Penguins at Capitals

PENGUINS (4-6-2) at CAPITALS (6-6-2)

Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Rickard Rakell
Brock McGinn -- Jeff Carter -- Danton Heinen
Filip Hallander -- Ryan Poehling -- Josh Archibald
Marcus Pettersson -- Kris Letang
Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Jeff Petry
Brian Dumoulin -- Jan Rutta
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Sam Poulin, Kasperi Kapanen
Injured: Teddy Blueger (upper body)
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano -- Dylan Strome -- Marcus Johansson
Aliaksei Protas -- Lars Eller -- Anthony Mantha
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary -- Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev -- Matt Irwin
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Joe Snively, Connor McMichael
Injured: T.J. Oshie (lower body), John Carlson (lower body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip surgery), Connor Brown (torn ACL), Carl Hagelin (hip surgery), Tom Wilson (torn ACL), Beck Malenstyn (upper body), Dmitry Orlov (lower body)
Status report
The Penguins held an optional morning skate Wednesday. … Carter and Archibald each will be a game-time decision; Carter has missed three games with a lower-body injury and Archibald missed a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. ... Oshie was on the ice prior to the Capitals morning skate Wednesday, his first time skating since he was injured in a 3-0 win at the Nashville Predators on Oct. 29. … Alexeyev, who was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, will make his season debut. ... Orlov will miss his second game and Carlson his sixth; each defenseman took part in the morning skate.