Hoping for a few celebration scenes like this one Saturday at Giant Center, as the Bears continue to scuttle along through this month of February. Having dropped five of its last six while the Penguins have rattled off nine wins in a row, falling out of first place is a potential reality tonight if things don't go the way of the Chocolate and White. Here's what's going on tonight as Hershey welcomes Philadelphia to town for the second to last time ever in regular season play.
-I suspected in watching Dean Arsene last night that he was playing hurt. He was. After taking two pretty big hits in the second period, he got through the game but wasn't feeling too well. Add a five hour bus ride home from Rochester, and Deano will sit out tonight to heal up. Patrick Wellar is back in this evening.
-Steve Pinizzotto will sit out tonight, with former Phantom Darren Reid back in the lineup Saturday.
-Daren Machesney will draw a second straight start this evening for the Bears. Cheese probably only made one mistake Friday, but it was a costly one on their second goal. When Stefan Meyer got loose one-on-none in front of him for the game-winner, it's tough to put all the blame on the last line of defense. The Bears need a big effort out of him tonight.
-Congratulations to Doug Yingst and the Hershey Jr. Bears Quebec team, who defeated the Connecticut Wolves 2-1 Saturday afternoon to advance to the championship game of the Quebec Pee-Wee International hockey tournament. The Bears will face a team to be determined at 1:00 p.m. Sunday for all of the marbles.
