Penguins at Avalanche

PENGUINS (34-26-10) at AVALANCHE (41-22-6)

Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Drew O'Connor -- Mikael Granlund -- Alexander Nylander
Ryan Poehling -- Jeff Carter -- Josh Archibald
Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin -- Chad Ruhwedel
Mark Friedman -- Taylor Fedun
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Danton Heinen
Injured: Nick Bonino (lacerated kidney), Dmitry Kulikov (lower body), Jeff Petry (upper body), Marcus Pettersson (lower body), Jan Rutta (lower body)
Avalanche projected lineup
Denis Malgin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Newhook -- J.T. Compher -- Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano -- Lars Eller -- Logan O'Connor
Alex Galchenyuk
-- Darren Helm -- Matt Nieto
Devon Toews -- Samuel Girard
Jack Johnson -- Bowen Byram
Kurtis MacDermid -- Brad Hunt
Alexandar Georgiev
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: None
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Erik Johnson (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Josh Manson (lower body), Artturi Lehkonen (finger), Cale Makar (lower body), Evan Rodrigues (concussion protocol)
Status report
The Penguins did not hold a morning skate Wednesday. ... DeSmith did not participate in practice Tuesday because of an illness, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. ... Petry, a defenseman who has missed two games, took the ice practice Tuesday; his status is uncertain. ... Helm will return after missing 29 games with a lower-body injury related to his offseason hip surgery. ... Makar will miss his second straight game; the defenseman remains day to day and will be reevaluated Friday. ... The Avalanche held an optional morning skate Wednesday; Makar, Helm, defenseman Johnson and center Rodrigues took part.