Penguins/NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins (40-22-4-84 pts) @ Carolina Hurricanes (27-31-8-62 pts)
Head coach Dan Bylsma will not have to make a tough decision on who sits tonight upfront as winger Tyler Kennedy remains bothered by a nagging groin injury and will not play tonight, according to a team source.
Pascal Dupuis will replace Kennedy on the third line with Matt Cooke and Jordan Staal.
Winger Billy Guerin will return to the lineup after missing the past three games with back spasms. Guerin will be back on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz.
I’m told that based on the morning skate, Brent Johnson is likely to start in goal with Marc Andre Fleury starting Friday night against New Jersey and Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Penguins Lineup
Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin
Ponikarovsky – Malkin – Fedotenko
Cooke – Staal – Dupuis
Rupp – Adams – Talbot
Defensemen
Orpik – Letang
Eaton – Gonchar
Leopold – Golioski
*Brent Johnson will start in goal
Hurricanes Lineup
Whitney-Staal-Jokinen
Samsonov-Brind’Amour-Kostopoulos
Larose-Sutter-Ruutu
Dwyer-Boychuk-Cole
Defensemen
Gleason-Pothier
Pitkanen-Carson
Harrison-Picard
*Justin Peters will start in goal
