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Sunday, 20 February 2011 11:01

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Blackhawks.

When and where: 3:30 p.m., United Center.

TV: NBC.

Record: 29-23-6, 64 points. The Blackhawks are in 11th place in the Western Conference and third place in the Central Division.

Leading Scorer: Patrick Sharp (right), 52 points (30 goals, 22 assists).

Last Game: 4-3 home loss to the Blue Jackets, Friday. Sharp had two goals and an assist for the Blackhawks.

Last Game against the Penguins: 2-1 overtime road win, Dec 5, 2009. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the Penguins.

Blackhawks Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Marian Hossa. The ex-Penguin has ripped up his former team for 43 points in 37 regular season games.

Ex-Penguins on the Blackhawks: Marc Bergevin, director, player personnel; Dennis Bonvie, professional scout; Scotty Bowman, senior advisor, hockey operations; Marian Hossa, RW;  Norm Maciver, director of player development; Ed Olczyk, broadcaster.

Ex-Blackhawks on the Penguins: Craig Adams, RW; Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Gilles Meloche, goaltending coach.

Useless Blackhawks Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The last goaltender to record a postseason shutout against the Blackhawks was current Penguins netminder Brent Johnson. In fact, Johnson has the last three postseason shutouts against Chicago. He won Games 2, 3 and 4 by scores of 2-0, 4-0 and 1-0 in a 2002 Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Best Blackhawks Video We Could Find: Anthems are kind of a big deal in Chicago:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (27-14-2, 2.29 GAA, .920 SV%) for the Penguins and Corey Crawford (18-12-3, 2.16 GAA, .921 SV%) for the Blackhawks.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Nick Johnson ("upper body") is doubtful. Forwards Arron Asham (concussion), Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Dustin Jeffrey (leg), Chris Kunitz ("lower body"), Mark Letestu (knee), Evgeni Malkin (knee) and Eric Tangradi (concussion) are on injured reserve. For the Blackhawks, forward Fernando Pisani (head) is day to day. Forward Ryan Johnson ("upper-body") is on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: Based on their primary lines at practice yesterday and the recall of Tim Wallace, the Penguins potential lines for today will be:

Brett Sterling - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Craig Adams - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Max Talbot - Chris Conner
Ryan Craig - Joe Vitale - Tim Wallace

-All seven defensemen practiced yesterday. Their primary pairings against the Avalanche Wednesday were:

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

-The Blackhawks primary lines and defensive pairings against the Blue Jackets Friday were:

Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Michael Frolik - Dave Bolland - Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell - Tomas Kopecky - Troy Brouwer
Victor Stalberg - Jake Dowell - John Scott

Duncan Keith - Nick Leddy
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brent Seabrook
Jordan Hendry - Brian Campbell

Notes:

-Eric Godard is serving a suspension.

-Welcome back Matt Cooke.

-Welcome back Tim Wallace.

-Fleury has played in 349 career games.

-Michalek has 98 career assists.

-Quirky Stat of the Day: Assuming he plays today, Brooks Orpik will tie Lee Norwood (right) for most NHL regular season games played (503) by a California-born player.

-Crosby will miss his team's only game against the Blackhawks for the third consecutive season.

-Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was released from the hospital yesterday following treatment for a stomach ulcer. He is expected to miss the game. Assistant coach Mike Milke Haviland will run the team.

-For some reason, 6-foot-8, 258-pound defenseman/forward John Scott can't find anyone willing to fight him.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 3:30 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photos: Sharp-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Norwood-eBay)

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