Saturday's Morning Skate 3/15

In one week, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins went from fourth up to first in the East Division, going 3-0-0-1 in their last four games while their East Division counterparts, Binghamton and Norfolk, have been in a dog fight to keep up with the WBS Pens' recent pace.

Friday Night Around the East Division

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - 5, Hamilton - 1

The Penguins returned home for their first game at the Mohegan Sun Arena since February 25th and used a total team effort in a convincing 5-1 over the Bulldogs.

Anton Zlobin led the WBS attack with his first three point game of his AHL career (2G-1A), while Andrew Ebbett, Harry Zolnierczyk and Denver Manderson all paced the Pens with two points each. Peter Mannino, who has started three of the team's last four games, stopped 26 of 27 to improve to 4-1-1 on the season.

The win moved the Penguins into first place in the division with a battle coming up tonight with Norfolk in what could be for first place.

Binghamton - 3, Norfolk - 1

In Binghamton, the BSens jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and held on for a big home win to start the weekend, defeating then first place Norfolk by a 3-1 count.

David Dziurzynski and Stephane Da Costa tallied first period goals for the BSens and although Devante Smith-Pelly's 22nd goal of the season in the first shift of the second period made it a 2-1 game, the Admirals couldn't find the equalizer. J-P Pageau added an empty net goal with 1:08 left to seal the deal for the BSens.

The Admirals travel to Wilkes-Barre to take on the Penguins tonight, while Binghamton remains home to host the Rochester Americans.

Syracuse - 3, Hershey - 2 (OT)

In the other East Division match up last night, it's the Crunch with the final strike in a back-and-forth kind of game with the Bears.

After newcomer Chis Brown scored his 15th of the season (and first with Hershey), the Crunch responded with two of their own goals - a late first period goal by Chrales Landry and an early 2nd period tally from newly acquired Dalton Smith - to take a 2-1 lead into the third.

The Bears tied it halfway through the final frame, but it was Jon DiSalvatore haunting his former team in overtime to give the Crunch the two points.

The Crunch remain home to host Hamilton tonight, while the Bears return to Giant Center for a Saturday night home matchup with the Adirondack Phantoms.

Other Eastern Conference Scores 

Portland - 7, St. John's - 4
Hartford - 2, Adjrondack - 1 (SO)
Manchester - 7, Bridgeport - 0
Springfield - 6, Albany - 4
Worcester - 4, Providence - 3 (OT)

Saturday's Schedule 

Hartford @ Albany at 5:00 p.m. ET
Portland @ St. John's at 6:00 p.m. ET
Worcester @ Bridgeport at 7:00 p.m. ET
Adirondack @ Hershey at 7:00 p.m. ET
Providence @ Springfield at 7:00 p.m. ET
Hamilton @ Syracuse at 7:00 p.m. ET
Rochester @ Binghamton at 7:05 p.m. ET
Norfolk @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7:05 p.m. ET

East Division Standings (Conference Position)

1. Penguins (3rd) - 74 points, 15 games remaining
2. Binghamton (5th) - 73 points, 17 games remaining
3. Norfolk (7th) - 72 points, 16 games remaining
4. Hershey (9th) - 68 points, 16 games remaining
5. Syracuse (13th) - 57 points, 17 games remaining