Penguins at Rangers preview

PENGUINS (41-24-11) at RANGERS (29-32-13)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

The Penguins are third in the division with 93 points, three behind the first-place Washington Capitals and two behind the second-place New York Islanders.
Pittsburgh won't have defenseman Kris Letang available against the Rangers. Letang is day to day with an upper-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said. Zach Trotman will replace him in the lineup.
Letang also missed 11 straight games with an upper-body injury from Feb. 26-March 17. Trotman played in all 11 and the Penguins went 7-2-2.
The Rangers have been eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are coming off a 2-1 overtime win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 14 games since Feb. 26.
Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich has points in three straight games (two goals, one assist) and six goals in his past 10 games.

They said it

"We have capable guys that can go in the lineup. Zach Trotman has played extremely well for us. We have some depth at the defense position right now. I think that's one of the strengths of our team and we're going to have to rely on it." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"He wants to be great and sometimes there are battles with him, but at the end of the day he's done a heck of a job over the last month. I just like his demeanor. I like his intentions." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on forward Pavel Buchnevich

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Jared McCann -- Teddy Blueger -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Nick Bjugstad -- Patric Hornqvist
Adam Johnson -- Matt Cullen -- Garrett Wilson
Brian Dumoulin -- Zach Trotman
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Marcus Pettersson -- Erik Gudbranson
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:None
Injured:Kris Letang (upper body), Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Olli Maatta (upper body), Chad Ruhwedel (upper body), Zach Aston-Reese (lower body)

Rangers projected lineup

Brendan Lemieux -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Filip Chytil -- Vinni Lettieri
Jimmy Vesey -- Lias Andersson -- Ryan Strome
Brendan Smith -- Brett Howden -- Boo Nieves
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Fredrik Claesson -- Tony DeAngelo
John Gilmour -- Neal Pionk
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Connor Brickley
Injured:Chris Kreider (undisclosed), Marc Staal (lower body), Jesper Fast (upper body), Libor Hajek (separated shoulder)

Status report

Fast is out for the rest of the season, Quinn said before the game. Staal and Kreider are day to day. The Rangers did not have a morning skate Monday.

Stat pack

Murray is 5-0-0 against the Rangers in the regular season, 4-0-0 at Madison Square Garden. Including the playoffs, he's 8-0-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .930 save percentage against the Rangers. … Six of the Rangers' past 10 games, eight of their past 13 and 40 of their 74 games this season have been decided by one goal.