Panthers at Penguins preview

PANTHERS (28-26-11) at PENGUINS (34-22-9)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-PT, FS-F, NHL.TV

Pittsburgh is 6-2-2 in its past 10 games after losing four straight (0-3-1) from Feb. 2-9. It has scored and allowed at least four goals in five of its past eight games.
The Penguins, who are tied in points (77) with the Montreal Canadiens, hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens hold the second wild card, two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Panthers are 10 points behind the Canadiens and have lost four consecutive games (0-1-3) after winning five of their previous six. They defeated the Penguins 3-2 in overtime Feb. 7 after losing 5-1 in their previous game Jan. 8.

Players to watch

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his past nine games.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a four-game goal/multipoint streak. He needs one point to reach 1,200 in the NHL.

They said it

"Pittsburgh is a team that's desperate, as much as we are, but they're even closer than we are. We know how big every point is." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"[Florida] is a good team. They're deep at the forward position. They can score goals. Their power play is dynamic. It will be a big challenge for us." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman
Evgenii Dadonov -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jayce Hawryluk
Frank Vatrano -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Jamie McGinn -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Dryden Hunt
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- Josh Brown
Roberto Luongo
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Denis Malgin
Injured: Derek MacKenzie (upper body), Colton Sceviour (upper body), MacKenzie Weegar (lower body), James Reimer (lower body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jared McCann -- Sidney Crosby -- Jake Guentzel
Zach Aston-Reese -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Nick Bjugstad -- Patric Hornqvist
Teddy Blueger -- Matt Cullen -- Garrett Wilson
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Marcus Pettersson -- Erik Gudbranson
Juuso Riikola -- Zach Trotman
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: None
Injured: Olli Maatta (upper body), Bryan Rust (lower body), Brian Dumoulin (concussion), Kris Letang (upper body), Chad Ruhwedel (upper body)

Status report

Boughner said he would determine Reimer's availability for the rest of the week after the goalie participated in the morning skate Tuesday. ... Letang, who will miss his fourth straight game, wore a no-contact jersey during the morning skate. ... Dumoulin will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Trocheck needs three goals to reach 100 in the NHL. ... Malkin is four points from 1,000. He would become the 88th player in NHL history and the fifth Russia-born player to reach that milestone. ... Cullen will become the second United States-born player to play 1,500 NHL games. Chris Chelios played 1,651 games from 1983-2010.