Pittsburgh is coming off a long, overdue break rested and ready to head to the Philips Arena to meet a feeble Thrashers team. Atlanta had the biggest defensive efforts against Ottawa Tuesday night where they let up only one late third period goal, to win it 4-1.

Penguins

The Pens should be bursting with energy, after a four day break and a disappointing 4 game losing stint of the last 5. Danny Sabourin was thrown into a starting position after Marc-Andre Fleury's November 15 injury. He has been effective in the past and just couldn't muster the same performance when asked to move into the number one spot.

Today Michel Therrien has announced that Fleury will be in goal Thursday night in Atlanta. He was back to %100 percent before the game in Philly but Therrien wanted him to get some more practice to be as sharp as possible.


Jeff Taffe, Ryan Stone, and Tim Wallace have been called up to fill in for the injuried Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbot, and Mike Zigomanis. The other notable mention is Ryan Whitney. He has begun taking contact during practice and should be back soon.


Thrashers

Atlanta is coming off of one of their biggest games of the season over the Senators, holding them to just one goal. In their last 25 games they have given up at least two goals, and are in second place for allowing the most goals of the season. Atlanta is struggling but the Pens only have one win against them in the last four visits.