Comments Off on Weekend Preview — Cat Scratch Fever
Posted by nafsnep on October 24, 2023
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are .500 and host the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears and the still undefeated Hartford Wolf Pack in a trio of games starting this Wednesday at home against the Bears. It’s a rare Friday off for the Pens, then a Saturday game against Hartford at home and then a Sunday afternoon trip down I-81 to visit the defending champs on Sunday.
Music to Set the Mood…
I’ll get to what this means in a second.
A Quote…
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt
Sam Houde produced two points in his first game of the season Saturday against Springfield and was instrumental in the win over a sputtering Springfield team, helping set up Rem Pitlick for a power play goal in the third period and assisting on the Jansen Harkins empty net goal which sealed the fate and the win for the Penguins.
Meanwhile Valterri Puustinen has appeared in every game so far, has zero points and is a -6. Say what you want about the plus/minus stat, but he’s on the ice when goals are scored. He doesn’t play defense and I have noticed more and more that he takes liberties when the puck is on the edge of his stick.
It’s time to scratch him if the message isn’t getting through or at the very least sit him down and advise him in whichever language he understands best that what he is doing (or isn’t doing) is not cutting the mustard.
The Penguins were rebuilt, but Puustinen was a leftover from last years team. Sure, he was one of the offensive producers last year, but that team finished dead last. So far this year? It ain’t good enough, pal. Sam Houde is stewing in street clothes watching his team get their heads kicked in in game two in Charlotte two weeks ago and shutout last Friday in Hartford. He only goes out against Springfield and produces two assists and overall brought positivity for a team still trying to find itself in this very young season.
I’d make one or two lineup changes if I am J.D. Forrest. Scratching Puustinen and Alex Nylander is one of them and trying to find room on defense for Libor Hajek (if you can) for Taylor Fedun or one of your other defensive black holes.
Am I advocating for scratching the team captain and two of the bigger offensive threats? Yes I am, because it’s a two way game now. Hershey and Hartford are offensive juggernauts. You need forwards that play defense and not need to be pushed into the play (see the second goal scored against the Penguins on Friday) and get guys into the lineup who want to contribute on every inch of the 200 foot surface.
The Setup
Kind of gave it to you in the paragraphs above. Hershey at home Wednesday and on the road Sunday and Hartford at home Saturday.
Records
The Penguins are 2-2 and are .500 with 4 points. Hershey is 4-1 with 8 points and Hartford is still undefeated at 4-0 and good for 8 points at the top of the Atlantic Division.
The Wolf Pack will host Springfield Friday before traveling to Wilkes-Barre Saturday. They beat the Pens 5-0 last Friday then beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5-1 Saturday. They have scored three or more goals in every game they have played thus far.
The Bears swept Providence in a pair of games in Rhode Island Friday and Saturday and then needed overtime to beat Bridgeport Sunday 3-2 on the road; after playing the Pens on Wednesday, they will also get Friday off and then host the Phantoms on Saturday before the Pens come knocking on Sunday.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Radim Zohorna is up and may stay there. Since last week, Coal Street never sent anyone else down to Wheeling and hasn’t called anyone up. I don’t know what’s up with the injuries. I think Corey Andonovski has something and so does Sam Poulin.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Are you cool with .500 so far? I’m not. I’m also a realist. Do I expect the Penguins to win every game? No. Would I like for them to? Sure, I’m a fan. You don’t go into a contest saying, “ah, we’ve won enough, let the other team win.”
If the team gives their all and comes up short, I’m fine with that. But if they look like a bunch of losers and look lost every night, then no I am not cool with it. The loss in Charlotte was a power play problem. The loss in Hartford was a breakdown in execution and game plan. Both were blowout losses and the one in Hartford was a shutout. Will you have a few of those in a 72 game season? Of course. Is it asking too much, too soon to be perfect? In October, yes it is. But bad habits usually trend into bad teams, like you saw last year. Make changes while you still can, mix in Nylander and Puustinen when you can, but just not now.
Who’s in goal?
I still don’t know who number one is yet. I suppose we will find out this week. I’d go back to Joel Blomqvist Wednesday, go Magnus Hellberg against Hartford again Saturday then go Blomqvist Sunday again in Hartford. Or, swap Blomqvist Saturday and Hellberg Sunday. But that means Hellberg goes over a week without seeing live fire. So I don’t know. But he’s a veteran and should be used to this. Blomqvist is supposed to be your future. Get the kid reps so you know what you have in him.
Figure Mitch Gibson Wednesday for the Bears, old buddy Louis Domingue Saturday with Hartford and either Gibson again for the 12 time champs or Clay Stevenson.
Who’s Running the Show?
Mason Riley and Jack Young are here Wednesday with Ryan Jackson and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.
Saturday sees Beau Halkidis and Alex Lepkowski with J.P. Waleski and Jud Ritter on the lines.
Sunday in Hershey sees Lepkowski again with Patrick Hanrahan and on the lines it is Bill Lyons and John Rey.
Looking ahead…
Calendar switches to November. Three home games to start out the chute. Providence on Wednesday, Hershey again on Friday and Belleville stops in for their only visit this season on Saturday.
Give us a bold prediction…
Puustinen and Nylander combine for 9 points this week between them, Penguins win all three games and we quickly forget about the two losses and start inflating our unreasonable expectations about this hockey club.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Home is Where the Heart Is
Posted by nafsnep on October 19, 2023
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins continue their 25th season with a road trip Friday in Hartford then return home for their opener against the Springfield Thunderbirds. They went 1-1 in Charlotte last weekend.
Music to Set the Mood…
We will get to see in person how this retooled, new team does at home. The Penguins went 12-16-6-2 at home last season. They need to do better than that, as that was last in the Atlantic, the Conference, and 29th overall last year.
Only way is up.
A Quote…
There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.
Robert Burns
They went 3-1 in preseason, but went 1-1 against live fire against a really good Charlotte team and 0/9 on the power play, still searching for their first power play goal.
I neglected in the last game recap to give a turning point. I’m still working out the bugs of sitting in front of a computer screen and hammering out these blog posts after a long summer.
The Penguins had a power play down 2-0 about midway through the third period. The game had that getting away from you feel and play by play man Nick Hart said that the upcoming man advantage wasn’t exactly gotta have, but it would have been nice if the Penguins could cash and cut the lead to one.
The Checkers killed it, then later scored, essentially putting the game away. That’s your turning point.
Two games in and they haven’t scored a power play goal yet. I don’t go to practices, but you have to think that special teams was a huge sticking point this week at practice, one would hope.
The Setup
A trip to Hartford Friday then the opener Saturday against Springfield.
The Wolf Pack were impressive last weekend, beating a very good Providence team 3-2 on the road in a shootout then defeating the Springfield Thunderbirds on the road 3-1. Hartford opens it’s home campaign Friday against the Penguins.
The Springfield Thunderbirds played a pair at home last weekend against the aforementioned Wolf Pack Saturday and the Providence Bruins on Sunday. They lost 3-1 to Hartford Saturday in their home opener and scored :09 into the third period Sunday to beat the Bruins 4-3.
Records
The Penguins are 1-1 in the Atlantic. The Wolf Pack are 2-0 and are in the Atlantic and the Thunderbirds are 1-1.
I thought about giving you the standing position but these are early days. Maybe in November.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Lots. They traded Ty Glover and Mark Friedman to Vancouver in exchange for Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek, whose contract was terminated so he can return back overseas. They signed Libor Hájek to an AHL deal after a PTO with Pittsburgh then sent Isaac Belliveau to Wheeling on Thursday.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Are they going to score a power play goal this weekend? Will it benefit them? How much will they play from behind? Will they ever score a goal in the first or second periods?
Hartford is as good as a test you can find in the third game of the season and the second weekend of the same. Don’t discount Springfield either, but the Penguins could and should beat these teams.
They still have a veteran issue, having to cycle out players because of the rule. I had a few of you this week say that this could be a problem because you never have the same lineup as the night prior. Good points, you have to see how J.D. Forrest navigates through these tough lineup decisions.
Who’s in goal?
Figure Magnus Hellberg again Friday in Hartford and Joel Blomqvist, still in search of his first AHL win on Saturday at home. Is it a confidence thing with Blomqvist? If so, send him to Wheeling? I think it’s too early to have these discussions, quite honestly. Blomqvist can’t quarterback a power play, after all.
Old pal Louis Domingue will probably get the start for Hartford Friday and Vadim Zherenko is possible in the opposing net against the Penguins this weekend.
Who is running the show?
Don’t know yet. League hasn’t posted this weekends referees yet. I’m sure they are competent enough, I’d hope.
Looking ahead…
Wednesday home game against the Hershey Bears, a Friday off, then Hartford stops in next Saturday then the Penguinsn travel down to the home of the defending champs and play Hershey next Sunday at 3.
The book then closes on October and the page flips to a busy November.
Give us a bold prediction…
The team, on paper, is too good to get blanked on the power play, it would seem. They get a power play goal a piece in each game, but go 1-1 again leaving us all scratching our heads at a .500 hockey team heading into the final week of play in October.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Back on the Horse
Posted by nafsnep on October 12, 2023
Back for the (checks calendar) 13th season of the blog, hope everyone had a good summer. Mine is always too short. There’s nothing I like about cold weather, wearing shoes, being perpetually cold all the time and sunsets at 7. Give me sunsets after 8:30, flip-flops, humid weather, mid 80s, a heatwave sprinkled in and call it a season.
You may have noticed the lack of updates here this past summer. Well, I was outside.
There wasn’t any type of preview this season either. Sorry! I was outside.
I’ll take a stab though.
1 Providence – I think the Bruins will be good again this year.
2 Hershey – Bears are defending champs and may have gotten better in the offseason.
3 Hartford – I think they are for real this year, really.
4 Springfield – I think they will be fine, not a door mat and not a contender.
5 Charlotte – Same as Springfield but slightly worse.
6 Penguins – I don’t think they miss the playoffs this year because the new management won’t allow it. More on that in a minute.
7 Lehigh Valley – Flyers are a mess, and that crap runs down hill.
8 Bridgeport – see Lehigh Valley, Islanders aren’t that much better either.
Music to set the mood…
Poison was such a good band.
A Quote…
High expectations are the key to everything…
– Sam Walton
This offseason, the Coal Street signed a bunch of guys to AHL contracts. With every signing, I just said, “Sign a bunch of guys, but make it a different year.”
Part of me wants to thing that its more crap coming in for the crap that was going out.
I think there is hope, but we were fooled last year thinking that that team was going to build off of their fourth place showing and compete. Quickly, it was discovered that the team was one dimensional and when the injuries and callups happened, what faint hope of a late push went straight down the drain.
I think Garret Sparks is just another Dustin Tokarski. A good goalie from yesterday playing out what’s left of his career here in Wilkes-Barre. The rest of the signings (made by Wilkes-Barre) are just a bunch of guys. We’ll see.
I do think that new GM Kyle Dubas did a good job of supplying NHL contracted players destined for the AHL. I don’t like, however, the amount of waiver claims (thus far two) by Pittsburgh because in the tea leaves it reads to me that there is a pile of junk at the AHL level that can’t help the NHL team. Trying to solidify your NHL franchise dumpster diving in waivers claims is a bit of a bold move. We will have to see how it pays off.
The AHL Penguins could be good and historically start strong. But we have all seen this fish before.
Also, on coaching, I think J.D. Forrest escaped the housecleaning by Pittsburgh but if the AHL team stumbles out of the gate he’s out of here by December.
The Setup
Two in Charlotte this Friday and Saturday. A good test for this Penguins team, I’d say.
Records
Everyone is undefeated. These are the first games of the season.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Full strength, I think. Again, I haven’t paid much attention because I was outside.
Wheeling got a boatload of players Tuesday.
The Nailers are adding the following players from @WBSPenguins to our training camp roster:
⁃F Justin Addamo ⁃F Jordan Frasca ⁃F Ty Glover ⁃F Dillon Hamaliuk ⁃F Lukas Svejkovsky ⁃F Evan Vierling ⁃D Thimo Nickl ⁃G Taylor Gauthier
At the end of last season, those guys are probably our top six. Somewhat surprised to see Svejkovsky get sent down, but he will get the reps he needs vs. 12-15 minutes a night buried on some fourth line.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Discount everything you saw in preseason. It doesn’t matter. Sure, they went 3-1 and only lost 1-0 to Hershey with an ECHL lineup, but as a famous wresting promoter said once, “we’re live, pal.” None of that matters. If they run out to a 2-0 start, then sure, there’s promise. But remember, this last place team from last year was the last AHL team to be dealt a regulation loss, and that wasn’t until November. I don’t want to say October is meaningless, but there’s no way you can tell if you have a championship caliber team after two games in Charlotte, much less in the month of October.
Who’s in goal?
Unless they send Joel Blomqvist down, we are doing the whole carrying three goalies thing again. Magnus Hellberg and the aforementioned Garret Sparks are here also. My guess is Blomqvist is their horse and Hellberg and Sparks are the veteran backups. Blomqvist starts Friday and Hellberg goes Saturday.
For Charlotte, I have no idea. It took me 15 minutes to how to learn how to embed a tweet since Elon bought Twitter and renamed it X, or whatever. Bear with me.
Who is running the show?
Morgan McPhee and Harrison O’Pray are your debut referees Friday with Sean D’Loughy and Felix-Antoine Voyer on the lines. On Saturday, MacPhee, O’Pray and D’Loughy are back and Tyler Willie replaces Voyer on the lines.
Looking ahead…
Leaf raking, daylights saving time, having to turn the light on at 4:30 to see the last half hour of your work day. Snow. Oh wait….
Visit to Hartford next Friday then the home opener against Springfield.
Give us a bold prediction…
Three power play goals scored by the Penguins and a shutout and we will quickly forget that sorry abomination of last season.
Thanks for following with the blog for another year. Every time I get an inkling that I want to give it up, one of you come up to me from out of no where and thank me for my work that I put into it. So I guess I will keep going for a bit here. It’s appreciated. Especially in a day and age where the beats are long gone and the two papers send, “Staff Report” to every game, which is sad in a way. Where have you gone, Jonathan Bombulie, a valley turns its lonely eyes to you…
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins won’t make the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. They are going to finish last in the Atlantic Division. It’s been an abject failure of a season success wise for the Penguins. I don’t know what you can say on the developmental side. Since I have all this time on my hands now till October, perhaps I’ll give myself a summer writing assignment.
Quips on every player that played for the Penguins.
A Calder Cup Preview.
A revisit of the predictions I made at the start of the season.
Whatever offseason changes they make.
Whatever offseason signings they make.
I expect a housecleaning. The GMs of both Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre to be fired, coaching staffs from both fired as well and a down to the studs rebuild starting in the front office as soon as this coming Monday.
Does this make them Penguins Stanley and Calder Cup contenders next season? Hardly. Does it stop the plummet from once respected NHL / AHL franchises? Depends on who the new leadership is. Are they capable? How much stock do they put towards developing and winning at the AHL level? That stuff matters. Pittsburgh stinks because they emptied the cache at the expense of winning back to back Stanley Cups, which you do if you can, but did little to restock (hard to when you give away draft picks) and tried to replenish with retreads that fall apart just like the retreads you see on the sides of interstates when the tractor trailers which pound by at 70 mph on a daily basis lose them trying to get to their next destination.
What’s the destination for the Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in 2023-24 and beyond? I guess that’s why they tell you to stay tuned.
Now to the matter at hand, a road trip to the playoff bound Hartford Wolf Pack and then a home game Saturday night for a summer send off against the Charlotte Checkers.
Hartford is a team I wouldn’t want to draw in the first round if I’m one of the higher seeded Atlantic Division clubs. I think they are capable of winning a playoff round.
Charlotte is a three seed and if the playoffs started today (the Wednesday afternoon I am writing this and not the Friday morning or whenever you are reading this) the Checkers and Wolf Pack would square off as the 3 seeded Checkers would play the 6 seeded Wolf Pack.
I like Hartford’s chances there. Which doesn’t bode well for the Penguins as the Wolf Pack are still outside contenders for as high as the three seed in the division, if everything breaks their way.
Perhaps I’m discounting the Checkers though, as rarely does a #1 seed run the table (exception being Chicago last season) and win it all, but that battle is out in the Western Conference this season and not here in the East. Charlotte has been a consistent three seed all season. They could surprise, win a few rounds and who knows.
That still doesn’t bode well for the lame duck Penguins, who will probably play a bunch of kids to round out the 72 game season.
Conor O’Donnell and Rob Hennessey run the show up in Hartford this Friday with Kirsten Welsh and Matt Heinen on the lines. For Saturday, Patrick Hanrahan and Jordan Watt make sure they play within the rules and Jud Ritter and J.P. Waleski will make sure they stay on sides.
That bulleted list up top isn’t in order. It’ll probably be a revisit of the predictions, a Calder Cup Preview, a blurb on each player, who got fired, who got hired and who they signed in that order, depending on how the news breaks.
Here’s one final song to play this venture out. I’ll probably have a write up of sorts for you both nights, my niece’s 5th birthday party falls Saturday evening in Nanticoke so I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch my scratch off for a McDonalds small fry and watch other folks I never heard of win player jerseys who won’t be around next season in person which sucks, but it’s my niece and family first. Thanks again for reading, I’ll have some content for you here on the blog during the offseason and Let’s Go Pens!
Comments Off on Weekend Preview: I’m Going Camping
Posted by nafsnep on April 5, 2023
Six games left, all against playoff teams or teams fighting for playoff positioning, and three this week starting with the penultimate home game this Wednesday against the Charlotte Checkers for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
The team hasn’t won clean since March 19 in Allentown, hasn’t won at home since March 17 in a shootout (February 22 against Lehigh Valley if you go back to when they last won clean in regulation)
That’s sad. The issue is blowing third period leads. Somehow, the Penguins are 14-1-4-3 when leading after two periods. So that’s eight blown leads which end up in clean losses (1) or shootout or overtime losses (7) for a total of nine points lost total (the two points they lost with the regulation loss and the seven other points they lost as loser points) – take half of that, say, five, and you have 68 points as opposed to 63; five points off a playoff spot as opposed to ten.
Math being what it is, it’s more advanced to see who they blew the leads against and I don’t have the time nor the desire to dive that deep to see how it factors into the points as they are today.
They took two points out of the weekend last after blowing a 3-1 lead in the third to Syracuse and losing in overtime 4-3 Saturday, and losing Wednesday to Providence in a shootout 4-3. The week prior in had to have it games, they lose to Lehigh Valley 3-2 in overtime on March 25 then lay an egg against a team they needed to beat in Hartford and lose that game 5-1.
So it’s over. They can only max out at 75 points provided they win out but if Lehigh Valley (74 points, in fifth place) or Hartford (73 points, in sixth place) get there first, it’s over officially.
We knew this, weeks ago. They aren’t a playoff team. They don’t deserve the spot because they are mediocre role players, a one dimensional team who’s best player (Alex Nylander) was keeping a press box seat warm in Pittsburgh until he was re-assigned back to the AHL on Monday and who’s defenders can’t defend and goaltending who’s either hurt all the time or past their primes. How sad is it that I think their best player right now is Taylor Gauthier, their backup goaltender. Gauthier is 7-3-6, with a 2.75 GAA and a .906 SV%.
Pretty sad. Tough scenes.
Charlotte comes to town after getting swept at home by Springfield for three straight. That’s a likely playoff preview between those two teams. Checkers went from a potential challenger for the top two in the division and now may not even host a first round best-of-three playoff series.
Wilkes-Barre then hits the road for Providence on April 7 then Bridgeport on April 8 before heading up to Laval on April 10 for a makeup date with the Rocket. They then hit Hartford next Friday, April 14 before closing out the 2022-23 campaign at home against Charlotte again.
Providence is slumping. They were just overtaken by Hershey for the top spot in the Division and needed a shootout to beat the Pens Wednesday, were shutout 5-0 to Hartford Friday night then Bridgeport comes to town Saturday and beats them 5-2. They already clinched a spot, maybe this is the last piece of vulnerability that they have to get through before they go on what I’m expecting is a deep run into the Playoffs. Who knows, though.
Bridgeport is in a battle straight up with Hartford for the final playoff spot. They won a kids day game against Springfield in overtime on Tuesday then head to Hartford for a massively important game Friday before hosting the Pens this Saturday.
Equally so for Laval, who are in a three team battle with Belleville and Cleveland for the final spot in the North. The Rocket will have hosted Cleveland then traveled to Syracuse before returning home to face the Penguins this coming Monday.
And the Penguins? Planning on mid-April vacation most likely. I’m heading to Virginia Thursday, so if you don’t see me at the game Wednesday I’m likely just resting up for the trip Thursday morning. I will be back next week in time for next Saturday’s send off against Charlotte.
Out the door, here are the crews scheduled to work the four games at issue this week for the Penguins:
Jonathon Sitarski and Adam Tobias with Jud Ritter and Tyler Loftus on the lines Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre.
In Providence Friday, it’s Riley Brace and Tyson Stewart with Kenneth Gates and Matt Heinen on the lines.
It’s Stewart again Saturday in Bridgeport with Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Trevor Disbennett and Nick Briganti on the lines.
I don’t have Monday’s crew. I’m sure they are capable humans.
I should be recapping the away games from the campfire, provided it doesn’t get that cold.
Seven points out, nine games to play. You can read it on their faces, hear it in their voices and see it in their body language. When the biggest thing to look forward to is a uniform dedicated to pizza this Saturday, you know that you have reached the end of the line.
–
I want to take a comment from the YouTube I pulled this from on these five:
Can we pause a moment to let this sink in? Tom Petty (already a world-wide star on his own), George Harrison (a freaking Beatle for God’s sake, as well as successful on his own), Bob Dylan (THE Bob Dylan, troubadour for an entire generation), Roy Orbison (one of the most distinctive and original voices of foundational rock in the 1950s), Jeff Lynne (the founder and driving force behind ELO, the successor to the Beatles) – five epic-level musicians in a room recording tunes. We will NEVER see the like again.
Let that serve as this weeks Quote.
Anyway, the Penguins are finished. They are still not mathematically eliminated (yet) but after blowing a lead against Lehigh Valley Saturday and then laying an egg against a team they had to beat in Hartford, it’s curtains on the season.
Like the song says above, “It’s all right…”
The Setup
First place and Calder Cup Finals favorite Providence stops in Wednesday, a trip to Allentown Friday and then Syracuse at home Saturday.
I can see them winning all three games. Providence lollygags through a Wednesday road game in Pennsylvania and loses 3-2. Lehigh Valley plays Jekyll and Hyde again and loses 5-0 and then the Penguins beat the Crunch in a shootout.
Does that put them closer to a spot in playoffs? Sure! Is it enough? Probably not!
So where do we go from here?
I have no idea. They are cooked. I said this weeks ago. Their coach probably won’t be around next year despite having another year on the contract. Message isn’t getting through. Maybe it is, and the players aren’t talented to execute that message. But you don’t fire players, you fire coaches.
J.D. Forrest hasn’t earned the privilege of returning, in my opinion. But, if you are given three flat tires and an engine only running on five cylinders, you aren’t going to get far either.
Defenders are awful, wet behind the ears, or just checked out. Forwards are the same way. It’s hard to have a bunch of role players carry you to wins week after week. Who is their best prospect? Yeah, I don’t know either.
But again, it’s all right. Just ridin’ around in the breeze. It’s all right.
Who’s running the show?
Jim Curtain and Jordan Deckard are here Wednesday with Patrick Dapuzzo and J.P. Waleski on the lines.
I don’t have Friday or Saturday’s crew yet.
Looking ahead…
Charlotte at home next Wednesday, then they hit the road to Providence next Friday and Bridgeport next Saturday and then play a makeup game against Laval on Easter Monday.
Give us a bold prediction…
Pens will be eliminated from playoffs for good by the middle of next week.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview: So You’re Saying There’s a Chance?
Posted by nafsnep on March 24, 2023
So after taking 5 of 6 points this past weekend in an impressive showing of work and being still in touch with a playoff spot, well, let’s just get to the music to set the mood part…
Music to Set the Mood…
It ain’t over till it’s over.
A Quote…
It ain’t over till it’s over. — Yogi Berra
So you can sense a theme here. It seems like it’s in the fan contract with this team that no matter what, you have to have hope. It’s always hope.
I still think we are on track for an early spring, but after a 0-3 comeback against a game Rochester Americans team that won eight straight against the Penguins, and then being the better team in Syracuse and then crushing a rested Phantoms team Sunday in the third game in three days, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are showing life and aren’t dead yet.
Lehigh Valley again Saturday on Star Wars Night, which will likely be a sellout or close to it, then a 5:05 Hartford Sunday home game. Very important games.
Both the Penguins and Phantoms will be rested, as neither will play games until Saturday.
Hartford, a team that the Penguins are chasing, host Springfield Friday and Saturday and will be playing a third game in three days.
On an Island
That other team, Bridgeport, holds the sixth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic, and played Laval Wednesday and won 5-3 and are in Belleville Friday before calling it a weekend.
Laval is in a dogfight with Belleville, who is playing some inspired hockey as of late. So this is a prime time for the Penguins to get some help from out of town, handle what’s in front of them, and see where things shake out at the close of business Sunday evening.
Records
Hartford is 2-5-0-2 against Springfield this season and 2-0-1-1 against the Penguins.
Pens are 5-3-1-1 against the Phantoms and 2-2 against the Wolf Pack.
Small sample size, but Bridgeport is 1-0 against Belleville this season.
Here’s what it looks like at the bottom of the Atlantic…
6. Bridgeport – 10 games remaining – 66 points.
——
7. Hartford – 11 games remaining – 63 points. 8. PENGUINS – 11 games remaining – 60 points.
I mean if it gets tight and the Pens miss over the Wolf Pack by a point or two, they can probably point back to those games where they won in OT or a shootout, where they give Hartford a point and don’t beat them clean. I don’t think it will cut that close but it’s worth mentioning.
So what are they doing right? What are they doing wrong?
I think they realized that Alex Nylander isn’t walking through that door any time soon, so the role players stepped up in a big way. Justin Addamo scored a goal in every game last weekend. Drake Caggiula was their best player. I think not having Mitch Reinke in the lineup was a blessing in disguise for them. Here’s what I mean…
The first two Rochester goals last Friday. That’s Mitch Reinke coasting on the first goal and getting caught flat footed on the second. Yeah, the Pens weren’t able to cash against Lehigh Valley’s 32nd out of 32 teams penalty kill on Sunday, but it’s a trade off. His defensive adventurism costs the team goals against which you can’t get back as opposed to goals for, which you can score at any time, for the most part.
Also, Taylor Fedun going up to Pittsburgh is also a blessing.
The only thing I would say they are doing wrong is going 1/9 on the power play this past weekend, but it’s a trade off to winning games and losing what I think is causing them to lose those games in Reinke’s injury and Fedun’s callup, despite Reinke’s effectiveness on the power play.
Keep Tyler Sikura, Filip Hallander and Jonathan Gruden going. Peter DiLiberatore is a diamond in the rough, defensively. Josh Maniscalco is rough around the edges, but you hope (there’s that word again) they can coach the bad parts of the game out of him. I think they have enough to get by with Jon Lizotte, Jack St. Ivany and Andrew Nielsen so we will see.
I think the quality of opponents they beat last week (Rochester, Syracuse) are better than the quality of opponents they face this week (they already beat Lehigh Valley Sunday, they play them against Saturday, Hartford isn’t that good) but sadly, none of those teams mentioned in this sentence are winning the Calder Cup. Which leads me to my next point…
Looking ahead…
Providence is a team which I think will go far this postseason. They lead the division over Hershey by three points coming into Friday. That thing I said about hope at the beginning? What are we hoping for? Hope for playoffs? Hope for a Calder Cup? It’s both, because you can’t have one without the other, but the Penguins aren’t winning the Calder Cup this season. The Bruins, however, are probably one of three teams (Calgary and Toronto being the others) with strong odds to win it all.
The Pens play Providence at home next Wednesday, then against the Phantoms again as they close out March. Home against Syracuse on Saturday to open April.
Who is running the show?
Stephen Hiff and Peter Schlittenhardt are here Saturday and Sunday with Jud Ritter and J.P. Waleski on the lines Saturday, then replaced by Patrick Dapuzzo and Ryan Knapp on the lines Sunday.
Give us a bold prediction…
Mitch Reinke returns, orchestrates the Penguins scoring on 75% of their power plays, plays a direct role in all of this, and wins AHL Player of the Week with 4 goals, 3 assists, all coming on the power play.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 