Penguins/Monarchs PREVIEW

For those who missed it, some words from the guys after last night's 4-3 overtime win.

Brian Dumoulin on returning to Maine:

It was exciting for me. I haven't played here since high school so coming back to Maine was awesome. Not that there's added pressure, but you always want to perform well, especially when there's going to be a lot of people there watching you. It was awesome to get the two points.

Bobby Farnham on the importance of getting two points last night:

That's a huge win for us. We were up 2-0, then it was 2-2. We battled back after it was 3-2, we tie it 3-3. That's a huge win for us going into tomorrow.

Trevor Smith talked about the importance of a fast start last night:

We knew coming into this game we had to come out strong and I think we did that. We got into some penalty trouble in the 2nd but it was a good moral victory for the boys: come back and score a few goals, four goals on the board is nice, and to win in overtime is always exciting. A little melee at the end is always fun to get the boys together.

The Penguins finish off another three game weekend today with a 5 p.m. game at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. Another important game against a Manchester team that is fighting for a playoff spot. The Monarchs are currently tied for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins (6th - East) are just three points ahead with one more game played.
 
I'll have the latest on who's starting for the Penguins tonight as well as updates of all the action and a recap with thoughts from players and coaches shortly after the game. Follow on Twitter tonight with @H_P_Hockey.

Expected Starting Goalies

Jeff Zatkoff (WBS): 18-17-0, 1.90 GAA, .921 SV%, 3 SO

Martin Jones (MCH): 18-19-3, 2.54 GAA, .918 SV%, 4 SO


Zatkoff is 2-0 against his former team this season, posting a 0.50 GAA, a .981 SV% and one shutout in those two meetings.

Breaking Down the Matchup

Manchester: 3rd Place Atlantic Divison, 28-24-3-3 = 62 points

PENGUINS: 3rd Place East Division, 31-25-2-1 = 65 points

Leading Scorers

Manchester: Linden Vey (15G, 35A), Tyler Toffoli (28G, 20A), Brandon Kozun (21G, 22A)

PENGUINS: Chad Kolarik (21G, 27A), Trevor Smith (17G, 20A), Riley Holzapfel (16G, 19A)

Three-in-Three's

For the Penguins, Paul Thompson practiced this week and returned to the lineup Friday night after missing 15 games with an upper body injury. Steve MacIntyre is on the road trip and could play as early as Wednesday in Worcester. Jayson Megna missed Friday's game due to illness but scored his first goal in his last 25 games (Dec. 29th vs. NOR). Phil Dupuis has been out of the lineup since missing the game against Norfolk on January 15th and it's looking more and more like a season ending injury. Tom Kuhnhackl is out for the season as he had shoulder surgery awhile back.

Injured list: Tom Kuhnhackl (upper body), Phil Dupuis and Steve MacIntyre (upper body)

Healthy Scratches: Cody Wild, Christian Minella

Expected lineup:

Holzapfel - Smith - Thompson

Megna - Gibbons - Kolarik

Collins - Peters - Payerl

Farnham - Sill -Uher

Reese - Dumoulin

Grant - Mormina

Samuelsson - Morrow