Preview: Anaheim Ducks @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Game Time: 7:30pm/ET
From: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Penguins Record: 21-20-4 (10th in Eastern Conference)
Flyers Record: 22-18-5 (5th in Eastern Conference)
Last Meeting:
October 6th, 2008 @ Pittsburgh (5-4 Pens)

---

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LINE COMBINATIONS:
Matt Cooke - Evgeni Malkin - Petr Sykora
Chris Minard - Jordan Staal - Janne Pesonen
Tyler Kennedy - Bill Thomas - Miroslav Satan
Paul Bissonnette - Dustin Jeffrey - Eric Godard

NOTE: Due to injuries the current forward line combinations are unconfirmed

Brooks Opik - Ryan Whitney
Alex Goligoski - Hal Gill
Philippe Boucher - Mark Eaton

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Marc-Andre Fleury (13-11-2 / 3.01 GAA / .904 SV%)

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS INJURIES:
Sergei Gonchar (left shoulder surgery) - on injured reserve
Mike Zigomanis (shoulder) - on injured reserve
Ruslan Fedotenko (broken right hand) - on injured reserve
Pascal Dupuis (knee) - day-to-day, will miss tonight's game
Rob Scuderi (head/face laceration) - day-to-day, will miss tonight's game
Sidney Crosby (lower body) - day-to-day, will miss tonight's game
Maxime Talbot (undisclosed) - day-to-day, will miss tonight's game
Kris Letang (lower body) - day-to-day, will miss tonight's game

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LEADERS:
GOALS: Evgeni Malkin (18)
ASSISTS: Evgeni Malkin (49)
POINTS: Evgeni Malkin (67)
+/-: Evgeni Malkin (+12)

---

ANAHEIM DUCKS LINE COMBINATIONS:
Chris Kunitz - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Bobby Ryan - Brendan Morrison - Andrew Ebbett
Travis Moen - Samuel Pahlsson - Rob Niedermayer
Drew Miller - Ryan Carter - George Parros

Chris Pronger - Brendan Mikkelson
Scott Niedermayer - Steve Montador
Bret Hedican - Francois Beauchemin

ANAHEIM DUCKS PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Jean-Sebastien Giguere (12-10-4 / 3.03 GAA / .906 SV%)

ANAHEIM DUCKS INJURIES:
Brad Larsen (sports hernia surgery) - on injured reserve
Francois Beauchemin (left knee surgery) - on injured reserve/out for season
Teemu Selanne (lacerated left quadriceps) - on injured reserve
Kent Huskins (broken right foot) - on injured reserve
Todd Marchant (broken pinky finger) - week-to-week
Brett Festerling (bruised left knee) - day-to-day, possible for tonight's game

ANAHEIM DUCKS LEADERS:
GOALS: Ryan Getzlaf (16)
ASSISTS: Ryan Getzlaf (37)
POINTS: Ryan Getzlaf (53)
+/-: Steve Montador (+14)

---

The Penguins have a couple injuries.

Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Rob Scuderi and Max Talbot will all miss tonight's game. So will Pascal Dupuis, Ruslan Fedotenko, Mike Zigomanis and Sergei Gonchar.

That's eight regulars out of the line-up.

Five players from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will play in tonight's game (Janne Pesonen, Bill Thomas, Chris Minard, Dustin Jeffrey and Paul Bissonnette.)

The Ducks also have their share of injuries and they too are currently struggling, losing three of their last four and eight of their last twelve.

The Penguins have also lost three of their last four and nine of their last twelve.

These are two injured, struggling teams that will meet at the Mellon Arena tonight.

With all the injuries it will be interesting to see if Janne Pesonen will finally get to play more than five minutes in a game. The current lines are unconfirmed, so I'm not sure who his line mates will be, but you have to assume that he will get a few chances.

A funny note is that under "Forward Lines" the Penguins Official Website wrote: "With all the injuries and jumbled lines at morning skate, this is anybody's guess."

It will be almost impossible to predict what will happen tonight, as the team is lacking several key members. Will the healthy pull together and earn a hard fought win, or will the injuries be too much for them to overcome?

We'll see tonight.

Prediction: 5-4 Penguins

Also, in honour of playing Anaheim tonight, I give you this: