Oilers at Penguins preview

OILERS (9-4-1) at PENGUINS (8-5-0)
1 p.m. ET; SN, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The Penguins' second-line center was activated from injured reserve Saturday morning. Malkin has been out since Oct. 5, when he sustained a lower-body injury in 7-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh went 7-4-0 in 11 games without him.
Centers Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid will face each other for the seventh time. Crosby and the Penguins have won each of their six games, with three wins coming in overtime or a shootout, against McDavid and the Oilers.
Pittsburgh has outscored its opponents 10-1 in two straight wins following a three-game losing streak.
Edmonton is 2-3-1 in its past six games after going 7-1-0 to open the season.

Players to watch

McDavid has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in six games against Pittsburgh with Crosby playing. He has six points (one goal, five assists) in a four-game point streak.
Crosby has four points (two goals, two assists) in six games against Edmonton with McDavid playing. He has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past four games.

They said it

"I think we're a little bit different style of players. [Crosby has] been so successful. If I could even take just a little piece of his game and add it, I think that would help." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid
"[McDavid] is a great playmaker. He can shoot the puck. He does everything well. I think his speed allows him to create all those things." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Sam Gagner
James Neal -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Tomas Jurco -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Oscar Klefbom -- Kris Russell
Brandon Manning -- Matt Benning
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: Colby Cave, Markus Granlund
Injured: Adam Larsson (leg), Joakim Nygard (rib), Joel Persson (concussion), Josh Archibald (foot)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Alex Galchenyuk -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist
Jared McCann -- Nick Bjugstad -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Jack Johnson -- John Marino
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola, Dominik Kahun
Injured: None

Status report

Sheahan is expected to play for Edmonton after sustaining an undisclosed injury in the first period of a 4-1 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday. ... McCann and Kahun rotated at third-line left wing during Pittsburgh's practice Friday.

Stat pack

Draisaitl has nine points (six goals, three assists) in a four-game goal/point streak. ... Murray is 6-1-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and one shutout in his past seven starts. ... Guentzel has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 12 games, with at least one point in 11 of them.