Penguins at Blackhawks preview

PENGUINS (13-10-6) at BLACKHAWKS (9-18-5)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS

Chicago, which has allowed the first goal in 11 straight games and lost 19 of its past 22, hasn't had a nine-game losing streak since Jan. 21 - Feb. 14, 2012 (0-8-1).
The Blackhawks, who will play their second game of a back-to-back (lost 6-3 at Winnipeg Jets Tuesday), have allowed at least four goals in nine of their past 11 games.
Pittsburgh, 3-0-1 in their past 4 four games and 6-2-2 in its past 10, has allowed two goals or fewer in three straight games.
The Penguins activated goalie Matt Murray (lower body) from injured reserve. Murray, who last played on Nov. 17 at Ottawa (seven saves on 10 shots), will back up goalie Casey DeSmith, who is 6-1-1 with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage in his past eight starts.

Players to watch

Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak and 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.

They said it

"When you look at the accomplished players that are in that dressing room, I think there's a certain level of respect there that they command and it's deserving. They're a good team. Every team has gone through their struggles this year, we're no different." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on facing Blackhawks
"I think we can play well and we just for whatever reason, we're not turning it on until we're behind. And it's possible that they let off the gas a little bit, we shouldn't fall in love with our play too much." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton following the 6-3 loss at Winnipeg on Tuesday

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Derick Brassard
Tanner Pearson -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Zach Aston-Reese -- Riley Sheahan -- Bryan Rust
Garrett Wilson -- Derek Grant -- Jean-Sebastien Dea
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Jamie Oleksiak
Marcus Pettersson -- Jack Johnson
Casey DeSmith
Matt Murray
Scratched:Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola
Injured: Justin Schultz (left leg fracture), Matt Cullen (lower body), Dominik Simon (lower body), Patric Hornqvist (upper body)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- John Hayden
Dominik Kahun -- David Kampf -- Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Brendan Perlini
Dylan Sikura -- Marcus Kruger -- Chris Kunitz
Duncan Keith -- Henri Jokiharju
Jan Rutta -- Connor Murphy
Brandon Manning -- Brent Seabrook
Corey Crawford
Cam Ward
Scratched:Andreas Martinsen, Carl Dahlstrom
Injured: Brandon Davidson (right leg), Gustav Forsling (shoulder), Artem Anisimov (concussion protocol), Erik Gustafsson (illness)

Status report

The Penguins re-assigned goalie Tristan Jarry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Cullen will be a game-time decision. … Hornqvist was placed on injured reserve. … The Blackhawks recalled forward Dylan Sikura and defenseman Carl Dahlstrom from Rockford of the AHL, assigned forward Alexandre Fortin to Rockford and placed Anisimov on injured reserve (concussion protocol), retroactive to Dec. 9.

Stat pack

The Blackhawks have matched their longest losing streak this season (0-6-2, Oct. 27-Nov.12).