Bears vs Devils Preview, 12/20

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
home record ~ 11-2-0-0
goals for ~ 115
goals against ~75
power play ~ 17.1% (15th)
penalty kill ~ 81.9% (20th)


Lowell Devils
record ~ 11-12-1-3 26 points
standings ~ Last in Atlantic Division
most recent game ~ 5-2 Loss @ Philadelphia, 12/19
last 5 games ~ 0-4-0-1
road record ~ 6-5-1-1
goals for ~ 75
goals against ~ 85
power play ~ 13.8% (25th)
penalty kill ~ 81.3% (27th)

last time teams met - First meeting this season.

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) - He needs to get going again...he only has 1 point in his last 5 games. With Giroux still up and playing today Mink needs to help out the offense again.
LW Kip Brennan (39) - Just signed after leaving his team in Finland he gets to play his first game back in Hershey tonight.

Lowell:

RW Jon DiSalvatore (14) - Leading the Devils with 21 points on the season but he is in a slump right now with only 2 points in his last 9 games.
LW Alexander Vasyunov (9) - Leading the Devils with 8 goals on the season. He has no goals in the last 5 games which happen to be all losses.
LW Chad Wiseman (15) - The former Bear has 7 goals and 8 assists on the season. But like the rest of the team he is in a slump and has no points in 5 straight.


News and Notes:

• With the postponement of the game last night Simeon Varlamov will more than likely get the start in net tonight.
• Giroux remains in Washington and will play today against Philadelphia. Due to the roster freeze he and Sean Collins will remain in Washinton until at least the 27th.
• Lowell has lost 5 straight games and there aren't many goals being scored for this team right now, especially by their better players.
• When Lowell scores more than 3 goals they have only lost once this season. It seems that 4 goals for them is their magic number.
• The Bears currently have a 7 game win streak at home.
  

LET'S GO BEARS!!! MAKE IT 8 IN A ROW AT HOME!!!