Preview: Carolina Hurricanes @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Game Time: 7:30pm/ET
From: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Penguins Record: 23-20-4 (9th in Eastern Conference)
Flyers Record: 22-20-5 (10th in Eastern Conference)
Last Meeting:
December 4th, 2008 @ Carolina (5-2 Penguins)

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

Rob Scuderi - Ryan Whitney
Mark Eaton - Kris Letang
Hal Gill - Philippe Boucher

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Marc-Andre Fleury (15-11-2 / 2.84 GAA / .908 SV%)

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS INJURIES:
Sergei Gonchar (left shoulder surgery) - on injured reserve
Mike Zigomanis (shoulder surgery) - on injured reserve, out for the season
Ruslan Fedotenko (broken right hand) - on injured reserve
Pascal Dupuis (groin) - on injured reserve
Maxime Talbot (upper body) - on injured reserve
Alex Goligoski (illness) - day-to-day, will likely miss tonight's game
Brooks Orpik (undisclosed) - day-to-day, will likely miss tonight's game

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LEADERS:
GOALS: Evgeni Malkin (18)
ASSISTS: Evgeni Malkin (51)
POINTS: Evgeni Malkin (69)
+/-: Evgeni Malkin (+14)

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CAROLINA HURRICANES LINE COMBINATIONS:
Sergei Samsonov - Eric Staal - Tuomo Ruutu
Ray Whitney - Matt Cullen - Justin Williams
Chad LaRose - Rod Brind'Amour - Scott Walker
Ryan Bayda - Brandon Sutter - Patrick Eaves

Joni Pitkanen - Dennis Seidenberg
Joe Corvo - Frantisek Kaberle
Niclas Wallin - Anton Babchuk

CAROLINA HURRICANES PROBABLE GOALTENDER:
Cam Ward (17-14-3 / 2.62 GAA / .909 SV%)

CAROLINA HURRICANES INJURIES:
None

CAROLINA HURRICANES LEADERS:
GOALS: Eric Staal(19)
ASSISTS: Ray Whitney (24)
POINTS: Ray Whitney (38)
+/-: Patrick Eaves (+7)

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Another huge game for the Penguins. The Hurricanes are only a point behind them in the standings so a regulation win is important here for the Penguins. They want to catch up to the teams in front of them, but they also want to hold the teams behind them back.

Tonight's game is also another opportunity to play the Staal Brothers Drinking game.

The Penguins have always had trouble with Cam Ward. Ward is coming off of a shutout. So is Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Ward shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday and Fleury shut out the New York Rangers on Sunday.

The injury situation in Pittsburgh keeps getting worse. Alex Goligoski and Brooks Orpik will miss tonight's game. Maxime Talbot and Pascal Dupuis have gone from "day-to-day" to "injured reserve" so I don't expect them back any time soon. Mike Zigomanis will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury.

It's also strange seeing Petr Sykora on the third line with Chris Minard and Dustin Jeffrey. He plays so well with Malkin that it's tough splitting the two up. But Cooke has also worked very well with Malkin and Crosby so I'm glad he's still on the first line. Staal and Kennedy play well together so it makes sense that they are on the same line as well. Bissonnette-Thomas-Godard is a very physical line.

Prediction: 4-2 Penguins