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Monday, 05 December 2011 11:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Bruins.

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

TV: Root Sports, NESN.

Record: 16-7-1, 33 points. The Bruins are in second place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Northeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Tyler Seguin, 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists).

Last Game: 4-1 home win against the Maple Leafs, Saturday. Nathan Horton (right) and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 overtime home loss. Dustin Jeffrey had two goals, including one in overtime, for the Penguins.

Bruins Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Horton. He has a seven-game scoring streak against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Bruins: Andrew Ference, D.

Ex-Bruins on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Bill Guerin, player development coach; Andre Savard, professional scout.

Useless Bruins Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The last player to record a hat trick in the playoffs against the Bruins was former Penguins forward Kevin Stevens. He had four goals in a 5-1 road win in Game 3 of the Wales Conference Final.

Best Bruins Video We Could Find: A highlight from last season's Stanley Cup Final. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas dropping Canucks captain Henrik Sedin in Game 3:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (14-4-2, 2.11 GAA, .923 SV%) for the Penguins and Tim Thomas (12-4-0, 1.93 GAA; .936 SV%) for the Bruins.

Injuries: For the Penguins, defensemen Deryk Engelland ("lower body") and Zbynek Michalek (head) are questionable. Defensemen Kris Letang (head) is doubtful. Defensemen Ben Lovejoy (left wrist), Brian Strait (elbow), center Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and left winger Steve MacIntyre (undisclosed) are on injured reserve. For the Bruins, center Marc Savard (concussion) is on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines at against the Hurricanes Saturday were:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Arron Asham - Richard Park - Craig Adams

Matt Niskanen - Brooks Orpik
Paul Martin - Deryk Engelland
Simon Despres  - Robert Bortuzzo

The Bruins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Maple Leafs Saturday were:

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot - Chris Kelly - Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg - Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Notes:

-"Right now, they're the team to beat, not us." - Asham on the Bruins.

-“It’s a good thing for us right now, with where we’re at right now with our team to give us one of the best possible challenges we could have." - Bruins coach Claude Julien on the Penguins.

-The last time the Penguins played the Bruins, this happened (1:33 mark):

-Engelland has appeared in 99 career games.

-Letang has 148 career points.

-Dupuis has 298 career points.

-Asham has 198 career points.

-Orpik has 97 career points.

-Park has 97 career goals.

-Martin has 196 career points.

-Cooke has 998 career penalty minutes.

-The Bruins have recorded points in 14 consecutive games.

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

(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)

Comments (2)

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written by Basher McG, December 05, 2011 - 11:14 AM

Anyone out there with more hockey knowledge than me: I read that they put LeTang on IR retroactively, and he is eligible to come off IR at any time. What is the thinking behind this? Is there something about the IR rules that putting LeTang on it, then being able to immediately remove him from it, benefits the organization? Thanks

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written by jethro, December 05, 2011 - 12:32 PM

Putting Letang on IR opens up a spot on the 23 man roster.

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