Hurricanes at Penguins preview

HURRICANES (25-21-6) at PENGUINS (28-18-6)
7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Carolina, which is three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, is 10-4-1 in its past 15 games and has scored at least five goals in two of its past three games.
The Penguins, who are four points behind the New York Islanders for first in the Metropolitan Division, have lost five of their past eight games (3-5-0), but have won two of their past three (2-1-0). They are 10-3-1 against Carolina since hiring coach Mike Sullivan on Dec. 12, 2015.
Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin will be out for the third straight game with an upper-body injury; he is day to day.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak, and 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.
Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his past 13 games.

They said it

"When the plays are there, we have to make them. ... Don't get too, too creative because that's not how we excel." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"We've got to try to stop them from shooting, and we've got to shoot." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Lucas Wallmark -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Martinook -- Brock McGinn
Warren Foegele --
Greg McKegg
--
Saku Maenalanen
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Calvin de Haan -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Curtis McElhinney
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Haydn Fleury
Injured: Jordan Staal (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Tanner Pearson -- Nick Bjugstad -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Teddy Blueger
-- Matt Cullen -- Garrett Wilson
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Juuso Riikola
Marcus Pettersson -- Jack Johnson
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Chad Ruhwedel
Injured: Justin Schultz (left leg fracture), Zach Aston-Reese (upper body), Evgeni Malkin (upper body)

Status report

The Hurricanes, who did not hold a morning skate, are not expected to change their lines or defense pairs from a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday. ... Schultz, who has missed 48 games, will not play after taking contact for the first time at practice Monday and taking part in the morning skate Tuesday.

Stat pack

Williams will play his 400th game with the Hurricanes. ... Martinook will play his 300th NHL game. ... Letang needs one goal to pass Paul Coffey (108) for most by a defenseman in Penguins history. ... Kessel needs two points to reach 800 in the NHL. He has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past nine games.