Faceoff Factor

7:00 at Philips Arena
TV: FSN Pittsburgh
Radio: WXDX Radio, FM 105.9
Probable Goalies: Fleury (Pit), Pavelec (Atl)

In the previous week, the Pittsburgh Penguins showed a dominant side, trouncing the New York Islanders 9-2, and a complacent side, falling to the Philadelphia Flyers two days later in an uninspired 6-3 loss.

Which team will show up tonight is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: no longer will the Penguins rely on a backup to handle goaltending duties, as Marc-Andre Fleury will make his triumphant return from a groin injury that has kept him out of action since November 15.

In Fleury’s absence, the Penguins have fallen from one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference to the fourth place team in the Atlantic Division, but with 17 games in the next month — a stretch that averages more than a game every other day — they’ll have plenty of time to make up the lost ground.

And it starts tonight, as they play the 28th ranked team in the NHL, the Atlanta Thrashers, who have a 5-9-2 record at home.

Despite their woes record-wise, the Thrashers have a respectable team capable of scoring goals, especially on the power play, which has clicked at 19.4 percent this season.

Conversely, however, their penalty kill has  been downright bad, allowing a goal 27.6 percent of the time.  In other words, what better time for the Penguins to jumpstart their power play?

Tonight’s lineup is as follows:

Dupuis-Crosby-Satan
Fedotenko-Malkin-Sykora
Wallace-Staal-Cooke
Stone-Taffe-Godard

Orpik-Scuderi
Letang-Eaton
Boucher-Goligoski

Fleury
Sabourin