Bears @ Penguins Preview, 12/19

Hershey Bears
record ~ 20-7-0-1 41 points
standings ~ 1st in East Division
most recent game ~ 6-1 Loss @ Houston, 12/14
last 5 games ~ 3-2-0-0
road record ~ 9-5-0-1
goals for ~ 115
goals against ~75
power play ~ 17.1% (16th)
penalty kill ~ 81.9% (19th)


Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins
record ~ 16-11-1-1 34 points
standings ~ 4th in East Division
most recent game ~ 2-1 Loss @ Philadelphia, 12/14
last 5 games ~ 3-2-0-0
home record ~ 7-4-0-1
goals for ~ 99
goals against ~ 83
power play ~ 14.8% (24th)
penalty kill ~ 87.2% (2nd)

last time teams met - Wilkes Barre won 4-3 in WB/S on November 8.

Players to watch:

Hershey:

LW Oskar Osala (36)- After missing the last 2 games due to a call up to Washington the Bears are excited to have his goal scoring back in the lineup.
RW Graham Mink (21) - In the first game of the year against the Pens he had 3 goals. He needs to get going again...he only has 1 point in his last 5 games.
LW Kip Brennan (39) - Just signed after leaving his team in Finland this enforcer could come in handy against the hated Pens who are 5th in the league in penalty minutes.

Wilkes Barre:

LW Chris Minard (14) - On the season he has 19 goals and 13 assists...including 3 goals in the last 2 games. Against Hershey he has 2 goals and 3 assists in 3 games this year.
C Connor James (9) - With Jeff Taffe and Ryan Stone both up in the NHL the Pens need James to step in and produce from the center position. 10 goals and 7 assists on the year so far.
LW Luca Caputi (19) - The rookie is on a tear as of late. In his last 10 games he has 5 goals and 6 assists.


News and Notes:

• Simeon Varlamov remains on recall with the Capitals so Bobby Goepfert remains in Hershey and will start against the Pens if Varly does not come back in time.
• Alexander Giroux could return to the lineup for this game but that is not confirmed or even rumored at this point.
• Dean Arsene is expected to play after missing the last month and a half. His last game was October 29th in Hamilton.
• Jay Beagle will not play this weekend after suffering a setback in his attempt to return from a concussion.
• The NHL is putting a roster freeze into effect that begins on the 19th and will continue until the 27th. If Varly, Collins, and Giroux (and Sloan and Alzner) are not returned tomorrow they will not be back until after Christmas.