Penguins Pregame-Good injury news for Pens?

Tonight marks the 41st game of the season, exactly the midway point after tonight's game.  Last year the Penguins had 55 points at the midway point, and this year the Penguins have 46 points with only tonights game left.  The Penguins did get some good news for once on the injury front when they heard that the "broken foot" of James Neal was simply a bone bruise, and that Neal could play dependent upon his pain tolerance.  Being the REAL DEAL, 18 will play tonight, good news for the Pens.  He is 1 of only 6 Penguins to have played in all 40 games this year.  Also, it was feared that Craig Adams was lost for the long term with an injured knee from practice on Sunday, but he made a quick recovery and will be in the lineup for Pittsburgh tonight.  Great for the penalty kill!  Brent Johnson gets the nod in goal tonight, his first start in nine games.  He was pulled from his last start, also against Ottawa after giving up 5 goals on only 19 shots.  The Pens need the Johnson of the past two seasons to show up, so we can send this year's version on a long vacation!   Paul Martin is out due to illness, so the Penguins have recalled Simon Despres to take his spot in the lineup. If Bylsma wins tonight, it will be his 136th win, making him second all time with the Penguins. The Penguins have scored first in each of their past three games.....all losses.  Some other notes to consider include the following:

During the current four game losing streak the Penguins have outshot their opponents 136-92, but they were outscored 13-5 in those games.  How critical is the power play?  During the Penguins' last five home losses their power play was 0-18, and gave up a shorthanded goal in EACH of the past two losses at home.  Conversely, in the last 13 home games where the Penguins scored a power play goal they are 11-0-2.  Also, in their last 21 home games the Penguins are 12-0 when they score three or more goals and an ugly 0-7-2 when they score 2 or less!  Also, the Penguins come into tonight's game having lost 3 straight at the CEC, and they have never lost 4 in a row there.  Fleury is resting for tomorrow night's game having lost 4 straight starts, if he would lose tomorrow, it would be the first time since January of 2006 that this has occurred.  Ben Lovejoy has only been a minus player once in his past 13 games  and is a +5 during that span.  Another defenseman with limited expectations, Matt Niskanen is tied with Pascal Dupuis to lead the Penguins in +/- with a plus 8.  Paul Martin and Zybnek Michalek are minus 9 and minus 7 respectively.  The most depressing number of the night is the following.  Since the start of LAST season, including the playoffs, the Penguins have played 129 games, and 87, 71, and 11 were on the ice together for just 10 of those.  Consistent with this "luck" the Penguins currently lead the NHL with 210 man games lost, 27 more than second place Winnipeg.  And when you think of who makes up many of those man games, they are critical "men."   Tonight will mark the 230th straight sell out for the Penguins, a streak that started on Valentine's Day 2007.  Anyway, here is to hoping that the better than expected injury news is the beginning of a better stretch for our Pens!