Pittsburgh Penguins (11-4-3) at Atlanta Thrashers (7-8-2)

Intriguing matchup: The Altanta Thrashers are 5-1 in their past 6 games and the Penguins are 6-0-1 in their past seven games

Penguins projected Lineup

Talbot – Crosby – Satan

Fedotenko – Malkin – Sykora

Cooke – Staal – Kennedy

Dupuis – Zigomanis – Godard

D-Pairs

Orpik – Letang

Gill – Scuderi

Goligoski – Boucher

Dany Sabourin will start in goal

Thrashers Projected Lineup

Kovalchuk – Christensen – Williams

Kozlov РWhite – Little

Thorburn РReasoner – Armstrong

Perrin РSlater – Boulton

D-Pairs

Hainsey – Exelby

Enstrom – Havelid

Valabik – Oystrick

Pavelec is expected to start in goal

Thrashers on the rise: The Thrashers play a wide open game and tonight will see a lot of up and down action. The Thrashers struggled out of the gate but have won 5 out of their last 6 games. While Ilya Kovalchuk (6 goals – 10 assists – 16pts) is off to a slow start for his standards, the Thrashers have received strong production from forwards Bryan Little (9 goals – 8 assists – 17 points) and Slava Kozlov (10 goals – 6 assists – 16pts) Kozlov has scored 6 goals in his last 7 games. Ilya Kovalchuk has 17 goals, 30 points in 23 career games against the Penguins.

“I’m more than satisfied. He’s a great addition for our club. He adds a presence physically and makes a good first pass, and he’s got a cannon out there when he shoots the puck.”

Player to Watch: C Bryan Little (9 goals – 8 assists – 17 points)

The 20 year forward leads the Thrashers in scoring and Little is a dynamic offensive player.

Michel Therrien on Marc Andre Fleury’s status

Michel Therrien sounded optimistic on Tuesday that Marc Andre Fleury would be able to play by the weekend but following today’s mornings skate, Therrien was less optimistic.

Key stats

Former Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Colby Armstrong and Eric Christensen face off against the Penguins for the second time since being traded at last year’s trade deadline. The Penguins won the first meeting 3-2 in a shootout on March 2nd, 2008. Armstrong and Christensen have combined for 15 pts this season. Both players are averaging over 15:00 minutes in ice time.

The Thrashers were 2-1-1 against the Penguins last season

Ruslan Fedotenko has 9 goals – 12 assists – 21 points in 38 career games against the Thrashers

Photo courtesy of Dan4th