Gameday: Pens @ Lightning, 7:30pm, FSN

Let's all have a moment of silence for FSN, which will become ROOT sports at midnight.

Now on with the game.  The Pens (45-24-8, 98 pts) are on a little Florida road trip this weekend and will start by facing the Tampa Bay Lightning (41-24-11, 93 pts).  This could be a preview of the first round of the playoffs as the Penguins are comfortably in 4th place with this 5 point lead over the Lightning and Tampa sits comfortably in 5th place with a 4 point lead over 6th place Montreal.  As Dan Bylsma stated today, this is a game in which both teams are going to want to make a statement in case they see each other for elimination in two weeks.

Tampa Bay is coming off of a 5-2 win over Ottawa in which Dominic Moore came out with a 3 point night.  Dwayne Roloson got the start last night and made 31 saves.  Roloson will start again tonight, but has pretty dismal numbers against the Penguins lately.  Roloson has lost his last 4 against the Penguins a 5.40 GAA.  The Lightning as a team haven't fared well against the Penguins, losing their last 2 against them.  Tampa does get a boost tonight with the return of Ryan Malone from a groin injury.  (Remember when people were upset we didn't re-sign him?  Where are those people now?)

The Penguins will be making a lineup change of their own tonight.  It appears Mike Comrie will back in the lineup in the place of Arron Asham.  Personally, I'm in favor of this move because Comrie may at least flash some skill while Asham just seems out of place on this team.  In the long run, I don't think either of these guys will be wearing a Penguins jersey next year.  It appears the Penguins will go with the same defensive pairs as the last game. 

Neal-Letestu-Kovalev
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Dupuis-Talbot-Conner
Rupp-Adams-Comrie

Letang-Orpik
Martin-Michalek
Lovejoy-Niskanen

Fleury

Healthy scratches should be Asham, Godard, and Engelland.  Bylsma is starting to go with less of the enforcer grit and more of the skating in the corners grit.  This is definitely a shift towards a playoff lineup as everyone gets healthy.

Prediction:  3-2 win for the Pens.  This is a bad matchup for Roloson, especially in back to back nights.  Also, the Pens will be fired up after that loss to the Flyers, while Tampa is going to be slow to start after playing a less talented Ottawa team last night.