Pens Set for Two Road Games 3/30

Pens start their weekend road trip in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) head to Hartford, Connecticut, to play the Whale at the XL Center tonight at 7:05 p.m. EST.

Highland Park Hockey will be live in attendance at the game and will have all the updates on the blog's Twitter feed (@H_P_Hockey) as well as updates on the Facebook page. Join both if you aren't already!!

I will post some game photos in the recap after I've made the 205 mile trek home.

What to Look for in Tonight's Game

• Should be a battle between two teams jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Pens have fallen a point behind the Hershey Bears (86 to 85) and are now in 5th in the Conference. The Whale are tied with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the Northeast Division lead where the difference right now is the 3rd or 6th seed in the East.

• The Penguins welcome back a familiar face, goaltender Brad Thiessen. Thiessen was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) from Pittsburgh (NHL) yesterday and could make his first start with the AHL Penguins since February 18th.

• The WBS Penguins will be without defensemen Simon Despres and Brian Strait, who are currently on recall to Pittsburgh. Also, Carl Sneep's season is in jeopardy according to Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie. For now this means that Robert Bortuzzo, Alexandre Picard, Joey Mormina and Alex Grant will pull the load on the blue line. Cody Wild and Philip Samuelsson will be the team's 5th and 6th defensemen this weekend.