Penguins at Senators preview

PENGUINS (12-10-5) at SENATORS (12-14-3)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

Each player was injured in the second period of a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday; Duchene is week to week with a groin injury and Ryan has a concussion with no timetable for a return. Duchene leads the Senators with 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games.
Goalie Craig Anderson will start for Ottawa, which has lost consecutive games following a three-game winning streak. Anderson has played in 26 of 29 games for the Senators this season.
The Penguins will attempt to win their third straight game; they are 4-2-0 and have scored at least four goals in four of their past six games.
Goalie Casey DeSmith will start for Pittsburgh; he's 5-1-0 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in his past six starts.

Players to watch

Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games.
Senators forward Mark Stone has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"He's obviously a good playmaker, but when he gets into open space, just try and get him the puck, especially in the offensive zone, anywhere over the blue line, because he can score." -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby on forward Phil Kessel, who moved to his line in a 6-2 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday
"[Duchene and Ryan are] two great players on our team, two tough losses. But it's the NHL; injuries happen. We're still a good team here. We need to have guys step up. We're confident in our group still. Tonight's going to be a big one." -- Senators forward Brady Tkachuk

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Phil Kessel
Tanner Pearson -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Riley Sheahan -- Derick Brassard -- Zach Aston-Reese
Garrett Wilson -- Derek Grant -- Jean-Sebastien Dea
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Jamie Oleksiak
Marcus Pettersson -- Jack Johnson
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola
Injured: Matt Murray (lower body), Justin Schultz (left leg fracture), Matt Cullen (lower body), Dominik Simon (lower body), Patric Hornqvist (upper body)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Mark Stone
Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Drake Batherson
Ryan Dzingel -- Zack Smith -- Magnus Paajarvi
Max McCormick --
Nick Paul
-- Tom Pyatt
Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo
Max Lajoie -- Cody Ceci
Ben Harpur -- Christian Jaros
Craig Anderson
Mike McKenna
Scratched: Justin Falk
Injured: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Achilles), Mark Borowiecki (upper body), Matt Duchene (groin), Bobby Ryan (concussion)

Status report

Hornqvist took line rushes during the morning skate, but will not dress. ... Murray and Cullen skated after Penguins skate concluded, but will not play.

Stat pack

Kessel has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games and 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in his past 13. … The Senators have allowed at least four goals in seven of their past 10 games.