Penguins/Bears PREVIEW

The Penguins conclude a three game weekend with a 3p.m. Sunday matinee against rival Hershey.

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Expected Starting Goalies

Brad Thiessen (WBS): 14-11-2, 2.64 GAA, .904 SV%, 4 SO

Philipp Grubauer (HER): 12-6-2, 2.13 GAA, .926 SV%, 2 SO

Breaking Down the Matchup

PENGUINS (5th - EAST): 3rd Place East Division, 39-28-2-2 = 82 points

Hershey (8th - EAST): 4th Place East Division, 33-27-3-6 = 70 points

For the last five games of the regular season I'll put up the conference standings with the teams fighting for a playoff spot:

1. Providence - 91 points, 7 games remaining
2. Springfield - 89 points, 7 games remaining
3. Syracuse - 89 points, 6 games remaining
4. Binghamton - 87 points, 6 games remaining
5. PENGUINS - 82 points, 5 games remaining

6. Portland - 81 points, 8 games remaining
7. Connecticut - 78 points, 6 games remaining
8. Hershey - 75 points, 7 games remaining
9. Norfolk - 75 points, 6 games remaining
10. Albany - 70 points, 7 games remaining
11. Manchester - 69 points, 7 games remaining
12. Bridgeport - 69 points, 7 games remaining
 
Leading Scorers

PENGUINS: Chad Kolarik (26G, 35A), Trevor Smith (22G, 26A), Riley Holzapfel (19G, 28A)

Albany: Jeff Taffe (18G, 45A), Casey Wellman (15G, 32A), Jon DiSalvatore (16G, 27A)

Emptying the Tank
 

The Penguins come into tonight's game 5-0-0-1 in their last six games. The Bears are in a dog fight for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and are currently tied for 8th with the Norfolk Admirals.

EDIT: Beau Bennett has just been recalled to Pittsburgh. Bennett was held out last night as a healthy scratch and the WBS Penguins were waiting to see if Pittsburgh needed Bennett's services. Got your answer with that recall. Status of forward James Neal is unknown at this point.

The Black Aces have arrived in Wilkes-Barre and were in attendance at last night's game. Forward Chris Barton, defenseman Harrison Ruopp and goaltenders Matt Murray and Scott Darling have joined the team for the stretch run.

The injured list has just two names on it. 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 had shoulder surgery after injuring his shoulder on December 1st.

Injured list: Tom Kuhnhackl (shoulder surgery - out for season) and Phil Dupuis (out indefinitely since 1/15)

Healthy Scratches: Scott Darling, Matt Murray, Clark Seymour, Reid McNeill, Christian Minella, Chris Barton, Steve MacIntyre and Harrison Ruopp

Expected lineup:

Holzapfel - Smith - Kolarik

Megna - Gibbons - Thompson

Collins - Peters - Payerl

Farnham - Sill -Uher

Reese - Dumoulin

Mormina -Samuelsson

Grant - Wild