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Friday, 25 March 2011 10:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Devils.

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

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus.

Record: 35-34-4, 72 points. The Devils are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Patrik Elias, 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists).

Last Game: 4-1 road loss to the Bruins, Tuesday. Martin Brodeur (right) made 26 saves for the Devils.

Last Game against the Penguins: 2-1 overtime home win, March 4. Brent Johnson made 28 saves for the Penguins.

Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Kovalchuk. He has 37 points in 34 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: The Devils are the only team to ever get four-goal games from two players in the same game against the Penguins. Forwards John Madden and Randy McKay each got four goals against the Penguins in a 9-0 win at the Mellon Arena, Oct. 28, 2000. Garth Snow allowed five goals while Jean-Sebastien Aubin allowed three of the goals.

Best Devils Video We Could Find: Former Devils antagonist Claude Lemieux giving a sneaky cheap shot to former Islanders defenseman Brett Lindros from the bench:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (32-18-5, 2.35 GAA, .917 SV%) for the Penguins and Martin Brodeur (21-23-2, 2.46 GAA, .902 SV%) for the Devils.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Dustin Jeffrey ("lower body") is questionable. Goaltender Brent Johnson ("upper-body") and forward Mark Letestu (shoulder) are day to day. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), 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 primary lines and defensive pairings against the Flyers last night were:

James Neal - *-Dustin Jeffrey - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Arron Asham

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

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

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

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

*-Jeffrey left last night's game due to a "lower-body" injury.

Notes:

-Matt Cooke is serving a suspension.

-The Penguins have a chance at setting the best penalty killing mark in franchise history.

-Kovalev has 199 career assists and 349 career points with the Penguins.

-Staal has 99 career assists.

-Letang has 98 career assists.

-Dupuis has 146 career assists.

-Parise participated in his first full practice in nearly five months and accompanied the team to Pittsburgh but is not expected to play.

-To put it mildly, bringing back Jacques Lemaire to coach has been a somewhat positive move for the Devils.

-Zajac (right) has appeared in 399 career games.

-Clarkson has 99 career points.

-Rolston has 398 career assists.

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

(Photo: Brodeur-Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press; Zajac-Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Comments (6)

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written by Pens Fan in Michigan, March 25, 2011 - 12:13 PM

So with Brent Johnson dealing with his minor injury, MAF starts in back-to-back games. Have to wonder if Johnson would have started if healthy.

As for Dustin Jeffrey, his injury looked bad on TV last night. I would be suprised to see him play tonight.

So if Jeffrey is out, who goes into the line-up? Eric Godard hasn't played since his suspension. The Devils don't have a designated goon, so I don't think Godard is required. Could we see the return of the Big Dog, Eric Tangradi, tonight?

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written by LetsGoPens87, March 25, 2011 - 02:45 PM

Mike Comrie is taking Jeffrey's place in the lineup, with Rupp moving to center

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written by Disgruntled Goat, March 25, 2011 - 03:08 PM

When Comrie decided to have his surgery, I figured that we had seen the last of him in a Penguin uniform.

If I recall correctly, Brett Lindros was a right wing.

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written by Boom Shaka, March 25, 2011 - 04:10 PM

Don't start Theissen. His confidence was smashed by Sid this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSorn258qbo&feature=player_embedded

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written by hockeydude63, March 26, 2011 - 07:26 AM

I have been Watching Neil the last few games now. He has stepped into the Pens offese quite nicely. Remember, he's only been here a little more then a month, it takes a little bit to build chemistry and learn the system. I love what I see.

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written by hockeydude63, March 26, 2011 - 07:30 AM

Old News, Matt Cooke, please gather your head, love your enthusiasum, you're forgiven, but don't do it again, or the gallows will haunt you!

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