Chirps from Center Ice

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are going to be the busiest team in the Atlantic Division so of course another three in three weekend is on the menu for them this week. But the good news is they don’t have to go far.

Music to Set the Mood…

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If you haven’t figured it out by now, the Pens travel to Allentown on Sunday.

A Quote…

Omne trium perfectum
– Latin for “everything that comes in threes is perfect”

I don’t think they need to be perfect in this three in three, but I wouldn’t mind.

The Setup

Home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday, the Hershey Bears on Saturday then on the road Sunday afternoon in Allentown against the Phantoms.

Wilkes-Barre shutout the Bridgeport Islanders 3-0 last Friday in a game I didn’t like then gave up four goals in the first Saturday against Cleveland but battled back to win 5-4 in overtime then had a similar fate in Hershey Tuesday but fell 5-4 in regulation.

Lehigh Valley needed a shootout to beat Cleveland Friday and won 3-2 then went to Hartford, who hadn’t won in a while, and lost 4-2.

Hershey was shutout 5-0 at home against Syracuse last Saturday then responded in a big way and beat the Pens 5-4 Tuesday.

Records

The Penguins are in second in the Atlantic with a 26-12-4 record with 56 points.

Lehigh Valley sit in sixth place in the Atlantic with a 22-18-5-1 record and 50 points.

Hershey is in first in the Atlantic with a 29-13-5 record good for 63 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Boko Imama is hurt in Pittsburgh, the rest of them are with Wilkes-Barre. The roster tracker has all the moves as they come and is updated all the time.

Pittsburgh traded Corey Andonovski to St. Louis for Mathias Laferreire on Thursday. Laferreire will report to Wilkes-Barre.

Wilkes-Barre sent Sergei Murashov to Wheeling and called up Isaac Belliveau.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Conceivably the way out of the division is going to have to go through Hershey, whether they are in first, second or worse. They are the defending Calder Cup Champions and the Penguins play the Bears more than any other opponent the rest of the season.

Then there’s the Phantoms who remain a threat, and the team that beat the Penguins in the playoffs last year.

If you think the Penguins are a threat this year, then they need to prove that to you by winning all three games this weekend, or at the very least get 5 out of six points or be valiant in defeat.

I didn’t like the way that they shutout Bridgeport. The Islanders are bad and the Penguins should have also beat them 9-0 like they did to the Bears a few nights prior.

I didn’t like the way they showed in Hershey. The Bears are sick and called up half of their ECHL roster and the Penguins were at full strength. There was no reason the Penguins could not have won that game by multiple goals also.

I did like the way they weren’t out of it at all against the Monsters and battled back the way they did. They played like they weren’t going to be denied.

They need to bottle that up and sprinkle that in and out this weekend. If they do, they will be fine.

Who’s in Goal?

Getting Joel Blomqvist back from Pittsburgh threw a monkey wrench in the plan. I would have started Sergei Murashov against the Bears, but, if Pittsburgh tells you to start Blomqvist (no one will say they did) you do it.

Just to be clear I don’t have an issue with Blomqvist. He’s in the NHL for a reason, he’s really good, but there’s something about Murashov and the Bears.

Sending Murashov to Wheeling means Filip Larsson is good to go.

So… who gets the starts? I’d go Blomqvist / Larsson / Blomqvist, but that means Larsson against the Bears Saturday. If not, Larsson / Blomqvist / Larsson, but that means Larsson starts twice and I can’t see that happening. With them playing a three in three I can’t see a goalie playing back to back, so my original guess of Blomqvist / Larsson / Blomqvist stands.

Opposition wise, Parker Gahagen, Hunter Shepard, Parker Gahagen.

Who’s Running the Show?

Riley Brace and Jack Young with John Rey and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines on Friday.

Saturday sees Young stick around with Mike Sullivan and his ineptitude swing into town with Bill Lyons tagging in for Rey and Yakimowicz sticking around.

Sunday sees Sullivan follow them to Allentown with Jack Hennigan joining him with Michael Magee and J.P. Waleski on the lines.

Still not a fan of the way these are assigned. We see the same dozen or so referees with some outlier guys like Hennigan come in from time to time. Mix it up more, please.

Looking Ahead

They are on the road the rest of the month and, wouldn’t you know it, another three in three! Friday in Hartford, Saturday in Springfield and Sunday in Providence.

Give us a bold prediction…

Power play goals scored in each game. A shorthanded goal, 5 of 6 points and closer to Hershey Sunday night then when they started the weekend.