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Friday, 04 March 2011 11:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Devils.

When and where: 7 p.m., The Prudential Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus, NHL Network (United States).

Record: 28-31-4, 60 points. The Devils are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Patrik Elias, 46 points (14 goals, 32 assists).

Last Game: 2-1 home win against the Lightning, Wednesday. Ilya Kovalchuk (right) had a goal and an assist for the Devils.

Last Game against the Penguins: 2-0 home win, Jan. 20. It was the first time the Penguins played a game without both Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin in the lineup since Malkin debuted in 2006-07.

Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Kovalchuk. He has points in 13 of his last 14 games. And he has 36 points in 33 career games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Devils: Johan Hedberg, G.

Ex-Devils on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Paul Martin D; Mike Rupp, C.

Useless Devils Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Three men have coached each the Devils franchise and the Penguins: Johnny Wilson, Herb Brooks and Kevin Constantine.

Best Devils Video We Could Find: When former Devils forward Jim Dowd tells you to buy a carpet, you dang well better buy it:

Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (9-5-2, 2.26 GAA, .917SV%) for the Penguins and Martin Brodeur (15-19-2, 2.64 GAA, .900 SV%) for the Devils.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Arron Asham (concussion), Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Eric Tangradi (concussion) and defenseman Brooks Orpik (finger) are on injured reserve. For the Devils, defensemen Matt Corrente (shoulder), Bryce Salvador (concussion), Matt Taormina (ankle) and forward Zach Parise (knee) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:

Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Maxime Talbot - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Chris Conner

Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Kris Letang - Deryk Engelland
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy

The Devils did not practice yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Lightning Wednesday were:

Ilya Kovalchuk - Travis Zajac - Nick Palmieri
Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Vladimir Zharkov - Dave Steckel - David Clarkson
Rod Pelley - Jacob Josefson - Mattias Tedenby

Colin White - Anton Volchenkov
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Anssi Salmela - Andy Greene

Notes:

-Eric Godard is serving a suspension.

-Forward Chris Kunitz ("lower-body") has been activated off injured reserve.

-So far, so good for Matt Niskanen.

-Kennedy has played in 249 career games.

-Michalek has 99 career assists.

-Kovalev has 348 career points with the Penguins.

-Cooke has 298 career points.

-Letang has 96 career assists.

-"It's almost a tale of two seasons for them." - Dan Bylsma on the Devils' second-half success.

-The Devils are 18-2-2 in their past 22 games.

-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 Newark markets, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (5)

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written by TommySnark, March 04, 2011 - 12:00 PM

Predicting 3-0 Devils, goals from Steckel, Elias and an EN from Kovalchuk.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 12:09 PM

-The Devils are 18-2-2 in their past 22 games.

That's just ridiculous. No, really.

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written by Boom Shaka, March 04, 2011 - 01:37 PM

Isn't it ridiculous?

So much for me thinking that Lemaire would be banned from hockey for employing the awful trap.

I'll be a homer, Neal scores two goals tonight. Pens 3-1.

Here's to hopin'!

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written by Disgruntled Goat, March 04, 2011 - 03:11 PM

Devils vs. Flyers in the first round would be classic.

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written by Boom Shaka, March 04, 2011 - 03:48 PM

10 games...what a joke.

I'd be scared to see what he would have to do to get the rest of the season.

Although, I guess I should be happy they didn't go as light on Gillies as I thought they would.

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