About the Devils - 01-20-11

A preview of the Devils.

When and where: 7 p.m., The Prudential Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus, NHL Network (United States).

Record: 13-29-3, 29 points. The Devils are in last place in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Patrik Elias (right), 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists).

Last Game: 5-2 road win against the Islanders, Monday. Rod Pelley and Mattias Tedenby each had a goal and an assist for the Devils.

Last Game against the Penguins: 2-1 road loss, Dec. 6. Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins.

Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Jason Arnott. He has points in his last four games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Devils: Johan Hedberg, G.

Ex-Devils on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Paul Martin D; Mike Rupp, C.

Useless Devils Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Rupp is one of three one-time Penguins who have worn No 17 for the Devils. The others are Tom Chorske and Petr Sykora.

Best Devils Video We Could Find: Rupp scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup final:

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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (21-11-2, 2.26 GAA, .922 SV%) for the Penguins and Martin Brodeur (8-18-2, 2.97 GAA, .890 SV%) for the Devils.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (leg) are out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Eric Godard (nose) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Devils, defenseman Matt Corrente (shoulder) is out. Defensemen Bryce Salvador (concussion), Matt Taormina (ankle) and forward Zach Parise (knee) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins did not practice with a full crew yesterday. This is a semi-educated guess at their line combinations:

Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Kunitz - Mark Letestu - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Dustin Jeffrey - Craig Adams - Arron Asham

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland

The Devils lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:

Colin White - Andy Greene
Anton Volchenkov - Mark Fraser
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne

Notes:

-If you can imagine such a thing, the Penguins haven't offered a time table regarding Malkin's injury.

-This will be the first time since Malkin came into the NHL that the Penguins have played without either him or Crosby in the lineup.

-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.

-Despite their rotten record, Devils coach Jacques Lemaire says the Devils are a good team.

-Kovalchuk is starting to warm up. He has five points in his last four games.

-Zubrus has 299 career assists.

-Volchenkov has 96 career points.

-Television Heads-Up: Don't forget tonight's game is on NHL Network in the United States. If you are a Center Ice or Game Center Live customer and you are located outside of the Pittsburgh or Newark markets, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)