About the Lightning - 10-27-10
A preview of the Lightning.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., St. Pete Times Forum.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, Sun Sports.
Record: 5:2-1, 11 points. The Lightning is in second place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Southeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Steven Stamkos (right), 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists).
Last Game: 4-3 home loss to the Predators, Sunday. Dan Ellis made 26 saves for the Lightning.
Last Game against the Penguins: 2-0 road win, March 31. Marc-Andre Fleury made 15 saves for the Penguins.
Lightning Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: It's kind of hard to not go with Stamkos at this point. He has scored in all but one game this season.
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 first player in Lightning history to wear No. 1 was former Penguins goaltender Wendell Young.
Best Lightning Video We Could Find: Thunderbug, the Lightning's mascot, is a two-timer apparently:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (1-3-0, 3.25 GAA, .859 SV%) for the Penguins and Mike Smith (4-0-0, 3.12 GAA, .884 SV%) for the Lightning.
Injuries: For the Penguins, right winger Eric Godard (illness) is out. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek (shoulder) is out. Center Jordan Staal (foot) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Lightning, defensemen Matt Smaby (illness) and Mattias Ohlund (knee) are questionable. Center Dominic Moore (groin) and Brett Clark (wrist) are day to day. Left winger Simon Gagne (neck) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings:
-The Penguins lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Comrie - Mark Letestu - Evgeni Malkin
Matt Cooke - Maxime Talbot - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland
Brooks Orpik - Ben Lovejoy
-The Lightning has not practiced with a full lineup the past two days. Its primary lines and defensive pairings against the Predators Sunday were:
Martin St. Louis - Steven Stamkos - Steve Downie
Sean Bergenheim - Vincent Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell
Adam Hall - Nate Thompson - Dana Tyrell
Ryan Malone - Dominic Moore
Matt Smaby - Randy Jones
Brett Clark - Victor Hedman
Mike Lundin - Pavel Kubina
Michael Vernance
Notes:
-The Penguins are getting some serious offense from the blue line.
-Jordan Staal is still on the mend.
-Dan Bylsma apparently has Stamkos on his fantasy team.
-"We were going into the playoffs and we were coming back late, and there were a lot of people outside. The people had stayed overnight to get tickets. He didn't say anything. He went to Tim Hortons and got muffins and donuts and juices and coffee for everybody and shook everybody's hand and thanked them for being there, so that was different." - Lightning coach Guy Boucher on Sidney Crosby (right) being a totally immature jerk. Boucher was an assistant coach for Rimouski Oceanic, Crosby's junior team.
-Welcome back Arron Asham.
-Fleury has 149 career wins.
-With Gagne on injured reserve, the Lightning recalled forward Blair Jones from Norfolk of the AHL.
-The Lightning is not a healthy outfit (PG+).
-St. Louis is expected to play in his 399th consecutive regular season game tonight.
-Kubina is one goal shy of breaking Dan Boyle's franchise record for goals by a defenseman (66).
-How bad has the Lightning's attendance been this season? Well... if you ride a bike to the game, you get in for free.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7:30 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photos: Stamkos-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Crosby-Dave Sandford/Getty Images)