Penguins at Panthers preview

PENGUINS (4-2-1) at PANTHERS (2-3-0)
7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, FS-F, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

With the 454th win of his League career, Luongo, 38, tied Curtis Joseph for fourth place in a 5-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 12. Luongo, who allowed four goals on 38 shots in a 5-1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, will be starting consecutive games for the first time this season. He's 1-2-0 with a 3.41 goals-against average.
The Penguins, 4-1-0 in their past five games, have a 10-game point streak against the Panthers. Pittsburgh won 4-3 when the teams met at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray is expected to start; he's 4-0-0 with a 3.41 goals-against average.

Players to watch

Penguins center Sidney Crosby has scored in three consecutive games, and has points in six of seven games this season. He has a four-game goal-scoring streak against the Panthers, with seven goals in that span.
Panthers forward Owen Tippett, 18, the No. 10 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, made his League debut against Philadelphia on Tuesday and led Florida with seven shots in 11:39 of ice time.

They said it

"We've got to make sure we take care of the puck, we don't feed their transition game and we hang on to the puck down in the offensive zone and force them to have to expend energy defending us." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

"I like to shoot wherever I am in the offensive zone. I feel if I have the time and space to let a shot on net go, I take advantage of it." -- Panthers forward Owen Tippett

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Conor Sheary
Bryan Rust -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Carl Hagelin -- Greg McKegg -- Patric Hornqvist
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Carter Rowney -- Ryan Reaves
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Chad Ruhwedel
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Matt Murray
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Scott Wilson, Josh Archibald, Zach Trotman
Injured: Matt Hunwick (concussion)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgeni Dadonov
Jamie McGinn -- Vincent Trocheck -- Radim Vrbata
Nick Bjugstad -- Jared McCann -- Owen Tippett
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
MacKenzie Weegar -- Mark Pysyk
Michael Matheson -- Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Connor Brickley, Denis Malgin, Ian McCoshen
Injured: None

Status report

The Penguins did not conduct a morning skate. ... Trotman was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Thursday. … Sullivan said Thursday there was no change in the status of Hunwick, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a concussion. … Cole returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing three games with a facial injury. Wearing a full shield, he played 17:52 and led the Penguins in blocked shots (five). … Weegar will make his first appearance of the season after being a healthy scratch the first five games. … Sceviour will be back in the lineup after missing one game as the result of a high hit from Hornqvist late in the game Saturday.

Stat pack

Florida leads the NHL in shots on goal with 41.8 per game and has outshot its opponents in four of its five games. Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak against Florida is one shy of matching its longest in the series.