Saturday's Morning Skate 2/7

Ex-Penguins forward Chris Conner has six goals and four assists in his last eight games with the Hershey Bears this season.

While the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms enjoyed rare Friday nights off, the rest of the East Division was in action on a typical busy Friday night in the AHL (12 games).

With both local teams idle, it was the first Friday night since the middle of September that I haven't been at a hockey rink covering an AHL game.

Tonight, I'll be live from the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-19-4-1) are on the road taking on the Binghamton Senators (17-21-5-1) at 7:05 p.m. EST.

I'll have full coverage with a post-game recap here as well as live in-game updates of the action on Twitter, starting with warmups and starting goaltenders/lineup notes etc. Be sure you are following me on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock_TCG starting around 6:00 p.m. EST for tonight's tweets.

East Division Standings (through 2/6's games)

1. Hershey: 45GP, 26-13-4-2, 58 points
2. W-B/Scranton: 47GP, 25-18-1-3, 54 points
3. Lehigh Valley: 45GP, 21-19-4-1, 47 points
4. Norfolk: 47GP: 19-23-3-2, 43 points
5. Binghamton: 44GP, 17-21-5-1, 40 points

Hershey - 3 at Binghamton - 2

In Binghamton, the BSens took an early lead but ended up losing their 5th straight game in a one-goal loss to the red hot Hershey Bears who have extended their unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-0-1) and their East Division lead to four points.

Chris Conner tallied two goals for the Bears - a go ahead goal in the first period and what turned out to be the eventual game winning goals early in the third. Pheonix Copley stopped 29 of 31 shots to pick up his 9th win of the season.

For the BSens, Colin Greening and Garrett Thompson tallied goals while Scott Greenham stopped 22 of 25 in the loss.

The Bears return home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, while the BSens remain home and look to end their losing skid against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight at 7:05 p.m. EST.


Worcester - 0 at Norfolk - 3

In Norfolk, John Gibson stopped all 36 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season with the Admirals, who with the win pull within four points of third place Lehigh Valley in the East Division.

Charles Sarault, Andrew O'Brien and Chris Wagner tallied goals for the Admirals in the win while Dany Heatley recorded two assists. Aaron Dell stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced for the Sharks in the loss.

The two teams rematch again tonight at The Scope Arena in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

Other Eastern Conference Scores

Portland - 8 at St. Johns - 1 
Albany - 1 at Springfield - 4
Bridgeport - 2 at Syracuse - 1 (OT)

Saturday's Eastern Conference Schedule

Portland @ St. John's, 6:00 p.m. EST
Hartford @ Bridgeport, 7:00 p.m. EST
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton @ Hershey, 7:00 p.m. EST
Providence @ Manchester, 7:00 p.m. EST
Springfield @ Syracuse, 7:00 p.m. EST
Lehigh Valley @ Binghamton, 7:05 p.m. EST
Worcester @ Norfolk, 7:15 p.m. EST