Jared Coreau

RED WINGS (11-10-3) at PENGUINS (14-7-3)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN-US, ROOT, FS-D, NHL.TV

Red Wings team scope

The Detroit Red Wings have rebounded aftera 2-8-1 stretch from Oct. 29-Nov. 20 by going 3-0-2 in their past five games. Some of that success can be attributed to goalie Petr Mrazek's strong play since Jimmy Howard sustained a groin injury Nov. 25. But Mrazek won't play Saturday; rookie goalie Jared Coreau will make his NHL debut against the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first of back-to-back games. "No matter who we play against, it's going to be a good team," coach Jeff Blashill said. "There are no teams in the NHL that aren't real good hockey teams. … Either way, Jared was going to have to face good opponents. He was in here during the preseason. He felt comfortable in this building, so we said 'Let's give him a shot.'" Howard joined the morning skate but is likely still about a week away from returning. The Red Wings are without forward Justin Abdelkader, who is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with an MCL sprain in his right knee. They placed Abdelkader on injured reserve Saturday morning, adding to a lengthy injury list. "I feel bad for the guys who are injured, but we worry about the guys we have available to us," Blashill said. "I never worry too much about the guys that we don't [have]. The one strength that's been consistent in this organization is our depth of talent."

Penguins team scope

The Pittsburgh Penguins activated forward Chris Kunitz from injured reserve on Saturday after he missed six games with a lower-body injury. He'll be a game-time decision. Kunitz, who returned to full practice Tuesday, skated on center Evgeni Malkin's left wing with Bryan Rust on the right side during the morning skate. He also worked the net-front position on the second power-play unit. "It feels pretty good out there," Kunitz said. "I haven't had that many reps with the team, but you just evaluate yourself, get a little rest here and we'll talk to the training staff. … I think I feel strong enough on the ice. It's tough to simulate a game situation and things that go on, but you want to give yourself the best chance to be healthy before you go back out there." Coach Mike Sullivan said goalie Marc-Andre Fleury would start for a second straight game after making 33 saves in a 6-2 victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. "I thought it was one of Marc's better starts in the past month, probably," Sullivan said. "I thought he was seeing the puck well. He was tracking it well." Before Thursday, Fleury had not won since Oct. 29 against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins will attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time since defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-0 on Nov. 5 and the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 three days later. Pittsburgh has performed inconsistently throughout the past month, but is 9-2-1 at home.

Red Wings projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Anthony Mantha
Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Thomas Vanek
Tomas Jurco -- Frans Nielsen -- Luke Glendening
Drew Miller -- Riley Sheahan -- Steve Ott
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jonathan Ericsson -- Ryan Sproul
Jared Coreau
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Tomas Nosek, Brian Lashoff
Injured: Justin Abdelkader (knee), Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Darren Helm (shoulder), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (groin), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Brendan Smith (knee)

Penguins projected lineup
Status report

Kronwall had a maintenance day and didn't take part in the morning skate, but Blashill said he's expected to play. … Guentzel, a rookie forward, was healthy scratched for the first time in his NHL career Thursday, when Hagelin replaced him as Malkin's left wing. Wilson would likely move to the fourth line with Kuhnhackl scratched if Kunitz plays.

Who's hot

Before being held without a point against the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Nielsen had scored at least one point in his previous three games. He had two goals and five points in that span. … Crosby had a goal and two assists against Dallas. He leads the Penguins with 25 points and is tops in the NHL with 16 goals in 18 games.