Penguins/Thrashers Lineup News – Kovalchuk out

***Morning Skate Update***

The Penguins just concluded their morning skate. There will be no lineup changes from Sunday’s game other than Marc Andre Fleury starting in goal. It was believed Craig Adams would get back into the lineup tonight but he was the extra forward in the skate.

As expected Evgeni Malkin did participate in today’s morning skate and will play tonight.

The Atlanta Thrashers on a 6 game winning streak will be without forward Ilya Kovalchuk tonight who has missed the Thrashers last two games. Ilya Kovalchuk did not make the trip to Pittsburgh and head coach John Anderson indicated Kovalchuk will likely return to the lineup on Friday for the Thrashers.

Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin

Fedotenko – Malkin – Sykora

Cooke – Staal – Kennedy

Dupuis – Talbot – Godard

Orpik – Gonchar

Eaton – Letang

Gill – Scuderi

* Marc Andre Fleury will start in goal

Scratched: Craig Adams

Power Play Changes: The Penguins first unit will officially see Evgeni Malkin off the left point for tonight’s game. The Penguins worked on the power play this morning with Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang on the points.

The Penguins had Evgeni Malkin moving around a lot with Sidney Crosby still playing right top circle for the majority of the time. Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz alternated with Kunitz getting a few more reps.

Boucher picking up regiment: Defenseman Philippe Boucher was the first player on the ice this morning. He was woking heavily on his lateral movement and I’m still hearing he is about a week from coming off of injured reserve.

WBS Report: Miroslav Satan had a four point night ( 1 goal – 3 assists) in his first minor league game since 1995. Satan will be back with the Penguins once the playoffs begin. He could give the Penguins some options for their second line.

Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen stopped a career-high 49 shots to lead the Thrashers to a franchise-record sixth consecutive victory, 5-1 over the Washington Capitals Monday night.

Forward Colby Amstrong scored his 17th goal of the season (career high) Monday night. Armstrong is a fan favorite in Atlanta as he was in Pittsburgh. The Thrashers have all intentions of locking up Armstrong long-term. Head coach John Anderson speaks very highly of Armstrong.

Kozlov – White – Little

Sterling – Peverley – Armstrong

Stuart – Reasoner – Machacek

Boulton – Perrin – Thorburn

Bogosian – Enstrom

Valabik – Oystrick

Salmele – Exelby

Lineup News: The Thrashers will without forwards Ilya Kovalchuk, Jon Slater and defensemen Ron Hainsey