Chirps from Center Ice

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins magic number is six points entering this weekend of play. Sweep this three in three with the Bruins, Bears and Islanders and the rest takes care of itself. Win against Providence, have Hartford lose against Hershey Friday then win against Hershey or have Hartford lose against Milwaukee and the Penguins are in before you go to church on Sunday.

Double edged sword. You want to get in this weekend, but you don’t want Hershey to get too far away from you. There’s three games left with the Bears on the schedule and Hershey is up eight points on the Pens. I know it has been said to death here recent, but this weekend is vital.

Music to Set the Mood…

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Again, this comes from a YouTube search where I put, “six pack song” in and it returns the above result.

A Quote…

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening in the axe.
– Abraham Lincoln

Pens have some work to do if they want to catch Hershey.

The Setup

Home against Providence for the first time all season, home against Hershey Saturday and then a Sunday road trip to Bridgeport.

Wilkes-Barre had an okayish week last, beating Hershey in a shootout March 12, then splitting a pair in Allentown against the Phantoms.

Providence lost tin Toronto March 12 4-2, then in a shootout in Rochester last Friday then won in Springfield last Sunday.

Hershey is 8-1-0-1 in their last ten and in the midst of a hellish road trip. Whatever you throw at this team they devour. This past weekend they were in Chicago and put up swept the Wolves 5-0, 5-2. They went to Springfield this past Wednesday and, after seeing the Thunderbirds tie the game at two, rattle off two more and win 4-2. Bears are in Hartford Friday.

Bridgeport, already eliminated from playoffs, skunked Laval last Wednesday and won 5-2 but then got throttled in Belleville 6-1 on back to back nights. The Islanders will be in Springfield Saturday.

Records

Pens have 74 points on 58 games played with a 33-17-7-1 record, second in the Atlantic.

Providence has 73 points on 59 games played with a 33-19-4-3 record, third in the Atlantic.

Hershey has 82 points on 59 games played with a 38-15-5-1 record, first in the Atlantic.

Bridgeport has 33 points on 60 games played with a 13-40-4-3 record, last in the Atlantic.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Joona Koppanen went up, scored a goal Tuesday for Pittsburgh. Emil Bemstrom is still in the NHL and there are shenanigans with Matt Nieto and Sebastian Aho on the transactions page.

Status quo with the rest of the injured guys.

Zach Gallant was signed to a SPC, sent to Wheeling.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

I think this weekend gives us a clear picture on what the odds are for the division lead. Eight to Hershey coming into Friday means you need help and have to be perfect with your remaining games against them. One of those is Saturday. Pens matchup really good against Hershey but so do the Bruins against the Pens.

Then there’s the first round bye. We didn’t mention fourth place Charlotte (72 points on 58 games played) or fifth place Lehigh Valley (69 points on 61 games played) – Pens are protecting second place. You want to make the playoffs, but you don’t want to play in the First Round. It is vital that the Pens handle business against Providence Friday, replicate the same against the back to back champs Saturday and not get trapped against a terrible Bridgeport team on Sunday.

Can they? Sure. Will they? We hope. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Who’s in Goal? 

I think they are foolish if they don’t do 8-0 in the AHL Sergei Murashov Saturday against Hershey. Is Joel Blomqvist back yet? If not you have Filip Larsson, fully capable, against Providence Friday.

Michael DiPietro, Clay Stevenson, Jakub Skarek for the opposition.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mike Dietrich and Andrew Bell are the refs Friday with J.P. Waleski and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.

Dietrich sticks around and meets Casey Terreri in the hotel lobby and they both run the show Saturday with John Rey and Richard Jondo on the lines.

Jake Kamrass and Jackson Kozari have the assignment in Bridgeport Sunday with Mitchell Hunt and Devon Gale on the lines.

Looking ahead…

They close out March with a home game against Hartford Wednesday (sigh) and then a road trip to Charlotte Saturday and Sunday.

Give us a bold prediction…

Ticket will be punched to the postseason with the rest of it in flux as the ride continues.