The magic number to sew up a berth in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins is two. A win Friday against Cleveland, whom the Penguins have mastered for years, will do it for them. If not, if the Springfield Thunderbirds lose in Belleville against the Senators, the Penguins are in as well.
I’m not looking at overtime or shootout losses, that’s too much math, even for me.
Music to Set the Mood…
All of this talk of them making the playoffs…the purpose of qualifying is to win it all. Do I think they qualify for the playoffs? Yeah, it’s inevitable. Do I think they win it all?
Someday…
A Quote
Some say Better things will come our way No matter what they try to say – Lyrics from “Someday” – Sugar Ray
I think, if they do manage to qualify for playoffs, they would be favored against Hartford and/or Lehigh Valley. Charlotte I am not so sure about but of the four teams that are in position today, the Checkers make the least amount of sense because of seeding in the First Round.
As for being favored over the Providence Bruins or Hershey Bears?
Someday…
The Setup
Anyway, bloviating about playoffs is something we will save for the appropriate time, they have a three in three weekend they have to get through first starting tonight at home against Cleveland, then an afternoon Saturday visit to Bridgeport and then a Sunday home game against Lehigh Valley.
The Penguins played just one game last week, last Saturday against the Phantoms and won 4-3 in overtime after a third period game tying goal by Avery Hayes, his first AHL goal and then the game winning overtime goal from Corey Andonovski.
Cleveland dropped a pair against Rochester in a home and home which went Saturday in Cleveland (4-3 OT loss) and Wednesday in Rochester (6-1) loss. That was a big series for each because the Americans and Monsters are level on 77 points each, three off Syracuse, who leads the division.
Bridgeport has been quite active, losing 4-1 to the Checkers on Friday and then beating Charlotte 1-0 at home in overtime on Saturday, then losing 4-1 at home against Utica then winning 4-1 in Hartford on Wednesday. The Islanders are off Friday.
After losing in overtime against the Pens last Saturday as noted above, the Phantoms lost 1-0 in Hershey on Tuesday. Lehigh Valley will host Providence Friday then Cleveland on Saturday. A three in three for the Phantoms as well as they try to pursue Hartford for fifth and stay ahead of Springfield for the final playoff spot in the division.
Records
Pens are 33-22-8-1 with 75 points, good for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 64 games played.
Cleveland is 35-23-4-3 with 77 points, good for third in the North Division with 65 games played.
Bridgeport is 24-35-6-1 with 55 points, good for last in the Atlantic with 66 games played.
Lehigh Valley is 28-27-6-3 with 65 points, good for sixth in the Atlantic with 64 games played.
Check Your Surroundings…
– Providence, in second place in the Atlantic, beat Utica 7-4 last Friday then lost 4-0 in Syracuse last Saturday. The Bruins have the Phantoms in Allentown Friday then return home to face off against the Rochester Americans on Saturday.
The Bruins are second in the Atlantic with 83 points, with 64 games played.
– Charlotte, in third in the Atlantic, noted above split a series in Bridgeport last weekend and host Hartford for a pair this weekend.
The Checkers are third in the Atlantic with 77 points, with 65 games played.
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have 64 games played and have a game in hand against the Checkers.
Hartford has been in free fall mode, losing 6-2 last Friday at home against Springfield, 2-1 in a shootout against Hershey on Saturday and 4-1 against Bridgeport on Wednesday. They have a pair in Charlotte Friday and Saturday.
The Wolf Pack are fifth in the Atlantic with 70 points, with 65 games played.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
ATO season is upon us, with Coal Street adding Mathieu De St. Phalle, a forward out of Wisconsin and forward Logan Pietila out of Michigan Tech this week.
Joel Blomqvist went up then came back to and from Pittsburgh.
Justin Addamo and Dillon Hamaliuk were sent back to Wheeling.
Sam Poulin was recalled to Pittsburgh.
Remaining up in the NHL are Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany and Valtteri Puustinen.
Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky are the longer term Wheeling recalls. I think we can consider Ansons up for good as well as Headrick to some extent.
Taylor Gauthier, Matthew Quercia, Max Cajkovic and Evan Vierling were the recalls made by Coal Street last week.
Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. Jagger Joshua and Vasily Ponomarev joined those three last week but I think Joshua may be good to go because he’s appearing at the last Pitt Stop next week, and they don’t normally send hurt guys to appearances.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Do they lock up the playoff spot on their own or do they have someone do it for them? Can they make a push for third again and make any serious gains on Providence for second?
Their schedule is extremely favorable, a Cleveland team they own, especially at home, a last place Bridgeport team and a Lehigh Valley team barely hanging on to the final playoff spot in the Atlantic. Six points is not out of the realm of the reasonable this weekend for the Penguins.
Charlotte has Hartford at home twice, the Wolf Pack are one of the few teams that actually beat the Checkers in North Carolina, but the Wolf Pack can’t win to save their arse, so you use the game in hand you have on the Checkers and hope for a better fate next week, maybe.
Does Joshua return? Can they stay hot on the power play? Will there be any third period collapses again? If they are a playoff team, what kind of playoff team will they be?
Can they give any team in the division fits? Save for Providence, yeah. But this discussion is for another day.
Does Gauthier get a game this week and if so, how does he do?
Who’s in Goal?
Joel Blomqvist will get both home games and his playoff backup will start Saturday. Who will that be?
Malcolm Subban, Jakub Skarek, Felix Sandstrom for the competition.
Who’s Running the Show?
Mike Sullivan and Mike Dietrich are your referees Friday, with Richard Jondo and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines.
Mathieu Menniti and Michael Zyla have the officiating duties Saturday in Bridgeport with Dan Kovachik and Dylan Lewis on the lines.
Sunday sees a mix of a Friday ref (Sullivan) and a Saturday ref (Zyla) with Bill Lyons and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Cripes another three in three. Home game Friday against Bridgeport, home Saturday against Hershey and Sunday in Chocolatetown against the Bears.
Give us a bold prediction…
I’ll try to keep the next Weekend Preview under 1000 words.
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Chirps from Center Ice 