Wilkes-Barre / Scranton heads into the second weekend of AHL action with a home and home against a team it sees twelve times in the Lehigh Valley Phantoms who took the Penguins out of the First Round of the AHL Playoffs last Spring.
Music to Set the Mood…
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I remember hearing this song for the very first time up in Binghamton, New York when the then Senators came out to this as their warmup music. It hit then, it hit now. With a pair with a ghost named team this close to Halloween, I find it apropos.
I miss Binghamton…
A Quote…
(yes, I forgot this last week)
The world is full of ghosts, and some of them are still people. — Peter Straub
…but enough about who you like on Election Day.
Oh, sorry. Wrong blog. Anyway. Moving on…
The Setup
A home and home with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on consecutive nights beginning Friday in Wilkes-Barre.
The Phantoms needed a shootout to beat the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday in Allentown in their only action of the weekend. The Penguins scored ten goals and managed a 1-1 record, putting up six in a losing effort against the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday and then four more in a 4-1 win in Springfield on Sunday.
They scored a power play goal in each game, which was good, but allowed two shorthanded goals against Charlotte, which was bad.
They will likely roll Filip Larsson in goal in one of the contests this weekend, and which Larsson we get will be the question. Sure, his defense and special teams did him no favors Saturday, but he could have been better.
Records
The Penguins are 1-1 and the Phantoms are 1-0. Early days in the division here.
Dan Renouf was dinged up Saturday and has a lower body injury which they don’t think is that bad, per the broadcast Sunday afternoon. Sam Houde and Isaac Belliveau have lower body injuries and are day to day and Jagger Joshua is week to week with an upper body injury. The Pens recalled Mats Lindgren from Wheeling Wednesday mid-morning.
Pittsburgh sent rookie sensation Rutger McGroarty to Wilkes-Barre in a surprising but not surprising move. Kid needs to develop and that’s what the AHL is and does. Look for him to slot in the top six this weekend and we will see how he does.
Like I said, all of those are listed on that page which updates as I get the information.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
The hope is that they play Lehigh Valley tight but find a way to win or blow them straight out, right? Tighten up on special teams, which I think they did on the bus ride up to Springfield Saturday night into Sunday, don’t allow two shorthanded goals and capitalize on the chances given. Easy, right?
I am not concerned, nor should I be when I look at the calendar, and you shouldn’t be either. Now if they are sitting on an 0-2 record, you have every right to let doubt creep in. But honestly, how often do you see 7-6 track meets in the AHL like you saw Saturday? Not often. They are fine. They are still figuring things out, like all the other 31 teams in the League.
Who’s in Goal?
Perfectly reasonable to expect Larsson and Sergei Musharov, but in what combination is the question. I don’t see any reason they don’t start Larsson Friday and let Musharov take the Saturday start, so let’s just roll with that.
Heh. I had this typed up already before Pittsburgh sent Alex Nedeljovic to Wilkes-Barre for a conditioning assignment on Thursday. My guess is Nedeljkovic goes Friday at home and then Larsson and Musharov board the bus Saturday afternoon and Musharov goes Saturday and Larsson backs up. Nedeljkovic will get recalled back to Pittsburgh Sunday.
Or I could be wrong, very wrong, and Nedeljkovic starts both games and sticks around.
For the Phantoms, Alexei Kolosov started Saturday for them, so expect him out of the tunnel first Friday in Wilkes-Barre and Cal Petersen Saturday in the rematch in Allentown.
Who’s Running the Show?
Beau Halkidis and Samuel Heidemann are the refs scheduled for Friday with Tyler Loftus and Justin Johnson. The Pens saw Halkidis Sunday in Springfield and can’t shake the guy. Saturday sees Mason Riley and Jackson Kozari as the referees with Michael Magee and John Rey on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Theme of the home and homes continue, this time with the Syracuse Crunch beginning next Friday in Syracuse.
Give us a bold prediction…
Power play train continues down the tracks, with them scoring in each game. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic does not score a goal in either contest. Wilkes-Barre sweeps the weekend.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 
so is Houde still in WB or is he in Wheeling???
Wheeling, assigned this week.