Game 42- Penguins @ Nashville Predators

The Penguins will begin a crucial three game road trip Thursday night when they visit the Nashville Predators in the hockey hotbed of Tennessee. The Pens are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers in which they snapped a five game skid, and the Preds are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Predators don't have many big names on their team, but they play a system under head coach Barry Trotz that has allowed them to get by with minimal talent the last few years. Shea Weber is a mega-stud on the blueline, and Jason Arnott and Martin Erat have top-flight offensive ability. Rookie Joel Ward has blossomed into a solid power forward this season.

Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis have formed a fine one-two punch in the nets, and it's likely that the Penguins will see Ellis in this one, though nothing has been finalized.

Mike Zigomanis, Pascal Dupuis, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Sergei Gonchar are out for Pittsburgh.

For Nashville, Scott Nichol and Steve Sullivan will not play. Sullivan has been out all season with a back ailment, but he is targeting the 10th against Chicago as a potential return date. Nichol has a concussion.

The game starts at 8:00 here, as Nashville is one time-zone over.

Penguins-

Staal-Crosby-Kennedy
Satan-Malkin-Sykora
Cooke-Talbot-Goligoski
Wallace-Jeffrey-Godard

Orpik-Whitney
Scuderi-Letang
Eaton-Boucher

Fleury

Predators-

Fidler-Arnott-Erat
Dumont-Legwand-Ward
Pihlstrom-Peverley-Tootoo
Santorelli-Bonk-Jones

Weber-Suter
Hamuis-Zanon
de Vries-Koistenen

Ellis

GO PENS!