The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have not had a lot of action in the past two weeks, but the action picks up with the top teams in the Conference in the Laval Rocket and Hershey Bears on the schedule this weekend, it’s time to see what this team is made of.
Sure, the Penguins are 9-4-1 and better than most teams in the AHL, but they haven’t really had a test yet. That comes this weekend.
Music to set the Mood…
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Snips and snails and puppy dogs tails? Sounds disgusting to me, but I didn’t write the nursery rhyme!
A Quote…
Sugar and spice and everything nice. –What Little Girls are Made Of
Much nicer. Anyway, let’s move off this.
The Setup
The North Division leading Laval Rocket head to town on Friday and then the Penguins hit the road for their first meeting of the season with the 13 time Calder Cup Hershey Bears.
Last week the Penguins shutout the Bridgeport Islanders 5-0 with a resounding triumph after the Islanders gave them fits and beat them the week before and they needed a shootout a few weeks prior to beat Bridgeport.
It was an important game because you wanted to see how they responded. I’d say they passed with flying colors but the teams standing in their way are going to be teams like the Rocket and Bears.
The Rocket dropped 2 out of 3 this past week against Rochester and split a home and home against a scrappy Belleville Senators team.
Hershey lost in overtime last Wednesday against Toronto, needed a late Mike Vecchione goal to force OT and then a Vecchione goal to win in OT in Rochester Friday then beat Syracuse in a shootout on Saturday.
The Rocket and Bears met Wednesday and it was the Bears coming out on top 5-3.
Hershey will be in Allentown Friday.
Records
I gave you the Penguins record above. Hershey leads the division with a 14-4-2 record and Laval is 13-4-1
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Owen Pickering is up in Pittsburgh. Vasily Ponomarev was reassigned Saturday. Defenders are getting healthy. I think I saw Dan Renouf in a regular practice sweater on the teams socials this week.
Sam Poulin was reassigned Monday and Taylor Gauthier was sent to Wheeling then too.
The Pens got a bit of a lucky break when no one claimed Valtteri Puustinen on Wednesday. Puustinen was formally assigned on Wednesday.
Like the headline says, what this team is made of.
You can lose and beat Lehigh Valley, but what does that say when the Phantoms are so mercurial?
You can beat the Islanders and lose to them, but what does that say when the Islanders are so bad as their record indicates?
You have two teams who are at the top of their divisions on the schedule this week. If the Penguins beat both, it’s not a matter of if, but when they catch the Bears and likely see the Rocket again down the road. If the Penguins lose both games, then they are what they are, an above average team that isn’t division leading worthy.
I think there’s a swagger about this team. They are good, I think they know they are good but not cocky about it and have coaching they are receptive to that puts them in position to win every game.
Getting an injection of three really good forwards in Poulin, Ponomarev and Puustinen helps also.
Who’s in Goal?
Joel Blomqvist for both games if you are asking me which I think if you are here you kind of are. Do you want to run Filip Larsson out there against Laval and save Blomqvist for Hershey because you see the Bears more then the Rocket and have six games in hand on them, then go ahead.
Jakub Dobeš for the Rocket Friday and likely Clay Stevenson for the back to back champs on Saturday.
Who’s Running the Show?
Liam Maaskant and Mitch Hardy get the Black Friday assignment at home against Laval with J.P. Waleski and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines. Saturday sees Maaskant again with Riley Brace with Colin Gates and Tommy George on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Calendar flips to December (wow!) and the Bears drop in Wednesday for a home game (boo, work night home games, boo!) and then they take to the road to Hartford Saturday (Friday off, alright!) and Providence Sunday and then the next five at home.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 