Penguins at Senators preview

PENGUINS (10-7-3) at SENATORS (8-3-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

Forward Matt Duchene will make his home debut with the Senators. Ottawa acquired Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5 in a three-team trade that sent center Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators. His first two games for the Senators were against the Avalanche during the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 10-11.
The Penguins won 5-4 in overtime against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, their first victory in three games. It included center Sidney Crosby scoring a goal for the first time in 12 games. He also had an assist.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Phil Kessel has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak.
Senators captain Erik Karlsson has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) during a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"If you take a couple of games out of the overall body of work, the numbers tell a whole different story." -- Coach Mike Sullivan on the Penguins allowing 3.55 goals per game, 28th in the NHL
"You want to get that monkey off your back." -- Forward Matt Duchene, who is looking for his first point with the Senators

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Conor Sheary -- Riley Sheahan -- Patric Hornqvist
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Greg McKegg -- Ryan Reaves
Olli Maatta -- Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin -- Chad Ruhwedel
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched:Frank Corrado, Josh Archibald
Injured:Matt Hunwick (concussion), Carter Rowney (hand)

Senators projected lineup

Ryan Dzingel -- Matt Duchene -- Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Tom Pyatt -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Christopher DiDomenico
Alexandre Burrows -- Nate Thompson -- Chris Wideman
Johnny Oduya -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Fredrik Claesson
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched:Nick Paul
Injured:Zack Smith (thumb)

Status report

Ryan returns to the lineup after missing eight games because of a fractured finger. Borowiecki missed five games with a personal health issue.

Stat pack

Malkin has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past four games. … Stone has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past four games.