AHL Game Preview: WBS Pens Take on Hartford at 7:00 p.m. EST

Paul Thompson jumps to avoid a shot from the point as Joey Mormina (right) looks on. Photo credit: @ItsJacki

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (WBS) are back in action tonight when they take on the Hartford Wolfpack (HFD) at the XL Center tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST. It's the first of two meetings on the regular season schedule as the two teams will rematch next Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre next Saturday night.

The Wolfpack are struggling so far this season in last place in the conference, but are coming off two wins in three games last week. They'll look to continue their winning ways with a pair of home games this weekend. The Wolfpack host Worcester Saturday in a rematch of last week's 3-2 overtime win by Hartford.

The Penguins are coming off a 5-2 win where the difference in offensive production came with some timely secondary scoring. Five different players (Thompson, Drazenovic, Kostopoulos, Zlobin and Sylvester) scored goals in the victory. They have a big weekend at home ahead of themselves when the top team in the conference, the Manchester Monarchs, comes to town for a Saturday night showdown.

The Pens also host East Division leading Binghamton on Sunday, so it will be key for the Penguins not to overlook tonight's opponent and focus on the first game of the three-game weekend and take it one game at a time.

Tune into Highland Park Hockey on Twitter tonight for all the latest in-game updates of tonight's AHL action. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. EST. Roster notes, lineups and more after the jump.

By The Numbers

WBS: 18-9-1-3, 40 points - Second Place East Division (Tied 5th- East)
Last Ten Games: 5-4-0-1

Hartford: 11-16-0-4, 26 points, Fifth Place Northeast Division (15th - East)
Last Ten Games: 2-6-0-2

WBS Leading Scorers: Tom Kostopoulos (12G-9A), Brendan Mikkelson (3G-16A), Harry Zolnierczyk (10G-6A)
HFD Leading Scorers: Danny Kristo (12G-10A), Aaron Johnson (3G-16A), Danny Syvret (2G-14A)

Expected Starting Goaltenders

WBS - Jeff Deslauriers: 13-7-2, 2.29 GAA, .907 SV%, 1 SO
HFD - Dov Grumet-Morris: 3-9-3, 2.79 GAA, .908 SV%, 0 SO

Penguins Roster Notes

Bobby Farnham did not practice Monday with what head coach John Hynes termed "a maintenance day" and didn't play Tuesday night against Syracuse. With Harry Zolnierczyk and Brian Dumoulin re-assigned from Pittsburgh, Harrison Ruopp, Barry Goers and Farnham were scratched to make room. Nick D'Agostino returned to the blue line.

Expected Lines:

Zolnierczyk - Drazenovic - Kostopoulos

Thompson - Carman - Zlobin

Uher - Torquato - Kuhnhackl

Sylvester - Manderson - Leblond

Rowney


Samuelsson - Mikkelson

Dumoulin - Harrington

D'Agostino - McNeill

Ruopp - Goers


Expected scratches: Peter Merth, Harrison Ruopp, Barry Goers, Bobby Farnham, Adam Payerl, Carter Rowney and C.J. Severyn.