UPDATE: Thursday's WBS Practice

Photo courtesy of Amy's WBS Picture Page.

One last weekday practice before the road trip to the Northeast gets underway. The Penguins finished up their preparations for this weekend and board the bus to Providence, Rhode Island for tomorrow night's game with the Bruins.

Missing from practice was forward Jayson Megna. Initially I thought there might be roster movement but after speaking with head coach John Hynes, he told me Megna will be making the trip with the team.

The bus leaving Wilkes-Barre at noon will also have Steve MacIntyre on it. MacIntyre, who's been skating on his own this week, practiced in full with the team and told me he's making the trip as well.

Paul Thompson is set to return to the lineup this weekend. Thompson missed the last 15 games with an upper body injury. He had been firing on all cylinders before the injury, posting four goals and two assists in his last six games. Here's what he had to say on returning:

"I'm excited, obviously, to get back and play. It was frustrating to be out. Excited to get back and hopefully help the team win."

Today's practice ended with the monthly Mustache Boy shootout. Last month it was Bobby Farnham and after speaking with him post shootout he was glad to pass the torch to someone else and shave it off.

Today's shootout came down to two defensemen: Cody Wild and Joseph Morrow. Wild scored in the 12th round and Morrow missed on his opportunity, leaving Morrow with the title of Mustache Boy for the month of March. Morrow must now shave everything but the mustache and let it grow the rest of the month.

I spoke briefly to Brian Dumoulin and he was beyond thrilled to be making the trip to the Northeast. Dumoulin, a native of Biddeford, Maine, will be in his home state Saturday night when the Penguins take on the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Dumoulin was featured on the league's website with an article on him from the Portland Press Herald. Give that a read here.

Here's a look at the lines heading into this weekend:

Holzapfel - Smith - Kolarik
Collins - Peters - Thompson
Payerl - Gibbons - Uher
Farnham - Sill - Minella
MacIntyre

Reese-Dumoulin
Grant-Mormina
Morrow-Samuelsson
Wild

Power play units:

Kolarik-Grant, Holzapfel-Smith-Thompson
Reese-Morrow/Dumoulin, Payerl-Gibbons-Uher