Pittsburgh Penguins V. Nashville Predators Preview: Lineups, Where To Watch

After snapping a four-game skid on Thursday in a commanding 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers, the Pittsburgh Penguins will look to build on that when they take on the Nashville Predators Saturday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins played a full 60 minutes Thursday, getting contributions from up and down their new-look lineup. They were without the services of forwards Bryan Rust and Ben Kindel - who were both placed on injured reserve Thursday - and it appears they will be without another forward Saturday.

Forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed Friday's team practice with an illness and who registered a goal and two points in Thursday's win, was ruled out by Penguins' head coach Dan Muse after the morning skate, which Malkin participated in. Forward Egor Chinakhov, who is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, is expected to miss his second consecutive game.

In addition, defenseman Sam Girard was officially placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and the Penguins recalled forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) to fill Malkin's hole in the lineup. 

Goaltender Arturs Silovs - who posted a 25-save shutout Thursday - will get his second consecutive nod in goal Saturday.

There were no line rushes during the Penguins' optional morning skate, and it is difficult to tell where Hayes will fit into a lineup that was already shorthanded to a pretty large degree. He has had some legitimate chemistry with Rutger McGroarty in WBS, and both had nine points in six AHL games, so it won't come as a surprise if they begin the game on the same line.

Here are the projected lines from THN - Pittsburgh for Saturday's game:

Forwards
Tommy Novak-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell
Andrei Kuzmenko-Hendrix Lapierre-Ville Koivunen
Avery Hayes-Blake Lizotte-Rutger McGroarty
Elmer Soderblom-Connor Dewar-Nick Robertson

Defense
Spencer Stastney-Erik Karlsson
Declan Carlile-Kaedan Korczak
Ilya Solovyov-Kris Letang

The Predators are coming into this one 3-3-3 to start the season, and the Penguins are 7-0-2 in their last nine games against Nashville. They currently sit seventh in the Central Division standings and have a minus-7 goal differential. 

36-year-old center Steven Stamkos has started the season hot with four goals and 10 points in nine games, and projected starting goaltender Juuse Saros is 3-2-2 with a .906 save percentage in seven appearances.

Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X."

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