Penguins Host Bears 1/11

NEWS AND NOTES

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Hershey Bears
Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 

Penguins
35 games played, 15-17-2-1, 33 points 
4th place East Division (Tied 10th - EAST)

Bears
35 games played, 17-16-1-1, 36 points
3rd place East Divion (Tied 8th - EAST)

Expected Goalies: Dany Sabourin (HER) 3-0-0 vs WBS this season
Jeff Zatkoff (WBS) 1-4-1 vs HER this season 

Leading Scorers
WBS: Beau Bennett (6G, 17A), Trevor Smith (11G, 10A), Riley Holzapfel (9G, 12A)
HER: F Jeff Taffe (8G, 27A), F Jon DiSalvatore (10G, 16A), D Tomas Kundratek (11G, 9A)

These two teams play each other in the AHL's Outdoor Game at HersheyPark Stadium next weekend, with the alumni game on January 19th, and the game itself on the 20th. Highland Park Hockey will be at the most anticipated event in the league this season. Follow us on Twitter @H_P_Hockey for all the latest news and updates on the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the top minor league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL).

For the Bears

Since sweeping a home-and-home against the Penguins after Christmas, the Hershey Bears had dropped three straight games before a come from behind 4-3 OT win over Bridgeport Tuesday night. With Braden Holtby's days in Hershey being counted down, Dany Sabourin carries the load in net. Forward T.J. Syner is set to return to the lineup after missing eight games with a lower body injury.

For the Penguins

It hasn't been going the Penguins way in the second quarter of the season. They are 2-10-3 in their last 15 games and an impressive November has passed what seems like a season or two ago.  Plain and simple, the Pens need their scoring forwards to step up. Looming the loss of Bennett and Tangradi up front, guys like Smith and Holapfel will be pushed to anchor the WBS attack with a supporting cast of Paul Thompson, Jayson Megna, Benn Ferriero and Phil Dupuis.

Tom Kuhnhackl (upper body) is the only player not on the injury list. Benn Ferriero is day-to-day with a minor tweak injury. Keven Veilleux hasn't dressed for a pre game warmup since being cleared for games after Christmas. UPDATE: Veilleux has been re-assigned to Wheeling for conditioning. The scratches on Wednesday were D Joey Mormina, F Brian Gibbons, F Dominik Uher, D Alex Grant and F Benn Ferriero.