Chirps from Center Ice

The second place Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins kept pace with the first place Providence Bruins who did the Penguins a solid in sweeping the third place Charlotte Checkers in North Carolina this past weekend.

After a week prior where they coughed up a lead against a Belleville team and lost in overtime and got blasted at home by the Checkers, it was a weekend of trepidation for the Penguins.

They had a Syracuse team that embarrassed them at the start of January and a Lehigh Valley team that always plays them tight.

They won both games handily, going away.

Even better, a guy that people from all walks of life and every corner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ragged on in Matt Dumba, shut us all up with a goal and FIVE assists in the two games. More on him in a bit.

But that’s just one weekend in many of them. No time to rest on your laurels, Tux, it’s time to keep going and don’t stop!

Music to Set the Mood…

–

My tan is fading. Aw, hell, who am I kidding, my tan is faded.

A Quote…

If things don’t come easy, there’s no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit.
– Branch Rickey

The Setup…

Home Wednesday with Hershey then a trip back down to Allentown on Friday and then to Hershey on Saturday.

The Penguins thumped the Syracuse Crunch and Lehigh Valley Phantoms this past weekend. It was the AHL debut for Emil Pieniniemi and Tanner Howe. Pieniniemi on Saturday, Howe on Sunday.

The Bears lost in Rochester Friday and then won in overtime against Utica on Saturday.

Lehigh Valley had a three in three where they lost 2-1 in Springfield, beat Bridgeport at home 5-3 and then lost to the Pens 6-2.

Records

The Penguins are 29-12-2-2, good for second in the Atlantic Division with 62 points.

The Hershey Bears are 20-15-5-2, good for fourth and 47 points.

Lehigh Valley is 21-18-2-2, fifth, with 46.

The Rest of those Rascals…

As mentioned off the hop, Providence did the Penguins a solid with a sweep of the Checkers in North Carolina. The Bruins are an impressive 32-8-1 with 65 points and lead the Atlantic. The Bruins are in Bridgeport Wednesday, then have Hartford in a home and home. The Bruins still have four games in hand on the Penguins but won’t be eating into any of those this week.

Charlotte has a 25-14-3 record and are third in the Atlantic with 53 points, nine off the Penguins with three games in hand. The Checkers host the number one team in the American Hockey League, the Grand Rapids Griffins, this weekend for a pair of games.

Hershey’s games are exclusively against the Penguins this week. Lehigh Valley is off Wednesday, hosts the Penguins Friday then travels up to Bridgeport on Saturday.

Bridgeport is still playing some sneaky good hockey these days. They beat Hartford Friday, lost to Lehigh Valley on Saturday then shutout Springfield 4-0. They are a playoff team with a 19-19-2-2 record and 42 points and sixth in the division. They host Providence Wednesday, are in Utica Friday and host the Phantoms on Saturday.

Springfield took 4 out of 6 points out of the weekend, beating Lehigh Valley and Hartford before getting shutout Sunday to the Islanders. That trip to Bridgeport kicks off a six game road trip for the Thunderbirds, who visit Syracuse Wednesday, Rochester Friday, and Toronto on Saturday looking to improve on their 16-21-4-2 record and 38 points.

Hartford is playing like a team that is checked out. They have lost four straight, losing this weekend to Bridgeport and Springfield. The hits surely will continue this weekend with a home and home with the Providence Bruins although the last time they met, Hartford thumped the Bruins 5-1 on January 10. The Wolf Pack are 16-22-4-1 with 37 points in last.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Up: Rutger McGroarty to Pittsburgh last week. Forward Melvin Fernström will join Wilkes-Barre from Sweden as the Penguins want a geographical closer look at the guy.

Down: G Filip Larsson will have his contract terminated. He’s 27 and is probably heading back overseas or has another deal lined up with maybe another AHL team.

Out: 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. Add Joona Koppanen (lower, week to week) to the list.

AHL Player of the Week

With a goal and five assists with a +4 rating in two games this past weekend, Matt Dumba finally said f*** them kids and played like King Kong and won AHL Player of the Week last weekend. You want to see it continue for as long as it can here, what with the amount of money Pittsburgh is paying him.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

They started on time against the Crunch on Friday and finished on time against the Phantoms on Sunday. Kick MacDonald coached them up with a week of practice and extracted their best. That’s a hell of a coach right there to get the most out of what he has.

Goaltending remains otherworldly with Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist. No worries there.

Finn Harding is coming into his own. I really liked his game this weekend and If you get Emil Pieniniemi rolling I think a rising tide lifts all boats.

No reason to believe that the Penguins can’t put away their in state rivals and pick up six more to keep up with Providence and to separate themselves from Charlotte this week.

Who’s in Goal?

I think Murashov will start the games against Hershey and Blomqvist gets Lehigh Valley again. Or maybe it goes Murashov-Murashov-Blomqvist. Again, I don’t think it really matters in this department.

It’s probably the Mitch Gibson show with the Bears with the goaltender injuries in Washington. He probably gets both games against the Pens this week, considering the Penguins are the only team on the schedule this week.

Aleksei Kolosov should start for the Phantoms Friday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Andrew Bell and Patrick Hanrahan are here Wednesday with Jud Ritter and Ryan Knapp on the lines.

Alex Lepkowski and Mike Dietrich have the assignment from Allentown on Friday with Dylan Blujus and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines.

Sigh, Lepkowski and Dietrich hop in a car and are the assigned officials Saturday in Hershey with Blujus in tow. They will meet up with Tommy George. Where is the parity??

Looking Ahead…

Syracuse next Saturday and then Cleveland Sunday, both at home. Three games with the Monsters this month!

Give us a bold prediction…

A hat trick and a shutout will be seen in at least one of the three games this week.