It’s the final Weekend Preview of the season and we are going back to the playoffs. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a lot to play for still as they still gun for the first round bye.
Music to Set the Mood…
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This has been an earwig for me for the past week. So catchy and apropos. Shut the Top 40 garbage off and listen to real music.
Also, let’s go back to playoffs and stay a while.
The Setup
It’s the proverbial stone in the shoe Providence Bruins this Wednesday at home, then the final regular season road trip to Hershey on Friday before closing out they regular season with a home match against the Cleveland Monsters.
The Penguins had a 2-0 lead coming into the third period Friday which was erased by the visiting Hershey Bears in the first five minutes where the Bears would. go on to win 4-2.
The Penguins dominated the Springfield Thunderbirds the next night at home, winning 4-1 and dominating the shots on goal, 44-23.
Then Wilkes-Barre handled business in Bridgeport to close out the last three in three of the season winning 5-2.
For the Bruins, they beat Hartford 6-2 Friday and won against Belleville 3-2 in overtime Saturday.
Hershey lost to Lehigh Valley 5-1 after their Friday meet with the Pens. The Bears will host a Syracuse team which has not clinched a playoff berth yet on Wednesday.
Cleveland split with the Toronto Marlies in a home and home weekend series. The Monsters will be in Rochester Wednesday and Lehigh Valley on Friday.
Records
The Penguins are 39-22-7-1 and on 86 points in third in the Atlantic Division.
Providence has the same number of points and in fourth in the Atlantic with a 39-23-5-3 record.
Hershey leads the Atlantic with a 43-19-6-1 record, on 93 points.
Cleveland sits fourth in the North with a 35-23-5-6 record on 81 points.
Check Your Surroundings
Wilkes-Barre cannot win the division, but can finish as high as second. Charlotte holds that seeding presently.
The Checkers are in Hartford Wednesday before closing out their regular season in Springfield Friday and Saturday. They are 41-22-3-3 with 88 points.
Joona Koppanen, Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen are in Pittsburgh. McGroarty could be back this season, provided the Penguins are still around. My guess is 4-6 weeks. Vasily Ponomarev and Valtteri Puustinen are also up.
Emil Bemstrom was sent back last weekend.
Gabe Klassen, Matty De St. Phalle and Logan Pietila are up from Wheeling.
Goaltender Taylor Gauthier was recalled Monday and they sent Sergei Murashov and Jack Beck to Wheeling.
Joona Koppanen cleared waivers Tuesday but was not immediately re-assigned.
Pittsburgh’s season ends this Thursday, so expect a ton of roster shuffling on the wires this Friday with guys coming back from Pittsburgh and going down to Wheeling.
The Nailers start their seven game series with the Norfolk Admirals this Wednesday, with Games 1 and 2 Wednesday and Thursday in Norfolk, then Game 3 not till the following Wednesday. That series is weird because it’s a 2-5 setup, with games 5, 6 and 7 (if needed) being played all in Wheeling.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
They are going to get help, but will that help arrive in time for a First Round series against the Springfield Thunderbirds or a second round matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms possibly? None of the bodies in Pittsburgh will be around Wednesday against a Providence team they can’t beat at home to save their arse.
Suffice to say, the Wednesday game against the Bruins is the biggest game of the season for them.
Now, they can lose, hope that Charlotte loses, but then the Bruins would need to lose against the Bridgeport Islanders in their final game Saturday and that won’t happen because the Bruins have only lost once against the Islanders all year.
Again, in my opinion, Wednesday night’s game against the Bruins is probably the most important game for Wilkes-Barre in the last five years, maybe more.
Who’s in Goal?
Up until Monday afternoon it was an interesting conundrum. Whoever gets the start is probably your Game 1 starter when playoffs do begin. Is it Joel Blomqvist or Sergei Murashov? Well, for the time being, it’s Joel Blomqvist.
They dominated Springfield Saturday when Blomqvist was in net and won big. But Murashov also won, albeit against a terrible Bridgeport team who tested him, Sunday. But Wheeling gets going in their Kelly Cup Playoffs this week and they can use him to help them get deep.
Figure Blomqvist – Larsson and then possibly Taylor Gauthier if there isn’t anything left to play for Saturday. If there still is, figure Blomqvist.
Brandon Bussi – Garin Bjorklund – Jet Greaves is my shot in the dark for the opposition.
Wait. What? They really reassigned Murashov to Wheeling?
They want him in high leverage situations. They want a healthy Joel Blomqvist in high leverage situations also. Since the AHL rulebook does not allow you to play two goaltenders at the same time, Murashov was moved to Wheeling to assist the Nailers in their Kelly Cup pursuit. Make no bones, has nothing to prove at the ECHL level any longer, but this is the die which has been cast. It isn’t a knock on Murashov. He doesn’t develop in a ball cap operating a door at the bench during the Calder Cup Playoffs. He will do well and develop helping the Nailers go deep in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Who’s Running the Show?
Patrick Hanrahan and Rob Hennessey are the refs assigned to Wednesday’s matchup with J.P. Waleski and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.
Friday sees Graedy Hamilton and Chad Ingalls as the referees in Hershey with Jeremy Faucher and Tommy George on the lines.
Hamilton will make the trek up I-81 to meet up with Ben Betker Saturday in Wilkes-Barre with Ryan Jackson and J.P. Waleski on the lines for the regular season finale against Cleveland.
Looking Ahead…
We don’t know yet. Seeding and likely a playoff opponent and schedule will be out Saturday night at the conclusion of the Monsters / Penguins game. Or will it? Will the Penguins have locked up a bye?
Give us a bold prediction…
Get ready for another three game first round series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, buddy.
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Chirps from Center Ice 