Penguins at Blue Jackets preview

PENGUINS (34-22-4) at BLUE JACKETS (29-24-5)
6 p.m. ET; FS-O, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The Penguins are one point behind the Washington Capitals after a 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
The Blue Jackets are 3-5-2 in their past 10 games and tied with the Carolina Hurricanes at 63 points, one point behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in his past 10 games and 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in his past 18.
Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 2-0-1 with a 1.32 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in his past three starts. He was 0-3-0 with a 3.41 GAA and .857 save percentage in his previous three.

They said it

"I feel like this season he's taking it to another level. It seems like every time he has the puck, something's going to happen." -- Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta on center Evgeni Malkin
"It's a really fun part of the year. We're playing a lot of important games over the next couple of months so it's going to be a challenge, but I'm ready." -- Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois

Penguins projected lineup

Zach Aston-Reese -- Sidney Crosby -- Conor Sheary
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Jake Guentzel -- Riley Sheahan -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Carter Rowney -- Ryan Reaves
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Justin Schultz
Ian Cole -- Jamie Oleksiak
Tristan Jarry
Matt Murray
Scratched:Chad Ruhwedel, Matt Hunwick, Teddy Blueger
Injured:Patric Hornqvist (lower body), Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Josh Anderson
Nick Foligno -- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Boone Jenner -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Jussi Jokinen
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- Scott Harrington
Dean Kukan -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Markus Hannikainen
Injured: Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed)

Status report

The Penguins and Blue Jackets did not skate Sunday. … Murray had made six straight starts. … Harrington could go in for Nutivaara, who was injured late in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

Stat pack

The Penguins are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games and 15-4-1 since Jan. 1. The 15 wins and 31 points are the most in the NHL in that span. … The Blue Jackets are 2-3-2 in their past seven home games. They've scored two goals or less in six.