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Mackenzie Yori pours in 28 points as Hazleton Area holds off Wyoming Valley West in District 2 Class 4A girls basketball semifinal

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Yankee Teixeira visits area chats with RailRiders season ticket holders

Tyler Biggs acknowledged that Friday&#8217;s game against the AHL&#8217;s top team - the Toronto Marlies, comes with plenty of motivation.After all, everyone wants to beat the best.But for Biggs, the game carries an additional incentive. Not only does he want to help the Penguins knock off the team with the best record in the league, but he also wants to win against the organization that drafted him in the first round in 2011. Since turning pro two years ago, Biggs has been a member of the Marlies until this season when he signed with the Penguins.&#8220;It&#8217;s the team I started with. I&#8217;ve never come across this before,&#8221; Biggs said. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure it will happen again down the road in my career, but it won&#8217;t be as motivational as that first team you were drafted by.&#8221;But there&#8217;s more.Not only is Biggs excited to face the AHL&#8217;s top team and the organization that drafted him, he&#8217;s also looking forward to seeing some former teammates who he spent the last two years with on the Marlies.&#8220;Being able to play against some of the guys I&#8217;ve played with for so long, it will be a nice treat to run some of them through the boards,&#8221; Biggs said.That doesn&#8217;t mean Biggs is going to run around just looking to throw hits. He knows what&#8217;s at stake in a contest that pits the AHL&#8217;s top two teams and he knows the importance of sticking to the game plan.&#8220;That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m going to do. There is some motivation there, but I&#8217;m not going to run around,&#8221; Biggs said. &#8220;You can be more excited, but no matter what you still have to play within your team structure.&#8221;That&#8217;s exactly what head coach Clark Donatelli wants to hear from Biggs. He knows Biggs has added motivation in facing the team that drafted him in the first round and then let him go a few years later, but that excitement has to be tempered.&#8220;You can&#8217;t get too high,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;Go out there and play his game and not worry about any of the stuff that he can&#8217;t or couldn&#8217;t control.&#8221;Tackling TorontoThe Marlies have the fewest regulation losses - 9, in the AHL and they are second in the league with 201 goals scored. With two overtime losses in their last two games, the Penguins want to avoid playing extra minutes against the Marlies.&#8220;If you do make mistakes they make you pay,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;There&#8217;s going to be momentum swings, and it&#8217;s about how we control those momentum swings. Don&#8217;t get into a track meet with them.&#8221;Stopping BrennanMarlies defenseman T.J. Brennan leads the team with 45 points and also ranks third among AHL leading scorers. What&#8217;s the key to stopping a leading scorer who happens to be a defenseman?&#8220;We have to keep him in his own end,&#8221; said captain Tom Kostopoulos. &#8220;Keep them off the power play, because he&#8217;s good on it, and don&#8217;t give him too much time.&#8221;Biggs, who played with Brennan last season, added a bit more advice. &#8220;He&#8217;s a shooter. We have to get in lanes, block shots and be physical on him and hopefully he won&#8217;t want to jump up in the play as much.&#8221;Travel agendaAfter Friday&#8217;s game, the Penguins will spend Saturday in Toronto before traveling to Rochester for Sunday&#8217;s game against the Americans. The day off in Toronto is one the Penguins are looking forward to as many of the players hail from southern Ontario.&#8220;They&#8217;re excited to go home,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;They&#8217;re excited to see their families and excited to play the number one team in the league.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom Veneskytvenesky@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Up next&#8230;Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (32-14-3-1, .680, 1st place in the Atlantic Division) at Toronto Marlies (38-9-4-0, .784, 1st place in the North Division)Friday, 7 p.m. at the Ricoh Coliseum in TorontoListen live on 103.1FM-WILKPlayers to watch:Toronto - Former Pittsburgh draft pick Kasperi Kapanen will face his old team fir the first time since being traded over the summer.Penguins - Goaltender Matt Murray looks to stave off the potent Marlies offense while facing Toronto for the first time in his career.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</shirttailMeta></div>

Pens ready to face the AHL’s best