Penguins at Capitals

PENGUINS (24-15-8) at CAPITALS (25-19-6)

Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Rickard Rakell
Brock McGinn -- Teddy Blueger -- Jeff Carter
Drew O'Connor -- Ryan Poehling -- Danton Heinen
Kris Letang -- Brian Dumoulin
Marcus Pettersson -- Jeff Petry
Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Chad Ruhwedel
Casey DeSmith
Dustin Tokarski
Scratched:Jonathan Gruden, Mark Friedman
Injured:Josh Archibald (lower body), Jan Rutta (upper body), Kasperi Kapanen (lower body), Tristan Jarry (upper body)
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:Aliaksei Protas, Alexander Alexeyev
Injured: John Carlson (head), Connor Brown (knee), Carl Hagelin (hip), Nic Dowd (lower body), Tom Wilson (lower body)
Status report
The Penguins held an optional morning skate. … Blueger, who took a maintenance day on Wednesday, skated and will play. … Forwards Archibald and Kapanen skated but remain day to day. … Tokarski was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and defenseman Ty Smith was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. … Backstrom (non-COVID illness) and Oshie (birth of child), who each missed a 3-2 loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, will play. … Wilson, a forward who left the game at Colorado after blocking a shot with his right leg, did not skate and will be a game-time decision Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said.