About the Lightning - 02-25-12
A preview of the Lightning.
When and where: 1 p.m. EST. Consol Energy Center.
TV: Root Sports, Sun Sports, NHL Network (United States).
Record: 27-27-6, 60 points. The Lightning is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place the Southeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Steven Stamkos, 73 points (43 goals, 30 assists).
Last Game: 4-3 road loss to the Jets, Thursday. Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos each had a goal and two assists for the Lightning.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-2 road loss, Feb. 12. Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang each had a goal and two assists for the Penguins.
Lightning Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Stamkos. He has 21 points in his past 12 games.
Ex-Penguins on the Lightning: Mathieu Garon, C; Adam Hall, RW; Greg Malone, head professional scout; Ryan Malone, LW; Tim Wallace, RW.
Ex-Lightning on the Penguins: None.
Useless Lightning Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko holds the Lightning's record for most goals in a playoff series. He scored six against the Flyers in the seven-game 2004 Eastern Conference Finals.
Best Lightning Video We Could Find: Lightning forward Martin St. Louis (above) using a quirky backhanded move to score in the shootout against Marc-Andre Fleury in a shootout during the 2006-07 season:
{youtube width="465" height="345"}fnVYDVhAQLc{/youtube}
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (31-14-3, 2.36 GAA, .911 SV%) for the Penguins and Dwayne Roloson (8-11-2, 3.58 GAA; .885 SV%) for the Lightning.
Injuries: For the Penguins, goaltender Brent Johnson (undisclosed) and defenseman Brooks Orpik ("upper body") are day to day. Center Sidney Crosby (head/neck) and center Tyler Kennedy (ankle) are on injured reserve. For the Lightning, defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron (back) and center Vincent Lecvalier ("upper body") are out. Defenseman Mattias Ohlund (knees) and center Dana Tyrell (knee) are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines in practice yesterday were (PG+):
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Steve Sullivan - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Joe Vitale - Arron Asham
Eric Tangradi - Craig Adams - Richard Park
-Their defensemen rotated, based on Orpik's injury and their pairings against the Rangers Tuesday, consider this a guess:
Kris Letang - Paul Martin
Zbynek Michalek - Deryk Engelland
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
-Based on the Lightning's primary lines and defensive pairings against the Jets Thursday and the recent addition of Wallace, consider this a guess:
Teddy Purcell - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis
Tom Pyatt - Nate Thompson - Ryan Malone
Tim Wallace - Adam Hall - J.T. Wyman
Ryan Shannon - Mike Angelidis - Brett Connolly
Victor Hedman - Eric Brewer
Brett Clark - Matt Gilroy
Brendan Mikkelson - Bruno Gervais
Notes:
-The last time the Penguins played the Lightning, this happened:
{youtube width="465" height="266"}bBjwEFlEeZs{/youtube}
-With Johnson questionable, the Penguins recalled Brad Thiessen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
-Malkin squares off against Stamkos today for the league leading scoring.
-Tangradi has improved defensively. (PG+)
-Wallace is expected to make his Lightning debut today.
-Our live blog begins at approximately noon. Please tune in.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)