'Elite' Griffins visit Penguins Wednesday

The Wilkes-Bare/Scranton Penguins will play six of their final nine regular season games at home, but if they want to play the majority of their playoff games at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza, they need to win.

With 90 points on the season, the Penguins currently reside in third place in the American Hockey League's East Division. They sit six points behind the division-leading Bridgeport Sound Tigers and five back of the second-place Hershey Bears.

The gaps could be smaller, but the Penguins lost road games over the weekend to the Philadelphia Phantoms and Norfolk Admirals, teams that would not qualify for the playoffs if the season concluded today.

The pair of losses came after a stretch where the Penguins played 17 games in 31 days. Because of the schedule, the Penguins weren't able to hold that many full-team practices during that period. Instead, the team held optional skates and gave players days off after three-in-threes to combat fatigue.

"Sometimes, some of your habits and some of your stuff systematically starts to leave from your game when you're not reminding them on a daily basis through practice," said Penguins interim head coach Todd Reirden. "… you sacrifice that to try to make sure guys are fresh in a tough stint like that."

With the grueling stretch in the books, the Penguins returned to practice on Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday night's contest against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

It's a game that the Penguins feel they need to win if they want to have a shot at clinching the division, or at least securing home ice advantage in the first round of the postseason by claiming second place in the East.

"We need these two points. We're a desperate team right now," said defenseman Ben Lovejoy. "We're doing everything we can to fight and claw, and get home ice advantage, and win the division. Every two points are big."

Standing in the Penguins' way, a Grand Rapids squad that is riding a three-game win streak and sits in second place in the North Division with 94 points.

"It's definitely a big game. They're one of the elite teams in the AHL," said Lovejoy. "It's a measuring stick. If we're going to go deep in the playoffs, we're going to need to play teams like Grand Rapids. They're a talented team."

The Griffins' attack is led by Darren Haydar, who ranks fifth amongst AHL scoring leaders with 72 points in 70 games this season. Haydar was an integral member of the 2004 Milwaukee Admirals and 2008 Chicago Wolves, both of which defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to win the Calder Cup.

"He was awesome last year against us in the finals," Lovejoy said. "He's one of the elite players in the league. He can beat you so many ways, he's another guy that's a measuring stick for our defense and for our team. We need to go out and be conscious of where he is on the ice at all times."

But Haydar is only one of the weapons in the Griffins' arsenal. Center Darren Helm scored twice in regulation the last time the two teams met, and winger Ville Leino is averaging close to a point-per-game.

"They're an outstanding group: four good lines, their (defensemen) are all solid, and two great goaltenders," Reirden said. "It'll be a good challenge for us."