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Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Rangers.

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

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG 2, Versus.

Record: 18-13-1, 37 points. The Rangers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and third place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Brandon Dubinsky, 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists).

Last Game: 7-0 home win against the Capitals, Sunday. Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves for the Rangers.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-1 home loss, Nov. 29. Pascal Dupuis had two assists for the Penguins.

Rangers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Chris Drury (above). It is his first game back from a broken fingure suffered in October. He'll step up. Plus he has points in six of his last seven games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Rangers: Erik Christensen, C; Ruslan Fedotenko, LW; Rick Kehoe, professional scout; Michal Rozsival, D.

Ex-Rangers on the Penguins: Phil Bourque, broadcaster; Pascal Dupuis, RW; Bob Errey, broadcaster; Tony Granato, assistant coach; Kevin Stevens, professional scout.

Useless Rangers Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Lester Patrick, the grandfather of former Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, holds the Rangers' franchise record for playoff series wins with 15.

Best Rangers Video We Could Find: Rangers forward Sean Avery is a fan of Maxime Talbot's fighting style:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (14-7-1, 2.35 GAA, .914 SV%) for the Penguins and Henrik Lundqvist (13-11-1, 2.46 GAA, .919 SV%) for the Rangers.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Chris Kunitz (undisclosed) is day to day. Forwards Mike Comrie (undisclosed), Jordan Staal (hand) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Rangers, forward Derek Boogaard (shoulder) is out. Forward Vaclav Prospal (knee) is on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Flyers yesterday were:

Evgeni Malkin - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Maxime Talbot - Arron Asham
Chris Conner - Mark Letestu - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Dustin Jeffrey - Craig Adams

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

-The Rangers' primary lines in practice yesterday were:

Ruslan Fedotenko - Derek Stepan - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky - Artem Anisimov - Ryan Callahan
Alex Frolov - Brian Boyle - Brandon Prust
Sean Avery - Erik Christensen - Chris Drury/Todd White

-Their primary defensive pairings against the Capitals were:

Marc Staal - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Michal Rozsival
Steve Eminger - Mike Sauer

Notes:

-The Penguins cancelled today's morning skate.

-After last night's game, Dan Bylsma actually said Kunitz' availalibility for tonight's game was "doubtful."

-Talbot has 49 career goals and 47 career assists.

-Kennedy has 49 career assists.

-Martin has 148 career assists.

-With Drury anticipated return today, either Christensen or White are expected to be a healthy scratch.

-The Rangers claim they won't seek revenge for Crosby's slew foot on Callahan in the Nov. 29 game.

-Television Heads Up: Versus will carry the game outside of the Pittsburgh and New York markets. If you planned on watching it through Center Ice or GameCenter, please make alternative plans.

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

Comments (1)

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written by eman41, December 15, 2010 - 02:58 PM

Blackout games on GameCenter are very...very annoying.

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