Tuesday links & stats: Kunitz back? Asham's either close or not (??), Leonsis interview

Chris Kunitz could be back tonight, but neither Mike Comrie nor Arron Asham are "close to rejoining the lineup." [PG]

...But then again the other paper in town has an article entitled "Asham close to returning to Pens lineup"....So, who knows. [Josh Yohe, Trib]

A Pens fan piece on Ted Leonsis.  It's probably more pleasant than you might first think. [Laura Falcon, Bleacher Report]

Hope James Neal can score one soon, these articles are only going to keep piling on. [Molinari, Post-Gazette]

Mikhail Grabovski, the Russian Sidney Crosby?  Or is Crosby merely the Canadian Grabovski? [Mirtle, Globe and Mail]

Just when the Pens are battling and playing hard, an old curmudgeon is there to throw a little cold water on everyone. [Bozo the Clown, PG]

The Clear Day Roster that Tony talked about here yesterday is now out. [The AHL]

Russian interviews are always full of win. Pavel Datsyuk here [Chesnokov, Puck Daddy]

Guess Dustin Jeffrey's ice-time tonight and win free tickets to the Islanders/Penguins game on April 8th [The Pensblog]

Milestone of the day: Alex Kovalev is sitting tied in 14th in the franchise in goals (150, along with Rob Brown).  One more will match early franchise star Syl Apps, three more goals will match Joe Mullen's franchise total, four more to equal Mark Recchi.  Passing all of those guys would put Kovalev in 11th all-time in goals for the Penguins.

Pens stat of the day: Buffalo has been one of Tyler Kennedy's favorite opponents. He's got 9 points (3g, 6a) in 13 career games versus the Sabres.  That's a points/game rate of .69, much better than his NHL career average against the other 28 NHL teams, of .42.

Buffalo stat of the day: Ryan Miller, surprisingly, has never had much success versus the Penguins. His statline: 4-8-3 record, 3.26 GAA, .884 save percentage

Piece of perspective for the day: today is Alex Kovalev's first game in Pittsburgh as a Penguin since Feb 6, 2003....A 6-0 loss to the non-playoff bound Florida Panthers, who outshot Pittsburgh 48-27.  So when you think it's frustrating and tough this year with all the injuries, just remember some of Kovalev's teammate from that game, like Kent Manderville, Jamie Pushor, Steve McKenna and Hans Jonsson...And that was even before the team really got bad.

(Bonus: Also this night featured Mario Lemieux snapping and racking up 29 penalty minutes in what would be his last career NHL fight, which was a beating of Brad Ference.)