Penguins at Devils preview

PENGUINS (43-28-6) at DEVILS (40-28-8)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

Pittsburgh is seven points behind the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins are even in points with the Philadelphia Flyers but hold the tiebreaker for second place because they have played one fewer game.
The Devils hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are three points ahead of the Florida Panthers, who have played one fewer game, and are three behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the first wild card, with one game in hand. New Jersey is 6-2-0 in its past eight games and 3-0-0 against the Penguins this season.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in his past 20 games and leads Pittsburgh with 93 points (42 goals, 51 assists) in 73 games.
Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid, who will make his fourth straight start, is 12-3-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in his past 15 decisions.

They said it

"Our focus is getting two points; not on getting home ice. We have to get into the playoffs; that's obviously the No. 1 priority so that's our focus. Getting points and getting there, and wherever that leaves us, it leaves us, but we've got to play good hockey to get in." -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby
"The biggest thing we've done well against the Penguins is we've just kind of gone at them with our speed and skill. They're a great team, no question, but we've done a good job and [Kinkaid's] been great. We've forced them to maybe make some mistakes and put them on their heels. Being on our home ice, we're looking to find a groove here, but we know how dangerous they can be and how lethal their power play is." -- Devils left wing Taylor Hall

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist
Conor Sheary -- Riley Sheahan -- Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Josh Jooris -- Zach-Aston Reese
Jamie Oleksiak -- Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin -- Justin Schultz
Olli Maatta -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Matt Hunwick, Dominik Simon
Injured:Carter Rowney (upper body), Derick Brassard (lower body)

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Michael Grabner -- Pavel Zacha -- Patrick Maroon
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Stefan Noesen
Miles Wood -- Brian Boyle -- Brian Gibbons
Andy Greene -- Sami Vatanen
John Moore -- Damon Severson
Mirco Mueller -- Will Butcher
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched:Ben Lovejoy, Drew Stafford, Jimmy Hayes, Jesper Bratt
Injured:Marcus Johansson (concussion)

Status report

Brassard is day-to-day. Jooris was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Thursday and will center the fourth line. ... Maroon returns after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Stat pack

Crosby has scored a goal in each of his past four games. He has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games. ... Hall has two goals and seven assists during a five-game point streak.