Pens take on Panthers tonight.

We're used to seeing the Florida Panthers pretty far down the list in Eastern Conference standings, but right now, the Pens just happen to be looking up at them in the standings. They don't have more points, but they currently lead the Southeast Division and sit in third place in the Eastern Conference. While the Panthers have made some great improvements, they have their problems and their motto might as well be, "Florida Panthers: Florida's longest roller coaster." The Panthers have been up and down with the wins and losses this season and they can not seem to gain consistency.
The Panthers have been on the lower end of the roller coaster track lately as they have lost three of their last 4 games. Scoring is a bit of a problem as of late as the Panthers have been shut out twice while letting in a lot of goals. A part of that is the fact that the Panthers are without their top scoreer, Kris Versteeg, due to an injury. Though being on the losing end does not mean that the coaster won't be making its way back up the track, so the Pens need to shut the Panthers down tonight at Consol Energy Center. The Pens need to continue trying to play a consistent game and they will look to do so as well as look to continue their win streak tonight against the Panthers.

Paul Martin is sick and may not play in tonight's game and Simon Despres was called up as a result. Kris Letang skated today before the team practice with Mike Kadar and while Brent Johnson has been back in practice, it is just another step in his recovery and he hopes it won't be much longer to heal his "nagging" injury.

Staal and Cooke named alternates for December.

Coach Therrien announced at practice today that the two alternate captains for the month of December will be Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke.

Malkin was given the day off today to rest. Boucher is "week to week" and Fleury continues to work with conditioning coach Mike Kadar before practices and Ryan Whitney is getting a skate fitted to his foot that was operated on.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=395661


Also, the Pittsburgh Penguins brand ranks number 8 out of 122 teams in professional sports. They were number 20 in 2007. "Turnkey surveyed fans from teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB and asked them to rate local teams in 21 different categories. including entertainment value, commitment to winning, ticket value, likeability of the players and ownership."

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=395613