The Week Ahead 10/28

Andrew Ebbett fights for his own rebound and gives AHL Penguins a 3-2 win Sunday. Photo credit: @ItsJacki

Editor's note: Now that the season is in full-swing, I'll provide a weekly look at what lies ahead for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms as well as what games I'll be attending that week. Be sure to let me know what you think of a weekly update like this and what you would like to see more of below in the comments and on Facebook/Twitter.

The Penguins are back on the road this week, with a Wednesday night game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Allentown. I'll be live from Allentown with full in-game and post-game coverage for the Pens' first ever visit to the PPL Center against their newest rival. Be sure to stay tuned here and follow @H_P_Hockey on Twitter for all of tomorrow night's action.

I'll also be in Allentown Saturday night when the Phantoms host the Hartford Wolfpack at 7:05 p.m. ET. I'll have live in-game coverage on Twitter @TonyAndrock_TCG as well as a post-game recap here at Highland Park Hockey.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
4-4-0-0, 8 points - Tied Second Place East Division

UP NEXT

Wednesday (10/29) - @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. ET
Friday (10/31) - @ Norfolk, 7:30 p.m. ET
Saturday (11/1) - @ Norfolk, 7:15 p.m. ET

ROSTER NOTES

The lineup shouldn't change too much, barring any last second injuries or call ups, but Bobby Farnham served his one-game suspension on Sunday and will be available for tomorrow night's game against the Phantoms.

Scott Wilson - Andrew Ebbett - Jayson Megna
Tom Kostopoulos - Jean-Sebastien Dea - Bryan Rust
Tom Kuhnhackl - Zack Torquato - Anton Zlobin
Dominik Uher - Matia Marcantuoni - Adam Payerl

Brian Dumoulin - Taylor Chorney
Philip Samuelsson - Reid McNeill
Scott Harrington - Derrick Pouliot

Matt Murray - Eric Hartzell

Scratches: Jeff Zatkoff (lower body), Alex Boak, Nick Drazenovic (lower body), Josh Archibald (upper body), Nick D'Agostino, Bobby Farnham (suspended), Pierre-Luc Leblond, Conor Sheary (upper body) and Barry Goers.

• Injuries up front are growing for the Penguins, but that might change later this weekend as forwards Conor Sheary (lower body) and Josh Archibald (upper body) practiced with the team today wearing red no-contact jerseys.

• Nick Drazenovic left Saturday's game against Hershey and did not return. He is listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury.

• Jeff Zatkoff is also out of the lineup still with a lower body injury, which means rookie Matt Murray will likely earn his third start of the season tomorrow night in Allentown.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms
4-2-0-0, 8 points - Tied Second Place East Division

UP NEXT

Wednesday (10/29) - vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 p.m. ET
Saturday (11/1) - vs. Hartford, 7:05 p.m. ET

ROSTER NOTES

Here's the lines from their last game, but Petr Straka could be a possible returning player:

Taylor Leier - Scott Laughton - Andrew Gordon
Darroll Powe - Nick Cousins - Brandon Alderson
Austin Fyten - Andrew Johnston - Zack Stortini
Matt Hatch - Kevin Goumas - Derek Mathers

Brandon Manning - Jesper Pettersson
Oliver Lauridsen - Brett Flemming
Robert Hagg - Steven Delisle

Rob Zepp - Anthony Stolarz

Scratches: Mark Alt (upper body), Brett Hextall (upper body), Petr Straka (day-to-day) and Jay Rosehill (suspension - two games left).

• The Phantoms roster is paper thin right now, with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere called up, forward Jay Rosehill suspended and injuries to defenseman Mark Alt  and forward Brett Hextall.

• With that, forwards Matt Hatch and Derek Mathers and defenseman Brett Flemming were recalled from the ECHL's Reading Royals.

• Petr Straka, who missed Saturday and Sunday's games with an injury is close to returning and could be back in the lineup tomorrow night at home against the Penguins.

• It should come as no surprise that Rob Zepp (4-0-0, 2.67 GAA, .913 SV%) is the team's scheduled starter in net tomorrow against the Penguins.