Nashville Predators at Pittsburgh Penguins

Who: Nashville Predators (18-25-7, 43 points, 7th place Central Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (21-24-8, 50 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Broadcasting on SportsNet Pittsburgh and FDSNSO locally, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: There is no rest for the weary or for traveling hockey teams. The Penguins get one more home game on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils before hitting the road against to take on the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers in a back-to-back set next Friday and Saturday.

Opponent Track: The Predators are coming into the game on the second half of a back-to-back. Last night the Preds conceded a game-deciding goal late in a 4-3 regulation loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Season Series: A third-period tying goal from Erik Karlsson and an overtime strike from Bryan Rust helped the Pens claim a 5-4 overtime win in Nashville on Dec. 19.

Getting to know the Predators

Projected lines (from Friday night’s game)

FORWARDS

Filip Forsberg - Steven Stamkos - Jonathan Marchessault

Luke Evangelista - Ryan O’Reilly - Gustav Nyquist

Tommy Novak - Fedor Svechkov - Zachary L’Heureux

Cole Smith - Michael McCarron - Colton Sissons

DEFENSEMEN

Roman Josi - Justin Barron

Brady Skjei - Nick Blankenburg

Adam Wilsby - Luke Schenn

Goalies: Justus Annunen, Matt Murray (recalled on emergency basis, and not the same person as former Penguins goaltender Matt Murray), Juuse Saros (missed Friday’s game with an illness)

Scratches: Mark Jankowski, Vinnie Hinostroza

IR: Jeremy Lauzon

• Saros missed Friday’s game after head coach Andrew Brunette said he was “not feeling well.” If he’s ready to go, he could get the net against the Pens. If not, the Preds will either have to put Annunen in net in back-to-back nights or turn to AHL goaltender Matt Murray.
• Russell Vannozzi of Main Street Nashville wrote a fun story earlier this season on Murray’s experience with fans confusing him for two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray. As the recent Preds call-up told Vannozzi:

“A lot of kids, I find, get confused. It’s always nice to interact with them and be like, ‘No, I’m actually this one.’ I’ve had some kids that became fans and have gotten to see me play. Now they know this Matt Murray.”

• Luke Evangelista returned against the Sabres from an eight-game injury absence and celebrated by immediately scoring.

Player stats

(via hockeydb, does not include last night’s game)

• Evangelista, Brady Skjei and Tommy Novak scored last night, but the Preds were unable to hold onto a second-period lead in the loss.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines (from Friday’s practice but with question marks surrounding Friday night’s trade)

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting - Cody Glass - Anthony Beauvillier

Danton Heinen? - Kevin Hayes - Philip Tomasino

Boko Imama - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Vincent Desharnais? / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / P.O. Joseph

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Ryan Shea, Matt Nieto, Jesse Puljujarvi

IR: Evgeni Malkin (week-to-week knee injury)

• Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor were traded on Friday night in exchange for a return that includes Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais.

• Some insight on the newest Pens (and in Heinen’s case, a returning Pen) from JFresh Hockey:

• The Traveling Crosbys are in town for tonight’s game.

• Tomasino skated on the third line during Friday’s practice and could be set to return to the lineup against his former team. He was previously a healthy scratch against Utah. Mike Sullivan spoke yesterday about the decision to scratch Tomasino, per Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dave Molinari:

“When Philip’s at his best, I think he drives a lot of offense for us with his tenacity and his speed. He plays a straight-ahead game. He’s strong on pucks. He’s willing to get inside and go to the net.”

“We don’t think he was at his best. That’s one the reasons that we made the decision the way we did.”

• Malkin remains out with the lower-body injury that got him placed on IR on Monday.