Red Wings at Penguins preview

RED WINGS (14-42-4) at PENGUINS (35-15-6)
12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, SN

The Penguins are 10-3-1 in their past 14 games, and 18-5-2 in their past 25. They are second in the Metropolitan Division behind the Washington Capitals.
Pittsburgh has outscored Detroit 7-4 in two wins this season, each coming on the road. Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin had five points (one goal, four assists) in those two games.
The Red Wings have been outscored 54-22 while losing 13 of their past 15 games (2-12-1). They have lost three in a row, including their past two games by the combined score of 8-2 (4-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and 4-1 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday).

Players to watch

Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard is 0-16-2 with a 4.33 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in his past 18 decisions.
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 11 games since returning from core muscle surgery.

They said it

"A little bit of a loss for words. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. We've got 20-something games left that we've got to battle through" -- Red Wings forward Luke Glendening
"I think as a centerman, the amount of ice you cover, you have to be quick to help, but also help going back the other way. … I think there's still a level I'd like to find." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on if his speed can improve

Red Wings projected lineup

Darren Helm -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Luke Glendening
Robby Fabbri -- Frans Nielsen -- Valtteri Filppula
Brendan Perlini -- Christoffer Ehn -- Adam Erne
Filip Hronek -- Mike Green
Patrik Nemeth -- Gustav Lindstrom
Trevor Daley -- Alex Biega
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched: Jonathan Ericsson, Justin Abdelkader
Injured: Danny DeKeyser (back), Filip Zadina (lower body), Madison Bowey (eye)

Penguins projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Jared McCann -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Sam Lafferty -- Andrew Agozzino -- Patric Hornqvist
Jack Johnson -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
Tristan Jarry
Matt Murray
Scratched:Anthony Angello
Injured: Nick Bjugstad (core muscle surgery), Brian Dumoulin (ankle surgery), Jake Guentzel (shoulder surgery), Dominik Kahun (concussion), John Marino (facial surgery)

Status report

Daley could be sidelined after sustaining an upper-body injury Saturday. … The Penguins have not announced a starting goalie for Sunday. Jarry made 34 saves in a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday after Murray made 36 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Stat pack

Detroit has scored fewer than three goals in 12 of its past 15 games. … Letang has five points (two goals, three assists) on a four-game point streak.