Scouting report Matchup: Penguins vs. Florida Panthers, 7:38 p.m. today, BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Fla. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WXDX-FM (105.9). Probable goaltenders: Jocelyn Thibault for Penguins. Alexander Auld for Panthers. Penguins: Had at least one point in four consecutive games with a 17-6 scoring advantage before the game at Tampa last night. ... Were ranked 28th in road penalty-killing at 74.1 percent. ... D Sergei Gonchar has 35 points in 46 games vs. Panthers. Panthers: Coming off 0-1-2 Western road trip. ... Are 12-1 vs. Penguins since start of 2002-03 season. ... LW Ville Peltonen has 2 goals, 2 assists and is plus-3 in past 4 games. Hidden stat: Two of Florida C Greg Williams' three goals have come in the past four games.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Eastern Conference has an hourglass shape this season -- Buffalo comfortably at the top, Philadelphia well off the pace at the bottom, and several teams in a tight bunch in the middle.

Going into the games last night, the nine teams in fifth through 13th place were separated by seven points. The Penguins were tied for ninth with 43 points, one spot and one point out of the eighth-place cutoff for the playoffs. Their opponent last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning, was one point back behind them and in 12th place.

With the league at roughly the midway point in the season, there are different theories on what it will take to reach the postseason.

One thought is that it will take more points than last season, when six Eastern teams reached triple figures and Tampa Bay finished eighth with 92. Atlanta and Toronto were left out despite earning 90 points and finishing eight games over .500.

Lightning coach John Tortorella is guessing that parity will lead to the playoff cutoff being a lower number of points.

"As it shapes up right now, with so many teams just hovering right there around .500, one above, two above, two below, unless something changes drastically, I think it will be less than last year," Tortorella said.

"But who knows what the second half brings?"

Honors for 2 Baby Penguins

For the second time, Noah Welch, a defenseman for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins, was voted a starter for the PlanetUSA All-Star team in the AHL All-Star Classic.

Wilkes-Barre right winger and leading scorer Jonathan Filewich was named to the Canadian All-Star team for the All-Star Classic, Jan. 28-29 in Toronto.

Batter up

Penguins coach Michel Therrien threw the team a curveball for practice Monday in suburban Tampa. Instead of a routine workout, he oversaw a game of baseball.

And even though the weather was nice for the familiar version of that game, this one was a mini-tournament on skates at the Ice Sports Forum, the practice facility for the Lightning.

"We ask a lot of the players, and there's a time for them to have fun as well," Therrien said.

"You don't want to do it more than once or twice a year, but, when I go into the dressing room and tell the guys we're going to play it, they're excited about it."

The squad was divided into four teams and played two games at once at opposite ends of the ice.

A "batter" from one team starts in one corner, puts the puck in play anywhere in that zone, then takes off around the perimeter of the zone. Meanwhile, the players on the other team collect the puck, make three passes, then begin shooting five-on-zero at the goaltender.

If the batter makes it to the opposite corner before a goal is scored, he earns a point for his team. If he doesn't, it's an out.

Games are three innings, with a maximum of five points per game.

"They don't realize that they're working hard, skating, moving the puck," Therrien said.

The winning team was Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Maxime Talbot, Jarkko Ruutu and Ryan Whitney, most of whom, Therrien pointed out, have some experience with his on-ice version of baseball because they have been coached by Therrien with the Penguins or Wilkes-Barre much of the past couple of seasons.

Slap shots

Tortorella admires NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby as much as anyone, saying the Penguins' young star "is the full package," but he also picked out a specific area in which Crosby excels. Tortorella said Crosby and San Jose's Joe Thornton are exceptional at backhand passes. ... The Penguins scratched forward Chris Thorburn. ... The Lightning scratched center Tim Taylor. ... Michel Plasse, a goaltender who played for the Penguins in 1975-76, died of a heart attack Dec. 30 in Ile du Pas, Quebec. He was 58.