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Wednesday, 10 November 2010 09:30

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Bruins.

When and where: 7 p.m., Consol Energy Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, NESN, RIS, NHL Network (United States).

Record: 7-3-1, 15 points. The Bruins are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Northeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Nathan Horton, 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists).

Last Game: 2-1 home loss to the Blues, Saturday. Gregory Campbell scored for the Bruins.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-0 home loss, March 18. Marc-Andre Fleury 17 saves for the Penguins in a game far more memorable for Matt Cooke's fight with Shawn Thornton.

Bruins Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mark Recchi (above). He has only six assists this season and no goals. You know he'd love to break that goose-egg against his former team. And he has 77 career points in 74 games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Bruins: Andrew Ference, D; Mark Recchi, RW.

Ex-Bruins on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Andre Savard, professional scout; Kevin Stevens, professional scout.

Useless Bruins Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: We use this state quite a bit, but we like it. The last playoff hat trick against the Bruins was by former Penguins forward Kevin Stevens. He netted four goals in a 5-1 win in Game 3 of the Wales Conference final, May 21, 1992.

Best Bruins Video We Could Find: Defenseman Zdeno Chara is pretty much the only guy who regularly uses slap shots in shootouts or penalty shots:

Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (6-1-1, 1.62 GAA, .943 SV%) for the Penguins and Tim Thomas (7-0-0, 1.04, GAA, .967 SV%) for the Bruins.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Mike Comrie (illness), Evgeni Malkin (undisclosed) and goaltender Brent Johnson (illness) are probable. Forward Jordan Staal (hand) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Bruins, forward Michael Ryder (undisclosed) is well... undisclosed. Forward David Krejci (concussion) is out. Forwards Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome), Marco Sturm (knee), Trent Whitfield (Achilles tendon) and defenseman Johnny Boychuk (arm) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings:

-The Penguins' primary lines in practice yesterday were:

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

-Their defensemen rotated yesterday. Their primary pairings in Saturday's game against the Coyotes were:

Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Alex Goligoski - Zbynek Michalek
Brooks Orpik - Deryk Engelland

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

Milan Lucic - Patrice Bergeron - Nathan Horton
Mark Recchi - Blake Wheeler - Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille - Tyler Seguin - Michael Ryder
Brad Marchand - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Andrew Ference
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Seidenberg
Mark Stuart - Adam McQuaid

Notes:

-Martin is still learning the Penguins' system.

-"I made some decision to play him in games to get that opportunity, and in some case you've got to go with a goalie who's playing well and gives you the best chance to win." - Dan Bylsma on Marc-Andre Fleury.

-Fleury has a 149 career regular season wins. 

-Asham has 99 career regular season assists.

-Bergeron (right) was moved up to the team's first line.

-The Bruins placed forward Jamie Arniel from Providence of the AHL on an emergency basis  while forward Brian McGrattan cleared waivers and was demoted to Providence.

-Recchi has 998 career regular season penalty minutes.

-Television Heads-Up: Don't forget tonight's game is on NHL Network in the United States. If you are a Center Ice or Game Center Live customer and you are located outside of the Pittsburgh or Boston markets, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in. 

(Photos: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Comments (2)

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written by eman41, November 10, 2010 - 09:26 AM

Four goal game by a winger? Ridiculous. Wingers don't score goals.

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written by Ozman51, November 10, 2010 - 01:42 PM

Bergeron owns Sid at the dot.

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