Chirps from Center Ice

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, decimated by injuries, enter a vital week where they wrap a road trip with a Wednesday stop in Providence to take on the Bruins, then return home for a pair with the hapless but still pesky Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday and Saturday.

Music to Set the Mood…

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When you need inspiration, throw on some Dokken. This is off their second album of the same name. Where were you in 1984?

A Quote…

Desperate living, driving me mad
Writing’s on the wall
Crushed all our hopes and the dreams we once had
Just to watch them fall

— (Brown / Dokken / Lynch / Pilson)

In keeping with the above video, this is the first verse. If you have followed this team for years, that verse hits the nail straight on the head.

The Setup…

Their final head-to-head with the Providence Bruins, then a pair with the Hartford Wolf Pack at home and then head up to Springfield for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinee on Monday.

Last weekend in Charlotte, the Penguins split a pair of 5-1 decisions winning Friday and losing Saturday in a pair of polar opposite games where everything seemed to go right for them Friday and everything was working against them on Sunday.

The Bruins had a three in three weekend where they beat Bridgeport, lost to Hartford and then won against Lehigh Valley to outright claim first in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins are 25-7-1 and have 51 points. After hosting the Penguins on Wednesday, Cleveland is in for the weekend for a Saturday and Sunday visit.

Hartford also had a three in three, where they beat Springfield, Providence and lost against Bridgeport. The Wolf Pack are 12-17-4-1, in last place in the Atlantic with 29 points and are in Hershey on Wednesday before heading to Wilkes-Barre.

Springfield beat Hartford then lost to Lehigh Valley this past weekend. They then headed south for Charlotte and lost big, 8-2, on Tuesday and will rematch the Checkers on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds have a 13-16-4-2 record and have 32 points and will host the Pens on Monday for an MLK Day bash.

Side note, three in threes for Providence, Bridgeport, Hartford and Springfield are different then there in threes for the Penguins, Bears and Phantoms. You are in your own bed every night and only on a bus for an hour or less.

Records

Gave you Providence, Hartford and Springfield’s above. The Penguins are 23-10-1-2 and good for 49 points and are second in the Atlantic. That’s the halfway point for the Pens this season and would put them on 98 points. 96 points won the Division for Hershey last year.

The Rest of those Rascals…

Lehigh Valley is staying hot on the trail of the Penguins and Bruins and are in third place and have a 19-12-2-2 record and 42 points. The Phantoms beat Springfield Saturday and lost to the Bruins on Sunday. The Phantoms host Bridgeport and Syracuse this Friday and Saturday and then are in Bridgeport on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday.

I gave you what the Charlotte Checkers did above with the Pens, splitting a pair of 5-1 decisions this past weekend. Charlotte hosted Springfield Tuesday and smoked the Thunderbirds 8-2. The Checkers will be looking to improve upon their 20-12-2 record and 42 points when they host Springfield again tonight, then Hershey on Saturday and Sunday.

The Hershey Bears hosted the Cleveland Monsters this past weekend and beat the Monsters on Saturday and then lost in overtime on Sunday. The Bears host Hartford on Wednesday before heading south for Charlotte for a pair this weekend. The Bears are 17-14-2 and have 36 points in fifth in the division.

Bridgeport had a three in three where they lost in Providence, beat Utica at home and then beat Hartford at home. The Islanders are 14-17-2-1 with 31 points and seventh in the Atlantic. They are in Allentown Friday, host Springfield on Saturday and the Phantoms on MLK Day on Monday.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Up: Zach Urdahl, Max Graham, Brayden Edwards, David Breazeale remain on recall from the Wheeling Nailers. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard was sent back Tuesday, but Ryan Graves and Tristan Broz went up.

Down: Define down. This is a broad definition, given the circumstances. Gabe Klassen came off the injured list and Ville Koivunen was returned from Pittsburgh. Dave Breazeale was sent back to Wheeling on Monday. Caleb Jones, a defenseman, is here on a conditioning stint. Anything is better than Matt Dumba.

Out: Aidan McDonough (day to day, upper body), Avery Hayes (week to week, upper body), Daniel Laatsch (week to week, lower body), Sebastian Aho (week to week, lower body), Alex Alexyev (day to day, upper body), Raivis Ansons (week to week, upper body) are injured.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Are they more like the Friday team or the Saturday team? A cop out is a little of both.

Look, I think you can pencil them in as a playoff team barring a major disaster. As of right now though I don’t think they are playing like a division leader and I would even argue that they are in danger of losing a bye bid. Which means they are in the Best of Three First Round series again, this time probably against Hershey because Lehigh Valley is gunning for a bye.

Charlotte gives them problems. They play Providence tight because the two teams are carbon copies of one another. They can outclass Hartford.

I think they are okay, for now, but they are in the second half of their season now and time is going to start running out.

Who’s in Goal?

Sergei Murashov should start Wednesday and Saturday, let Joel Blomqvist start Friday. The better of the two starts Monday.

Mike DiPietro should get the net for the Bruins Wednesday , then you should see Callum Tung and Dylan Garand in some capacity on Friday and Saturday. Vadim Zherenko is my guess for Springfield on Monday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Austin Rook and Jim Curtin have the assignment on Wednesday in Providence. Curtin is my favorite ref out of there. Dylan Blujus and Jack McQuesten Work the lines.

Friday sees Adam Tobias and Luke Stork work the game with Richard Jondo and T.J. Dockery on the lines. Stork stays the night in Wilkes-Barre and meets up with Hayden Verbeek. Dockery too, as Bill Lyons tags in for Jondo.

No crew listed for Monday’s game yet.

Looking Ahead…

The Belleville Senators stop in on Wednesday for their only visit of the season, then it’s off to Hershey for a rare Friday Bears home game and then the Pens are home Saturday against the Charlotte Checkers for the season series finale between the two teams.

Give us a bold prediction…

7 of 8 points this week, fighting for every point tooth and nail, like the title above says.