Bears @ Pens Preview, 1/11

Hershey Bears
record ~ 28-10-0-1 57 points
standings ~ 1st in East Division
most recent game ~ 6-4 Loss vs Albany, 1/10
last 5 games ~ 4-1-0-0
road record ~ 13-6-0-1
goals for ~ 157
goals against ~106
power play ~ 16.6% (15th)
penalty kill ~ 82.2% (20th)


Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
record ~ 23-13-1-2 49 points
standings ~ 3rd in East Division
most recent game ~ 4-3 SO Loss vs Syracuse, 1/10
last 5 games ~ 2-3-0-0
home record ~ 12-5-0-2
goals for ~ 137
goals against ~ 110
power play ~ 16.1% (16th)
penalty kill ~ 85.6% (5th)

last time teams met - Wilkes-Barre won the last game 4-3 in Wilkes-Barre on November 8th.

Players to watch:

Hershey:

LW Alexandre Giroux (12)- He is the difference maker for this offense. He added 2 more goals last night and now has the AHL scoring lead with 27 goals.
LW Chris Bourque (17) - He isn't scoring as much this season, only 4 goals since the start of November, but defensively his game is sharp. Playing very good on the penalty kill is really showing his worth.
C Kyle Wilson (18) - Other than Giroux he is the hottest goal scoring Bear. He has 3 goals already in 2009 and he has 8 goals in the last 12 games.

Penguins:

C Jeff Taffe (22) - 2nd on the team in goals, tied for first in points, and he leads the team in assists. Season totals - 16 goals, 25 assists, 41 points. Only 1 assist so far in 5 January games comes after a December where he scored 4 goals and 12 assists in 8 games.
C Ryan Stone (23) - On the season he has 8 goals and 17 assists this season. Against Hershey he has 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games.
RW Jean-Michel Daoust (26) - Has only played 17 games with the Pens this season but he has 5 goals and 7 assists this season.


News and Notes:

• Chris Minard, the Pens leading goal scorer and second in the league, is currently on recall to the NHL and will not play.
• The Penguins, who are generally strong at home, have lost 2 straight at home. Both losses were against Syracuse.
• Simeon Varlamov gets the start again tonight after Machesney went last night. It will be his 6th start in the last 8 games and his 20th overall.
• This game is a make-up game from the postponement of the December 19th game.
• These 2 teams are the top 2 scoring teams in the league.
  
• This game marks the 40th of the season for Hershey, which is the mid point of the season.