Penguins at Oilers preview

PENGUINS (20-10-4) at OILERS (19-14-4)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The Penguins are 14-0-4 in their past 18 games against the Oilers, a Pittsburgh record for longest point streak against an individual opponent and the longest active run by any team in the NHL.
Goalie Tristan Jarry will make his fifth straight start for the Penguins, who seek their fourth consecutive victory and 10th win in 13 games (9-3-0). Jarry is 4-1-0 with a 1.56 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.
The Oilers are 1-4-1 in their past six games. Goalie Mike Smith will make his first start since he allowed six goals on 26 shots in a 6-5 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"It's easier to try and deprive them of the puck than to take it away from them. We have to try and limit their time and space. It's basically the same principles that you have when you have to play Sid [Sidney Crosby] and Evgeni Malkin." -- Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson on facing Edmonton center Connor McDavid and forward Leon Draisaitl
"No matter what, your home games are important. So coming back after a road trip you want to come back and have a good showing and we have two hard games coming up here, so we're looking forward to that." -- Oilers forward James Neal on hosting the Penguins on Friday and Montreal Canadiens on Saturday

Penguins projected lineup

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

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
James Neal -- Leon Draisaitl -- Sam Gagner
Joakim Nygard -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Josh Archibald
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Kris Russell -- Caleb Jones
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched:Brandon Manning, Patrick Russell, Markus Granlund
Injured:Matt Benning (head)

Status report

The Penguins recalled Di Pauli, a forward, and Czuczman, a defenseman, from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Friday.

Stat pack

Rust has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak and has scored at least one goal in three straight games. … Letang has six points (one goal, five assists) in a three-game point streak. … McDavid has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. … Smith has not won a game since he made 25 saves in a 4-2 victory at the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 23.