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Thursday, 31 March 2011 10:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Lightning.

When and where: 7:30 p.m. St. Pete Times Forum.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, Sun Sports.

Record: 41-24-11, 93 points. The Lightning is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Southeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Martin St. Louis, 91 points (29 goals, 62 assists).

Last Game: 5-2 home win against the Senators Tuesday. Dominic Moore had two goals and an assist for the Lightning.

Last Game against the Penguins: 8-1 road loss Jan. 5. Chris Kunitz had a hat trick for the Penguins.

Lightning Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Simon Gagne (above). He has points in seven out of his past nine games..

Ex-Penguins on the Lightning: Adam Hall, RW; Greg Malone, head professional scout; Ryan Malone, LW; Dominic Moore, C.

Ex-Lightning on the Penguins: None.

Useless Lightning Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The oldest player in the history of the Lightning franchise was former Penguins forward Gary Roberts. At the time of his final game with Tampa Bay, Roberts was 42 years, nine months and 28 days old.

Best Lightning Video We Could Find: An oldie but a goodie. Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier and Calgary's Jarome Iginla duking it out in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (34-19-5, 2.32 GAA, .918 SV%) for the Penguins and Dwayne Roloson (21-24-5, 2.64 GAA, .912 SV%) for the Lightning.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Dustin Jeffrey ("lower body") is out. Forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Lightning, defenseman Randy Jones ("lower body") is day to day. Forward Ryan Malone (abdomen) is on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines in practice yesterday were (PG+):

Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Chris Conner - Max Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Mike Comrie
Eric Tangradi - Eric Godard - Arron Asham

-All seven defensemen skated. Their primary pairings against the Flyers Tuesday were:

Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy

-The Lightning's lines in practice yesterday were:

Simon Gagne - Steven Stamkos - Steve Downie
Nate Thompson - Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St Louis
Adam Hall - Dominic Moore - Dana Tyrell
Ryan Malone - Teddy Purcell - Sean Bergenheim

Their primary defensive pairings against the Senators Tuesday were:

Victor Hedman - Pavel Kubina
Matt Lundin - Eric Brewer
Brett Clark - Mattias Ohlund

Notes:

-Matt Cooke is serving a suspension.

-The Penguins don't want to run and gun with the Lightning.

-It's looking like the Penguins and Lightning will meet in the first round of the playoffs.

-Staal has 99 career assists.

-Letang has 99 career assists.

-Comrie has 197 career assists.

-Dupuis has 146 career assists.

-The last time the Penguins and Lightning played, this happened:

-Malone is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. (PG+) He has been sidelined since Feb. 8.

-With Malone's potential return, the Lightning demoted Mattias Ritola to Norfolk of the AHL.

-Hedman has appeared in 149 career games.

-St. Louis has 296 career goals.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 7:30 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photos: Abelimages/Getty Images)

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