Oilers at Penguins preview

OILERS (24-26-5) at PENGUINS (29-20-7)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS

McDavid and the Oilers are 0-2-3 against the Penguins with Crosby in the lineup. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) against Pittsburgh with Crosby playing; Crosby has three points (two goals, one assist) against Edmonton with McDavid in the lineup.
Pittsburgh will play without forward Evgeni Malkin, who will sit out because of a one-game suspension for high-sticking Philadelphia Flyers forward Michael Raffl during a 4-1 victory Monday. The Penguins are 1-3-1 in their past five games and 4-7-1 in their past 12 after winning 10 of their previous 11 (10-1-0).
The Oilers, who begin a three-game, four-night road trip, are 1-5-2 in their past eight games and have allowed at least four goals in six of those eight.

Players to watch

McDavid has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak. He has 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in his past 20 games and at least one point in 18 of those 20.
Crosby has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games and 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in his past 21.

They said it

"It's still exciting. It's something I'm always looking forward to."-- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on playing against Sidney Crosby
"I think guys are aware when you're playing someone of [McDavid's] caliber. ... We're really just focused on getting wins. Part of that, though, is preparing for who you're playing against," -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Milan Lucic --
Brad Malone
-- Alex Chiasson
Tobias Rieder -- Colby Cave -- Ty Rattie
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Alexander Petrovic -- Kevin Gravel
Mikko Koskinen
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Brandon Manning, Kyle Brodziak
Injured:Matt Benning (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Tanner Pearson -- Nick Bjugstad -- Phil Kessel
Teddy Blueger
-- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese -- Matt Cullen --
Garrett Wilson
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Juuso Riikola -- Jack Johnson
Marcus Pettersson -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Dominik Simon
Injured:Justin Schultz (fractured left leg), Olli Maatta (upper body)
Suspended:Evgeni Malkin

Status report

Rattie will play after sustaining a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. ... Maatta was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and is out indefinitely. Aston-Reese is expected to return after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury.

Stat pack

Nugent-Hopkins has six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Dumoulin will play his 300th NHL game. ... Kessel needs one point to reach 800 in the NHL.