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Their view: Trump’s dubious claim on gun control

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12 retailers headed to downtown Wilkes-Barre for holiday ‘experiment’

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Almost one year ago, Colin Smith and his Toronto Marlies teammates traveled to the Mohegan Sun Arena to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>On Wednesday, history will repeat itself as the Penguins and Marlies battle again as the top two conference teams. Except Smith gets to experience the contest from the other side.</p><p>Is there a difference?</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s exactly the same,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Wednesday&#8217;s game will mark the third straight season that the Marlies and Penguins have faced each other during the regular season as the conference&#8217;s top teams. All three of the contests will have been played at the Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p>On Dec. 18, 2015, the Marlies beat the Penguins 4-3 in a shootout. Last season Toronto dominated with a 3-0 win.</p><p>The stakes are just as high for this season&#8217;s meeting. Both teams have a .750 win percentage. The Penguins are 6-0-0-1 in the last seven games, while Toronto is 7-3-0-0 in its last 10 contests and is in first place in the North Division.</p><p>Smith, who will have seen the conference battle from both sides, said there&#8217;s a lot of similarity between the two teams.</p><p>&#8220;They have a lot of depth and high-skilled players. They&#8217;ve been winning games and so have we,&#8221; he said.</p><p>So what&#8217;s the mindset for a player on either side going into a game between two of the AHL&#8217;s best?</p><p>For the Marlies last season, according to Smith, the game was viewed as a measuring stick.</p><p>&#8220;Even though it&#8217;s early in the year it&#8217;s a good indication of where you stand and how strong your record is,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;We really wanted to be at our best.&#8221;</p><p>Penguins coach Clark Donatelli said his team is accustomed to facing the best of the best, as many of the AHL&#8217;s top squads are fellow Atlantic Division rivals. The list includes Charlotte, Lehigh Valley, Providence and Bridgeport &#8212; teams that the Penguins face multiple times each season.</p><p>The only difference, he said, is the Penguins face Toronto just twice during the season.</p><p>&#8220;When Toronto comes in, I don&#8217;t know if they&#8217;re any better but we know they&#8217;re a top team in the league,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;We know they&#8217;re a good team, but we play a lot of good teams.&#8221;</p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p>&#8226; The Marlies have only allowed 25 goals &#8212; the second lowest total in the Eastern Conference. Garret Sparks is a big reason behind Toronto&#8217;s stingy defense, leading the league with a 1.44 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. Sparks has also lost just once in seven starts.</p><p>&#8220;We have to shoot the puck. We can&#8217;t be fancy,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;We have to try to get some rubber on this kid.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Former Penguin Kasperi Kapanen, who was Pittsburgh&#8217;s first round pick in 2014 and appeared in a handful of games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before being traded to Toronto in 2015, was reassigned by the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Kapanen has three goals in six games for the Marlies this season.</p><p>&#8220;One more really good player that they have. They&#8217;re a deep team,&#8221; Donatelli said.</p><p>&#8226; Tom Kostopoulos is still day-to-day and is likely out through the weekend, Donatelli said. Troy Josephs practiced with the red no-contact jersey but isn&#8217;t expected back before the end of the month.</p><p>&#8226; Defenseman Zach Trotman was reassigned by Pittsburgh on Tuesday.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Toronto Marlies (9-3-0-0, .750, 1st place in the North Division) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7-2-0-1, .750, 1st place in the Atlantic Division)</p><p>Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena</p><p>Listen live on WILK 103.1-FM</p><p><strong>Players to watch</p><p>Toronto: Winger Mason Marchment has 11 points in nine games, including five goals.</p><p>Penguins: Ryan Haggerty has four goals in three games, including back-to-back two-goal performances.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WBS Penguins ready to battle Toronto Marlies in conference showdown