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Tuesday, 27 December 2011 14:04

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Hurricanes.

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

TV: Root Sports, Fox Sports Carolina.

Record: 12-19-6, 30 points. The Hurricanes are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Southeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Jeff Skinner, 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists).

Last Game: 4-2 home win against the Penguins, last night. Cam Ward made 23 saves and was credited with a goal for the Hurricanes.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 home loss, Dec. 3. Craig Adams had a goal and an assist for the Penguins.

Hurricanes Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Tuomo Ruutu (above). He has a five-game scoring streak.

Ex-Penguins on the Hurricanes: Tom Barrasso, assistant coach; Tim Brent, C; Ron Francis, director of player development; Alexei Ponikarovsky, LW; Jim Rutherford general manager/president.

Ex-Hurricanes on the Penguins: Craig Adams, RW.

Useless Hurricanes Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Current Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller is one of two first-round picks from the 1984 draft who have coached in the NHL. The other is former Penguins coach Ed Olczyk.

Best Hurricanes/Whalers Video We Could Find: Former Whalers center Andrew Cassels scoring a goal with his face against the Penguins in the 1993-94 season:

(On second thought, that's not actually a "best" video for anyone involved.)

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (18-7-2, 2.25 GAA, .917 SV%) for the Penguins and Justin Peters (3-5-1, 3.98 GAA; .875 SV% in 2010-11) for the Hurricanes. Peters has not played in the NHL this season.

Injuries: Defenseman Paul Martin ("lower body") is doubtful. Defensemen Robert Bortuzzo (head), Kris Letang (head), centers Sidney Crosby (head), Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and right winger Richard Park (foot) are on injured reserve. For the Hurricanes, right winger Patrick Dwyer (undisclosed) is questionable. Goaltender Brian Boucher ("lower body"), defenseman Joni Pitkanen (head) and center Jeff Skinner (head) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines at today's morning skate were:

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Pascal Dupuis - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Joe Vitale - Steve Sullivan
Arron Asham - Craig Adams - Jason Williams

Brooks Orpik - Matt Niskanen
Simon Despres - Zbynek Michalek
Alexandre Picard - Ben Lovejoy

-The Hurricanes' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Devils last night were:

Drayson Bowman - Eric Staal - Chad LaRose
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jussi Jokinen - Tuomo Ruutu
Jiri Tlusty - Brandon Sutter - Patrick Dwyer-*
Andreas Nodl - Tim Brent - Anthony Stewart

Tim Gleason - Jamie McBain
Jay Harrison - Justin Faulk
Jaroslav Spacek - Bryan Allen

*-Dwyer suffered an undisclosed injury last night. His availability for tonight's game is not known. With Dwyer injured, the Hurricanes recalled forward Zac Dalpe from Charlotte of the AHL.

Notes:

-With a win tonight, Dan Bylsma will tie his predecessor, Michel Therrien, for second-most coaching wins in franchise history with 135. Eddie Johnston holds the franchise record with 232.

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

-Deryk Engelland is suspended.

-Jordan Staal has played in 399 career games.

-Martin has 197 career points.

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

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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