Penguins at Coyotes preview

PENGUINS (27-12-5) at COYOTES (25-18-4)
6 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-A PLUS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The center, who was cleared for full contact and went through a full practice Saturday, has missed 27 games following core muscle surgery Nov. 14. The Penguins are 2-0-0 on their road trip, 6-1-1 in their past eight games and 13-3-1 in their past 17. They have gone 17-6-4 without their captain.
The Coyotes have been shut out in their past two games after winning four in a row and are coming off a 3-0 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. They lost 2-0 at Pittsburgh on Dec. 6, when Tristan Jarry made 33 saves for the Penguins.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Bryan Rust has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.
Coyotes forward Phil Kessel will face the Penguins for the second time since they traded him to Arizona on June 29. He did not have a point in the first game against Pittsburgh and has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"It's been pretty great to watch, the different ways we've won, different guys stepping up. Everybody's just found ways to elevate their game. It's been a team effort each and every night, and it's been pretty great to see throughout the entire year." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"We're going to have to get a little harder around the net, absolutely. We have to start a little quicker. A little adversity here the last couple of games, and we're going to have to weather the storm. [But] I'm fine with this team." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Penguins projected lineup

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

Coyotes projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Conor Garland
Clayton Keller -- Carl Soderberg -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Phil Kessel
Vinnie Hinostroza -- Brad Richardson -- Christian Fischer
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Adin Hill
Ivan Prosvetov
Scratched: Michael Grabner
Injured: Niklas Hjalmarsson (leg), Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body)

Status report

Rust scored in a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday to tie his NHL career high with 18 goals in 30 games this season. He scored that many in 72 games last season. … Bjugstad and Schultz skated after practice Saturday. … Raanta missed the third period Friday because of a lower-body injury. … … The Coyotes did not practice Saturday.

Stat pack

Jarry is 7-1-1 with a shutout in his past nine games. … Malkin needs one assist to pass Jaromir Jagr (640) for third in Penguins history. ... Hall has 21 points (eight goals. 13 assists) in 17 games against Pittsburgh.