Penguins at Kings preview

PENGUINS (24-20-3) at KINGS (24-15-5)
10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, ATTSN-PT, SN360, NHL.TV

The Penguins had their four-game win streak ended with a 5-3 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Crosby had two assists, giving him 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) during a five-game point streak. His next goal will be his 400th in the NHL.
The Kings hope to capitalize on a reprieve from Pacific Division play, having dropped three games to division opponents during their losing streak, including a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Los Angeles is 5-7-3 against Pacific Division teams, but is 15-5-1 against the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Penguins goalie
Tristan Jarry
will start the second game of a back-to-back for the second time in his career. Jarry allowed one goal on 67 shots in wins against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 1-2.
Kings forward Trevor Lewis scored the only goal against San Jose; he has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"It's hard to score every time you go out. We were 2-for-4. It's unfortunate we gave up the shorthanded goal. That was one of those instances where I thought we could have done a better job just taking care of the puck." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on the team's power play
"You look at Pittsburgh analytically, they're in the top two or three in every category you can find offensively: zone time, rush attack, chances from the slot. It reinforces the need for commitment from everybody to be on the right side of the puck all the time." -- Kings coach John Stevens

Penguins projected lineup

Dominik Simon
-- Sidney Crosby --
Daniel Sprong
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist
Conor Sheary -- Jake Guentzel -- Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Riley Sheahan -- Ryan Reaves
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Justin Schultz
Matt Hunwick -- Jamie Oleksiak
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Ian Cole, Matt Murray, Jean-Sebastien Dea
Injured:Carter Rowney (upper body), Chad Ruhwedel (upper body), Bryan Rust (upper body)

Kings projected lineup

Adrian Kempe -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson -- Trevor Lewis -- Tyler Toffoli
Alex Iafallo -- Nicholas Shore --
Marian Gaborik
Kyle Clifford --
Michael Amadio
-- Jonny Brodzinski
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Kevin Gravel
-- Christian Folin
Jonathan Quick
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched:Andy Andreoff, Paul LaDue, Torrey Mitchell
Injured:Jeff Carter (lower body)

Status report

Murray left the Penguins on Wednesday to be with his family in Thunder Bay, Ontario, after the death of his father. … Muzzin returns after missing three games with an upper-body injury.

Stat pack

The Penguins are 4-4-2 in the second of back-to-back games, but 4-0-0 in their past four. … The Kings have won four straight against the Penguins, with the past three coming in overtime or a shootout.