Good evaluation game tonight for Penguins to get their young D-men matched up against Wild’s high end forwards

Goalies: Darcy Kuemper (will start), Ilya Bryzgalov

Defensemen: Keith Ballard, Stu Bickel, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba (one will be scratched)

Forwards: Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Cody Almond, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Matt Cooke, Thomas Vanek, Brett Sutter, Joel Rechlicz, Jason Pominville, Michael Keranen, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund (one will be scratched).

Goalies: Jeff Zatkoff (Will Start), Thomas Greiss

Defensemen: Rob Scuderi, Paul Martin, Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin, Simon Despres, Robert Bortuzzo

Forwards: Nick Spaling, Brandon Sutter, Blake Comeau, Beau Bennett, Steven Downie, Andrew Ebbett, Zach Sill, Kasperi Kapanen, Marcel Goc, Jayson Megna, Patric Hornqvist, Oscar Sundqvist.

— Jeff Zatkoff will start and play at least two periods, likely the whole game. Penguins head coach Mike Johnston again, though, came off as a coach who is really impressed with Greiss. There is no goalie competition, Greiss is the No. 2 and will challenge Fleury this season.

— The Wild are dressing a lineup upfront that will be a good evaluation tool for the Penguins tonight when it comes to their young players. Top forwards Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, and Mikael Ganlund are among the forwards in the lineup tonight for Minnesota.

It’s a great opportunity for the Penguins to get young defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington matched up against some of the Wild’s top tier talent.

Both defensemen fared well against Columbus. There is a strong sense in the organization that Dumoulin is ready to graduate and play in the NHL full-time — it’s just a matter of finding him a spot. One knock on Dumoulin’s game, though, continues to be a first slow step that makes him vulnerable to wingers with speed on the outside. Happened against Columbus vs Cam Atkinson.

Harrington has had a very impressive camp and team officials feel he is an ideal long-term replacement to Paul Martin, just not yet as in this season.

— Kasperi Kapanen will see action in his second preseason game. His first game Tuesday night was uneventful, despite a +16 Corsi rating. Really struggled with his board, wall play. His all around game is just no where near where it needs to be to play in the NHL, which isn’t unexpected.

• The Penguins hope to get Pascal Dupuis into the lineup for the final two preseason games
• Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz appear likely to make their preseason debuts Saturday afternoon, barring no setbacks on Friday.
• Evgeni Malkin remains off the ice due to an undisclosed injury