Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Atlanta Thrashers

Game Time: 7:00pm/ET
From: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Penguins Record: 11-4-3 (4th in Eastern Conference)
Thrashers Record: 7-8-2 (11th in Eastern Conference)
Last Meeting:
March 2nd, 2008 @ Pittsburgh (3-2 Pens [SO])
[Boxscore] [Video]

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LINE COMBINATIONS:
Max Talbot - Sidney Crosby - Miroslav Satan
Ruslan Fedotenko - Evgeni Malkin - Petr Sykora
Tyler Kennedy - Jordan Staal - Matt Cooke
Pascal Dupuis - Mike Zigomanis - Eric Godard

Brooks Opik - Kris Letang
Rob Scuderi - Hal Gill
Phillipe Boucher - Alex Goligoski

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Dany Sabourin (3-1-1 / 1.51GAA / .945 SV%)

ATLANTA THRASHERS LINE COMBINATIONS:
Ilya Kovalchuk - Erik Christensen - Jason Williams
Slava Kozlov - Todd White - Bryan Little
Colby Armstrong - Marty Reasoner - Chris Thorburn
Eric Boulton - Jim Slater - Eric Perrin

Tobias Enstrom - Niclas Havelid
Ron Hainsey - Garnet Exelby
Nathan Oystrick - Boris Valabik
Mathieu Schneider - Zach Bogosian

ATLANTA THRASHERS PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Kari Lehtonen (2-5-2 / 3.44GAA / .903 SV%)

PENGUINS LEADERS:
GOALS: Satan (8)
ASSISTS: Malkin (23)
POINTS: Malkin (30)
+/-: Staal (+6)

THRASHERS LEADERS:
GOALS: Kozlov (10)
ASSISTS: White (11)
POINTS: Little (17)
+/-: Little (+8)

The Atlanta Thrashers lost 4-3 to the Flyers on Sunday night, but prior to that game they won five in a row, including a 5-4 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres. They cannot be taken lightly. Ilya Kovalchuk is a definite superstar and an offensive threat, but he does not have the supporting line-up he needs in order to play at the top of his game.

This is the first time Sidney Crosby will play against his BFF Colby Armstrong.

Marc-Andre Fleury is still injured, so Dany Sabourin will get his second start in a row. John Curry will be backing him up once again tonight.

The Penguins will need to keep the offensive pressure on tonight as there is no way the Thrashers can match them in a offensive battle. They have to be careful not to lose focus and let up on the Thrashers, as they do have the ability to do so. It will be tough to have a killer instinct against a team that is neither a rival or heading for the playoffs. I can see the Penguins building up a lead, blowing it in the second, and coming back to win in the third.

Prediction: 4-3 Penguins