Preview: Penguins at Lightning

PENGUINS (17-7-3) at LIGHTNING (14-12-2)
7 p.m. ET; SUN, ROOT, NHL.TV

Penguins team scope

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby passed Maurice Richard for 90th on the all-time NHL points list with a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Crosby has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past six games and is tied for the League lead in goals with 18. However, the Penguins have gotten contributions throughout the lineup during their current four-game winning streak. Evgeni Malkin has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in the past seven games and Phil Kessel has three goals and three assists in four games. "The whole line, Carl [Hagelin], Phil [Kessel] has been playing well," Malkin said. "But sometimes we play good games and sometimes we play bad. We need to stay at the same level every game." This is the first game between the Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning since Game 7 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals which Pittsburgh won 2-1 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final before defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games.

Lightning team scope

The Lightning are 1-5-1 in their past seven games and have scored two goals in their past three games. Tampa Bay currently is outside of the Stanley Cup Playoffs picture after being a popular preseason pick to win the Stanley Cup. "Shows you what those preseason rankings mean," center Brian Boyle said. "You are what your record says you are." Nikita Kucherov (13 goals, 16 assists) is tied for third in the league in points but his linemates have struggled; Tyler Johnson has one goal and two assists in the past eight games and Ondrej Palat has one assist in the past six games. However, Lightning coach Jon Cooper is more worried about the team's defense, which has given up four or more goals in five of their past seven games. "You want to know how you generate offense?" Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You play defense. When you're playing defense as a five (man unit) and you're playing zone-to-zone-to-zone, that's how you create turnovers, that's how you create rushes."

Penguins projected lineup

Conor Sheary -- Sidney Crosby -- Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Chris Kunitz -- Nick Bonino -- Bryan Rust
Scott Wilson -- Matt Cullen -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Trevor Daley
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Matt Murray
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched:Steve Oleksy, Eric Fehr
Injured:None

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Tyler Johnson -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Brayden Point -- Joel Vermin
Brian Boyle -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jonathan Drouin
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cedric Paquette -- JT Brown
Victor Hedman -- Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison -- Braydon Coburn
Andrej Sustr -- Luke Witkowski
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Nikita Nesterov
Injured:Steven Stamkos (knee), Ryan Callahan (lower body)

Status report

Vasilevskiy will start for the Lightning after Bishop started each of the past three games. …Murray is expected to start his third consecutive game for the Penguins. …The Lightning sent defenseman Slater Koekkoek to Syracuse of the American Hockey League which likely means Witkowski will remain in the starting lineup for the near future.

Who's hot

Cole has seven points (goal, six assists) in the past five games. …Drouin has a goal and three assists in his past three games.