Predators at Penguins preview

PREDATORS (18-13-6) at PENGUINS (22-11-4)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-PT, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The forward, who missed 10 games because of a lower-body injury, was activated from injured reserve and will play on the fourth line for Pittsburgh, 5-1-0 in their past six games and 11-4-0 in its past 15.
Goalie Matt Murray could make his third start in December for the Penguins after Tristan Jarry had 30 saves in a 5-2 win against the Predators on Friday. Murray has allowed a combined seven goals in his first two starts this month, and at least four goals in five of his past six starts.
Goalie Juuse Saros could start for Nashville after replacing Pekka Rinne at 14:50 of the first period Friday. Rinne made three saves on six shots; Saros made 17 saves in relief for the Predators, 4-1-1 in their past six games and 6-3-1 in their past 10.
This will be Nashville's final game before facing the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium on Wednesday (2 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).

Players to watch

Predators defenseman Roman Josi has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak. His NHL career-high five-game goal streak ended when he had one assist against the Penguins on Friday.
Penguins forward Bryan Rust has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"I think we have to do a better job right in front of the goaltenders. All of their goals came pretty much right in front of the goalie. We have to make sure we defend that area better." -- Predators captain Roman Josi
"I think the team has really provided itself with a lot of hard evidence that if we play the game a certain way ... I think we're hard to play against." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Predators projected lineup

Calle Jarnkrok -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Filip Forsberg -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund
Rocco Grimaldi -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Colin Blackwell -- Nick Bonino -- Austin Watson
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- Dante Fabbro
Jarred Tinordi -- Matt Irwin
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Scratched: Yannick Weber
Injured: Colton Sissons (lower body), Dan Hamhuis (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Dominik Kahun -- Jared McCann -- Alex Galchenyuk
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Dominik Simon --
Joseph Blandisi
-- Patric Hornqvist
Jack Johnson -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Kevin Czuczman , Sam Lafferty
Injured: Sidney Crosby (core muscle surgery), Nick Bjugstad (core muscle surgery), Brian Dumoulin (ankle surgery), Justin Schultz (lower body)

Status report

Sissons and Hamhuis each left in the first period Friday.

Stat pack

Granlund is two goals from 100 in the NHL. ... Malkin has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past seven games and 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 13 games against Nashville.