About the Lightning - 01-02-10

Written by Seth Rorabaugh on Friday, 01 January 2010 11:28 pm.

A preview of the Lightning.

When and where: 3 p.m., St. Pete Times Forum.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, Sun Sports, RIS.

Record: 15-15-10, 40 points, The Lightning is in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and third place in the Southeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Martin St. Louis (right), 44 points (eight goals, 36 assists).

Last Game: 2-1 overtime home loss, Wednesday. Mike Smith made 33 saves for the Lightning

Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road loss, Oct. 17. Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist.

Lightning Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Martin St. Louis. He has a seven-game point-scoring streak.

Ex-Penguins on the Lightning: Greg Malone, head professional scout; Ryan Malone, LW; Rick Tocchet, head coach

Ex-Lightning on the Penguins: Ruslan Fedotenko, LW.

Useless Lightning Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: This one is actually not useless. Lightning forward and former Penguin Ryan Malone leads the NHL with seven short-handed goals. Fire Ray Shero.

Best Lightning YouTube Video We Could Find: Former Penguins defenseman Jim Johnson works as a development coach for the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Norfold Admirals:

Notes:

-Marc-Andre Fleury (22-11-1, 2.49 GAA, .907 SV%) and Mike Smith (8-10-7, 2.97 GAA, .904 GAA) are your expected starters in net.

-For the Penguins, Sergei Gonchar (foot) is questionable.

-For the Lightning, forwards Todd Fedoruk ("lower body"), Jeff Halpern ("lower body") and defenseman Matt Walker ("lower body") are on injured reserve.

-"By no means do we think we're anywhere close to where we can get." - Mark Eaton on the Penguins entering the second half of the season.

-Brooks Orpik is going to Vancouver.

-"Pittsburgh’s lost three in a row. They don’t do that every often. The odds of them losing games after three in a row lessen. We know the warning is we’ve got to be ready to play." - Lightning coach Rick Tocchet (PG+).

-"I never thought I'd ever be on an Olympic team." - Ryan Malone on being selected to the United States' Olympic roster.

-Malone has helped set a new standard for Pittsburgh-area hockey players.

-Lightning forward Blair Jones, a call-up from Norfolk, has earned the trust of Rick Tocchet.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 3 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)