Penguins at Panthers preview

PENGUINS (6-3-0) at PANTHERS (3-2-3)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-F, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The forward signed a one-year contract with the Panthers on Sunday, practiced Monday and took part in the morning skate Tuesday.
Aleksander Barkov will be in the lineup for Florida after the center missing the final two periods of a 3-2 shootout victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Center Vincent Trocheck is questionable after he was injured blocking a shot Saturday.
Jared McCann likely will play for the Penguins after he missed a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. McCann, who was acquired in a trade with the Panthers last season, was a full participant in practice Monday.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past six games.
Panthers forward Brett Connolly has scored four goals in a three-game goal streak.

They said it

"As I've always said, we're trying to manage workloads. I've always believed that it's the most overrated practice in hockey." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on why his team didn't have a morning skate
"Hopefully I'm there. It doesn't really matter. Pittsburgh doesn't care. These guys, if I'm in the lineup, they're going to count on me, so I need to be ready right away." -- Panthers forward Brian Boyle on his readiness for his first game of the season

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Dominik Kahun -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
Jack Johnson -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Erik Gudbranson -- John Marino
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola
Injured:Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Nick Bjugstad (lower body), Bryan Rust (upper body), Alex Galchenyuk (lower body), Zach Trotman (sports hernia surgery), Brian Dumoulin (lower body)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Brett Connolly
Frank Vatrano -- Brian Boyle -- Denis Malgin
Dryden Hunt -- Noel Acciari -- Colton Sceviour
MacKenzie Weegar -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Anton Stralman
Keith Yandle -- Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Sam Montembeault
Scratched:Jayce Hawryluk, Mark Pysyk
Injured:None

Status report

Rust and Bjugstad returned to practice Monday and changed from non-contact to full-contact jerseys toward the end of the session. … Trotman practiced Monday in a non-contact jersey but is expected to miss his 10th straight game. … Ekblad will play his 400th NHL game. … Pysyk skated at forward each of the past two games but will be scratched. ... The Penguins did not have a morning skate.

Stat pack

Pittsburgh is 11-1-3 against Florida dating to Dec. 20, 2014. … Murray is 5-1-0 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in six starts against Florida. … Huberdeau has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past seven games.