Preview: Rangers at Penguins

RANGERS (23-10-1) at PENGUINS (20-7-5)
7 p.m. ET; ROOT, MSG 2, NHL.TV

Rangers team scope

New York Rangers forward Rick Nash will miss the next two games and possibly a third after injuring his groin 37 seconds into overtime of a 3-2 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Nash, whose 13 goals are tied with forward Michael Grabner for the Rangers lead, missed four games earlier in December with a groin injury on the opposite side. "He obviously won't play these next two games and then we come back from the Christmas break and it's just a morning skate, so it's probably safe to say that at this time, he probably won't play the next three games," coach Alain Vigneault said. "After that, I would say it's day to day. See how he reacts to treatment and take it a day at a time." Goalie Antti Raanta will start after backing up Henrik Lundqvist in three straight games. Raanta made 29 saves in a 5-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Nov. 21. "We just got back from three in four, it's a tough part of the schedule," Vigneault said. "He's played well in this building. He's fresh tonight, so we decided to go in that direction."

Penguins team scope

The Penguins are two points behind the Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan Division but have lost two straight in overtime following a seven-game winning streak. "We're not all going to be 28-0, or whatever it is, in December," forward Chris Kunitz said. "When you start playing each other, you get a glimpse of what it's like against each other in the playoffs. It's going to be such a competitive game. You need to go out there every night and think you can beat a team now. Instead of it just being a random game, I think it gives you a little bit more juice to be playing that night. It gives you more of that energy. It's going to be a tough game." Pittsburgh held an optional morning skate Tuesday but coach Mike Sullivan tweaked the lineup at practice Monday. Forwards Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel were shifted away from center Evgeni Malkin to reform the "HBK Line" with center Nick Bonino. Forward Eric Fehr replaced Tom Kuhnhackl, who is week to week with a lower-body injury, as fourth-line right wing with Matt Cullen and Scott Wilson. Goalie Matt Murray, who is 5-0-1 with nine goals allowed in his past seven games (six starts), is expected to start for the Penguins.

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Derek Stepan -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- Kevin Hayes -- J.T. Miller
Matt Puempel -- Oscar Lindberg -- Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner -- Brandon Pirri -- Marek Hrivik
Ryan McDonagh -- Dan Girardi
Marc Staal -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Klein
Antti Raanta
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Adam Clendening
Injured:Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (broken fibula), Pavel Buchnevich (back)

Penguins projected lineup

Conor Sheary -- Sidney Crosby -- Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Nick Bonino -- Phil Kessel
Scott Wilson -- Matt Cullen -- Eric Fehr
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Brian Dumoulin -- Derrick Pouliot
Olli Maatta -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched:Steve Oleksy
Injured:Kris Letang (lower body), Trevor Daley (upper body), Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body)

Status report

Pirri, who has six goals and 12 points in 32 games, is expected to return to the Rangers' lineup with Nash out. He last played against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 15. … The Penguins placed Letang (lower body) on injured reserve and recalled Ruhwedel from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Saturday. Ruhwedel could replace Steve Oleksy on defense. "If he does play, Chad's a very good player," Sullivan said. "He's a mobile guy. He's a good puck mover. He's another one of those that we have as part of the depth of our organization that we know can help us win games."

Who's hot

Zuccarello has points in five of his past nine games. … Malkin scored Pittsburgh's only goal against Toronto on Saturday and has five goals and 17 points in his past 12 games. His 34 points are tied with Crosby for the Penguins lead. Crosby has seven goals and 15 points in his past 11 games.