WBS Penguins Travel to Springfield

Beau Bennett looks on during warmups of the season opener in Binghamton.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins look to get on the right track and rebound from a 2-1 season opening loss against the Springfield Falcons tonight at the Mass Mutual Center. We'll be live from Springfield, Massachusetts with updates of all the action.

Stats after a 2-1 season opening loss aren't always earth shattering but here's a few:

• Trevor Smith had the Penguins goal in the opener. It was an unassisted goal on a nice steal and transition by Smith.

• Paul Thompson registered a game-high six shots on net.

• Eric Tangradi and Adam Payerl each picked up fighting majors in the opener.

For the Penguins, Jayson Megna (lower body) and Robert Bortuzzo didn't skate in Thursday's practice and are most likely out for tonight.  Dylan Reese skated and appears ready to make his Penguins debut. Steve MacIntyre and Keven Veilleux are getting closer to game shape and back to full speed. I'd say they don't play tonight but with Veilleux's return nearing, you'd like to have him in the lineup. 

So a projected lineup would look something like this...

Scratches: Bortuzzo, MacIntyre, Manderson, Megna, Veilleux

Bennett - Smith - Ferriero
Tangradi - Peters - Dupuis
Gibbons - Holzapfel - Thompson
Sill - Payerl

Strait - Reese
Dumoulin - Despres
Morrow - Grant

The seventh defenseman would come down to Mormina, Samuelsson and Sneep. With three games in three nights you might see a rotation of the six and seventh defensemen spots on the depth chart.

Haven't heard anything definitive on who the starter in net will be but I would expect to see both Jeff Zatkoff and Brad Thiessen play this weekend. For those who missed the season opener, Zatkoff was in net for the Pens up in Binghamton.

Know Your Opponent
The Falcons enter tonight's game 2-0 on the season and look to continue their streak.  Former WBS captain Ryan Craig is the current captain of Springfield. Craig is tied for the team lead in points with two goals and an assist.

The Falcons have a talented forward core with former Connecticut Whale standout Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (JAM) as well as Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson and Tomas Kubalik.

Curtis McElhinney has picked up both Falcons' wins in net stopping 54 of 56 shots with one shutout as well through two games.

For those wondering, Paul Dainton is on the Falcons roster. For those who don't recognize the name might remember the last meeting between the two teams at the Mass Mutual Center.