Devils at Penguins preview

DEVILS (37-28-8) at PENGUINS (42-27-5)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Penguins are second in the division, four points behind the first-place Washington Capitals. They have 89 points, the same as the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets, but have played one fewer game. They're also one point ahead of the fourth-place Philadelphia Flyers.
Goaltender Keith Kinkaid will start for the Devils, who would extend their lead for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a win. New Jersey is one point ahead of the Florida Panthers.

Players to watch

Devils forward Taylor Hall has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past six games after he had 38 (18 goals, 20 assists) during a 26-game personal point streak.
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists) in his past 24 games. He's fourth in the NHL with 91 points (41 goals, 50 assists), four behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov for the League lead.

They said it

"We have to really get to our game. … It's about getting two points, whether it's at home or on the road, whatever it might be." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"[The Devils] are a really hard-working team. … We have to outwork them and outsmart them." -- Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt
Michael Grabner -- Pavel Zacha -- Kyle Palmieri
Brian Gibbons -- Travis Zajac -- Drew Stafford
Pat Maroon -- Brian Boyle -- Blake Coleman
Andy Greene -- Sami Vatanen
John Moore -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched: Mirco Mueller, Stefan Noesen
Injured: Marcus Johansson (concussion), Miles Wood (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist
Conor Sheary -- Derick Brassard -- Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Riley Sheahan -- Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Jamie Oleksiak -- Justin Schultz
Olli Maatta -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Matt Hunwick, Josh Jooris
Injured:Zach Aston-Reese (upper body), Carter Rowney (upper body)

Status report

Zacha will return from missing six games with an upper-body injury. … Simon could return after missing six games with a lower-body injury. He and Aston-Reese each took part in the morning skate Wednesday, but Aston-Reese did not take line rushes.

Stat pack

The Devils are 19-8-8 in one-goal games and are 27-0-2 when leading after two periods. … Schultz will play his 400th NHL game. He has 180 points (45 goals, 135 assists) in 399 games with the Penguins and Edmonton Oilers.