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game preview

Penguins at Blue Jackets preview

Dzingel, McQuaid debut for Columbus; Pittsburgh looks to avoid third straight loss

by Craig Merz / NHL.com Correspondent

PENGUINS (32-22-8) at BLUE JACKETS (35-23-3)

7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-O, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

 

The Game

Ryan Dzingel and Adam McQuaid are each expected to make their debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Dzingel, a 26-year-old forward who was an All-American for Ohio State in 2013-14, was acquired from the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. McQuaid, a 32-year-old defenseman, was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on Monday.

The Blue Jackets have won two straight and are 7-3-0 in the past 10 games. They are third in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the Washington Capitals, and one point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins will be without defensemen Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and Kris Letang (upper body), who were each injured in a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.

Pittsburgh has lost two in a row after going 4-1-0. They are tied in points with the Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

 

Players to watch

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak against Columbus. 

Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will try to match his NHL-best three consecutive shutouts (March 2, 5, and 7, 2017). He is 7-2-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average and three shutouts in his past nine games.

 

They said it

"It didn't end well here but the biggest thing I take away is the relationships I had with my awesome teammates over the years." -- Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson, who plays in Columbus for the first time since signing a contract with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2018.

"Management did their job and they're continuing to do their job. Now it's on us to go out there and play the right way." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno on the recent acquisitions

 

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust

Zach Aston-Reese -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel

Jared McCann -- Nick Bjugstad -- Patric Hornqvist

Tanner Pearson -- Matt Cullen -- Dominik Simon

Justin Schultz -- Jack Johnson

Marcus Pettersson -- Chad Ruhwedel

Juuso Riikola -- Zach Trotman

Matt Murray

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Garrett Wilson, Erik Gudbranson

Injured: Olli Maatta (upper body), Brian Dumoulin (concussion), Kris Letang (upper body)

 

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Matt Duchene -- Cam Atkinson

Ryan Dzingel -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson

Eric Robinson -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Riley Nash

Markus Nutivaara -- Seth Jones

Zach Werenski -- David Savard

Scott Harrington -- Adam McQuaid

Sergei Bobrovsky

Joonas Korpisalo

Scratched: Lukas Sedlak, Alexander Wennberg, Markus Hannikainen, Dean Kukan, Keith Kinkaid

Injured: Ryan Murray (upper body)

 

Status report

Gudbranson, acquired Monday from the Vancouver Canucks, will not play as he goes through immigration clearance.

 

Stat pack

The Penguins have won six straight and are 7-0-1 in the past eight vs. the Blue Jackets. … Anderson has four points (two goals, two assists) in the past three games.

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