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Wednesday, 03 November 2010 07:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Stars.

When and where: 8:30 p.m., EDT. American Airlines Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Southwest, RIS.

Record: 6-4-0, 12 points. The Stars are in ninth place in the Western Conference and second place in the Pacific Division.

Leading Scorer: Brad Richards (right), 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists).

Last Game: 4-0 home win against the Sabres, Saturday. Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves for the Stars.

Last Game against the Penguins: 6-3 road loss, March 6. Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist for the Penguins..

Stars Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mike Ribeiro. He has 18 career points (six goals, 12 assists) in 15 games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Stars: Stu Barnes, assistant coach; Jiri Hrdina, amateur scout; Jim Johnson, amateur scout; Toby Petersen, C; Gary Roberts, player development consultant.

Ex-Stars/North Stars on the Penguins: Jason Botterill, assistant general manager; Gilles Meloche, goaltending coach.

Useless Stars Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The last hat trick by a Stars defenseman was by former Penguin Phillipe Boucher. He netted three goals in a 5-3 win against the Kings, Nov. 24, 2006.

Best Stars Video We Could Find: There are pests. There are antagonists. Then there is Steve Ott:

Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (5-0-1, 1.16 GAA, .960 SV%) for the Penguins and Kari Lehtonen (5-4-0, 2.93 GAA, .908 SV%) for the Stars.

Injuries: For the Penguins, defenseman Zbynek Michalek (shoulder) is probable. Defensemen Alex Goligoski (undisclosed), Kris Letang (wrist/hand) and forward Evgeni Malkin (knee) are questionable. Forward Jordan Staal (hand) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Stars, they are not reporting any injuries.

Potential lines and defensive pairings:

-The Penguins primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Mike Comrie - Tyler Kennedy/Evgeni Malkin
Maxime Talbot- Mark Letestu - Arron Asham
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Eric Godard

Zbynek Michalek - Brooks Orpik
Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Ben Lovejoy - Deryk Engelland

The Stars' primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:

James Neal - Brad Richards - Loui Eriksson
Brenden Morrow - Mike Ribeiro - Jamie Benn
Steve Ott - Tom Wandell - Adam Burish
Brian Sutherby - Toby Petersen - Brandon Segal

Nicklas Grossman - Stephane Robidas
Mark Fistric - Trevor Daley
Karlis Skrastins - Matt Niskanen

Notes:

-Welcome back Max Talbot's Fu Manchu.

-Dan Bylsma is optimistic Goligoski, Letang and Malkin will play.

-Marc-Andre Fleury has 149 career regular season wins.

-Craig Adams has appeared in 499 career regular season games.

-Pascal Dupuis has appeared in 599 career regular season games.

-If the Stars go to a shootout, they're in good hands with Lehtonen in net.

-WWGRD? Help train the Stars' prospects.

-Trevor Daley (right) has turned into one of Dallas' top defensemen.

-Speaking of facial hair, the Stars' players are growing moustahces in honor of "Movember."

-Our live blog begins at approximately 8:30 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photos: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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