Chirps from Center Ice

A perfect 2-0 start last week for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins has the Penguins sitting at the top of the Atlantic Division after the first weekend of play.

Miles to go, 70 more games to play. Two more road games this weekend in Hartford and Bridgeport. Let’s get into it!

Music to Set the Mood…

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You may as well just pencil me in with the Hair Nation staples at this point.

Also, rest in peace Ace Frehley.

A Quote…

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
— Mark Twain

I forgot the quote last week. I will try and do better the next time.

Not only do the Penguins lead the Atlantic Division, they lead the entire league. Sustainable? Maybe, but it’s a good start at getting ahead. Just don’t ask me to calculate their magic number.

The Setup…

A road game with the Hartford Wolf Pack, with the Penguins reciprocating the home opener festivities for the Wolf Pack then a trip to an a new look Bridgeport Islanders.

Last weekend the Penguins beat the Wolf Pack Saturday at the home opener 2-1. After going down early, the Penguins come back and ride Sergei Murashov to 23 saves, get goals from Valtteri Puustinen and Owen Pickering and win. Then Sunday in Allentown it was the Tristan Broz Show, where Broz gets a pair of goals and an assist while Filip Larsson stops 26. Two power play goals scored by the Penguins.

Hartford played just one game and lost to the Penguins. Bridgeport loses a nail biter in overtime Saturday at home against Providence and then stomp the Belleville Senators 6-2 on Sunday. They will host Providence in a rematch Friday.

Records

Penguins lead the Atlantic Division with a 2-0 start and 4 points. Hartford has an 0-1 record with 0 points and Bridgeport has 3 points with a 1-0-1 record.

The Rest of those Rascals…

I am adding this in this year because I shelved the Power Rankings this season. Too much work for me to put together and too few people read them. They just never turned numbers for me and weeks would go where I would force myself to write a bunch of stuff on teams the Pens never played that people would never read. It ain’t worth it, so in this spot I’ll give a quick rundown of the Atlantic Division teams not mentioned previously this week in order of division placement.

Providence: Bruins are also off to a 2-0 start and look as good as advertised. There may be a lot of black and yellow at the top of the Atlantic between the P-Bruins and Penguins. After visiting Bridgeport, the Bruins host Hartford Saturday.

Lehigh Valley: Phantoms are 1-1 after a win against the Belleville Senators Saturday and a loss to the Penguins on Sunday. Lehigh Valley is off to Cleveland for a Friday / Saturday tilt against the Monsters.

Charlotte: After looking good beating Springfield last Saturday, the defending Eastern Conference Champions are 1-1 after losing 6-3 to Providence on Sunday. They host the Iowa Wild who are looking for their first win of the season, this weekend.

Hershey: The Bears are also looking for their first win of the season and are 0-1-1 after getting swept at home by the Syracuse Crunch. Herhsey hosts Springfield for a pair this Saturday and Sunday.

Springfield: The Thunderbirds played one game this past weekend and lost to the Checkers and will be looking for their first win this weekend in Hershey in a pair of games.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

David Breazeale and Maxim Pavlenko were sent to Wheeling Friday.

Ville Koivunen was sent back from Pittsburgh Saturday and played Sunday in Lehigh Valley. Rutger McGroarty is still working his way back from injury with Pittsburgh and isn’t a guarantee he’ll be in the AHL, depending on what they do with Ben Kindel.

Nolan Renwick was sent to Wheeling on Wednesday.

Scooter Brickey and Taylor Gauthier have week to week lower body injuries.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Early returns are we have a good team on our hands, but I don’t think the full potential has been reached yet. To expect it this early into the season is silly, I know, but it should be interesting to see how they do this weekend.

Hartford is a good team based on their speed. They will be amped up after a weeks worth of film and practice and itching to exact revenge on the Penguins in their home opener. There’s no reason to believe that the Pens don’t go down big on Friday. But there is reason to believe that they won’t because they are too well coached and way too talented.

The thought has to be in the back of your mind, though.

Bridgeport is a new look team as well and may give the Penguins fits as well. It shouldn’t be seen as a weekend where the Penguins can half ass through a game and pull a rabbit out of their arse and win.

So they need to be careful. These points here in October also count the same in March.

Who’s in Goal? 

No reason to believe they change anything. It should be Murashov Friday and Larsson Saturday.

Dylan Garand and Parker Gahagen for the opposition is my guess.

Who’s Running the Show?

Riley Brace and Matt Mannella have the assignment Friday with Luke Pye and Brent Colby on the lines.

Mike Sullivan and Cole MacDonald have the enforcement duties Saturday with Dylan Lewis and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines Saturday.

Mannella and MacDonald are new referees. Brace is okay, I think Sullivan sucks and gets overmatched at times.

Looking Ahead…

Wednesday at home against the Phantoms, then a trip south for a Friday / Saturday matchup against the Charlotte Checkers.

Give us a bold prediction…

One of the Penguins will win AHL Player of the Week Award for next week.