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Tuesday, 31 January 2012 14:03

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Maple Leafs.

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

TV: Root Sports, TSN.

Record: 25-19-5, 55 points. The Maple Leafs are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and third place in the Northeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Joffrey Lupul (right), 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists).

Last Game: 4-3 overtime road win against the Islanders, Jan. 25. Clarke MacArthur had two goals and an assist for the Maple Leafs

Last Game against the Penguins: 4-3 home win, Oct. 29. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for the Penguins.

Maple Leafs Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: MacArthur. He has two goals and two assists in his last three games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Maple Leafs: Colby Armstrong, RW.

Ex-Maple Leafs on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Steve Sullivan, LW.

Useless Maple Leafs Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The only Maple Leafs player to wear No. 99 for the Maple Leafs is former Penguins forward Wilf Paiement.

Best Maple Leafs Video We Could Find: Former Penguins and Maple Leafs forward Eddie Shack pitching for a hotel:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (26-12-2, 2.25 GAA, .913 SV%) for the Penguins and Jonas Gustavsson (16-10-0, 2.73 GAA, .910 SV%) for the Maple Leafs.

Injuries: For the Penguins, right winger Arron Asham (head) is out. Centers Sidney Crosby (head), Jordan Staal (knee) and defensemen Simon Despres (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Maple Leafs, left winger Darryl Boyce (back) is doubtful. Right winger Colby Armstorng (concussion) and John-Michael Liles (head/neck) are on injured reserve.

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

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Pascal Dupuis - Dustin Jeffrey - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Richard Park - Steve Sullivan
Colin McDonald - Joe Vitale - Colin McDonald-*

Brook Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Deryk Engelland

(*-McDonald had not yet arrived for the monring skate today but is expected to play on the fourth line.)

-The Maple Leafs primary lines and defensive pairings at today's morning skate were:

Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Matthew Lombardi - Tim Connelly - Nazem Kadri
Joey Crabb - David Steckel - Mike Brown

Dion Phaneuf - Luke Schenn
Carl Gunnarsson - Mike Komisarek
Jake Gardiner - Cody Franson

Notes:

-The Penguins are expected to make an announcement regarding Sidney Crosby today.

-The Penguins' third line might be the shortest and oldest in the NHL.

-Welcome back Colin McDonald.

-Park has scored 99 career goals.

-Kennedy has 145 career points.

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

(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

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