After five days off, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be back in action on Friday against the Nashville Predators for the first of two games in Sweden.
These two games are part of the NHL's Global Series for this season. The second game will take place on Sunday.
The Penguins are coming off a 3-2 loss against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, while the Predators lost 6-3 to the New York Rangers on Monday.
Things haven't been going well for the Predators this season, having lost five in a row and eight of their nine heading into Friday's game. They have a 5-9-4 overall record, good for only 14 points.
Filip Forsberg leads the team in goals with seven and points (14). Despite the Predators' struggles, he's one of the top goal scorers in the NHL. Ryan O'Reilly has also had a good season, compiling six goals and 13 points in 18 games. The Predators also still have Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, who can hurt teams at any time.
The Predators will be without the services of top defenseman Roman Josi in these two games since he's on injured reserve. It's a major loss for them since he does everything as their No. 1 defenseman.
Going back to the Penguins, they took line rushes during Thursday's practice, and first-round pick Ben Kindel remained on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. Evgeni Malkin was still centering Tommy Novak and Anthony Mantha on the second line.
Here were the full practice lines:
Forwards
Kindel-Crosby-Rust
Novak-Malkin-Mantha
Dewar-Lizotte-Koppanen
Koivunen-Hayes-Tomasino
Defense
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Clifton-Brunicke
Dumba-Graves
Time will tell if Brunicke gets back into the lineup on Friday. He has been a healthy scratch for three games in a row after last playing on Nov. 3 in Toronto.
Head coach Dan Muse confirmed after the morning skate that Arturs Silovs will start in goal after he didn't play last Sunday.
Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh and NHL Network. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!