Pirates/Penguins PREVIEW 3/9

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins look to bounce back from last night's loss to the Providence Bruins and get on the right track on this road trip. Tonight, the Pens are in Portland for a 7 p.m EST face-off against the Pirates.

The Pirates blew a 3-0 lead last night to the Manchester Monarchs, falling 4-3 in overtime. They will also be looking to get back in the win column.

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

Brad Thiessen (WBS): 12-10-1, 2.55 GAA, .906 SV%, 4 SO

Mike Lee (POR): 6-2-0, 2.60 GAA, .915 SV%, 0 SO

Breaking Down the Matchup

Portland: 2nd Place Atlantic Divison, 33-20-2-2 = 70 points

PENGUINS: 4th Place East Division, 30-25-2-1 = 63 points

Leading Scorers

Portland: Alexandre Bolduc (20G, 22A),  Andy Miele (11G, 22A), Chris Brown (20G, 11A)

PENGUINS: Chad Kolarik (20G, 26A), Trevor Smith (17G, 20A), Riley Holzapfel (16G, 19A)

Another Night, Another Town

A homecoming of sorts for defenseman Brian Dumoulin (Biddeford, Maine native) tonight as the Penguins are in Maine to take on the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Another important game against a Portland team that is fighting for the Atlantic Division lead with last night's opponent the Providence Bruins.

For the Penguins, Paul Thompson practiced this week and returned to the lineup last night after missing 15 games with an upper body injury, but hasn't appeared on the scoresheet just yet. Phil Dupuis has been out of the lineup since missing the game against Norfolk on January 15th. Tom Kuhnhackl is out for the season as he has been listed for awhile.

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

Healthy Scratches: Cody Wild, Jayson Megna (illness) and Steve MacIntyre

Expected lineup:

Kolarik - Smith - Holzapfel

Collins - Peters - Thompson

Payerl - Gibbons - Uher

Farnham - Sill - Minella

Reese - Dumoulin

Grant - Mormina

Samuelsson - Morrow