Benn -- Roope Hintz -- Corey Perry

Mattias Janmark -- Radek Faksa -- Joe Pavelski

Andrew Cogliano -- Justin Dowling -- Denis Gurianov

Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg

Andrej Sekera -- Miro Heiskanen

Jamie Oleksiak -- Taylor Fedun

Anton Khudobin

Ben Bishop

Scratched: Joel Hanley, Rhett Gardner

Injured: Stephen Johns (headaches), Roman Polak (fractured sternum), Blake Comeau (lower body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon

Dominik Kahun -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist

Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev

Adam Johnson -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty

Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz

Jack Johnson -- John Marino

Matt Murray

Tristan Jarry

Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Erik Gudbranson, Juuso Riikola

Injured: Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Nick Bjugstad (lower body), Bryan Rust (upper body), Alex Galchenyuk (lower body), Zach Trotman (sports hernia surgery)

Status report

Khudobin is expected to make his second start with Bishop likely starting against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. ... McCann will be a game-time decision with a lower-body injury. He practiced fully Thursday after not playing in a 3-2 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.

Stat pack

Perry has at least one point in each of his past six road games against the Penguins. He has eight points (five goals, three assists) during that stretch. ... The Stars are 1-for-24 on the power play this season. ... Guentzel has five goals during a four-game goal streak and has seven points (five goals, two assists) during a six-game point streak. His longest goal streak in the NHL is five games from March 31-April 8, 2017.