Chirps from Center Ice

Two losses went with a big gritty win in Allentown last week when the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins didn’t gain or lose any ground in sixth in the Atlantic Division. They didn’t have any offense at all in the two losses to equate with great defense (only seven shots allowed in the second and third periods total in Rochester Wednesday) and lost a close one Friday at home against Belleville. Goals :34 apart in the second period helped save their bacon Saturday in Allentown against the Phantoms.

The Setup

Two in Charlotte Tuesday and Wednesday and then a Saturday home game against a hot Springfield team. The Checkers are in fifth place in the Atlantic and only a couple percentage points off fourth place Providence. So yeah, it’s an important series.

Charlotte split a series last weekend at home against Bridgeport. They shutout the Islanders 2-0 Saturday behind 25 saves by Spencer Knight. Bridgeport beat them 4-3 Friday.

Springfield is suddenly the hottest team in the division, winners of three straight. The Thunderbirds don’t play at all this week and will be well rested when they come to town Saturday night.

The Pens can’t overtake the Checkers for fourth in the division with two clean wins, but they can get dangerously close. It’s more about preserving their hold on the last playoff spot in the division and trying to climb higher.

The Records

Penguins are 19-19-2-3, .500 and sixth in the Atlantic. Checkers are 23-18-2-0, .558 and fifth in the Atlantic. Springfield is 25-14-5-1, in first with .622 percentage points in the Atlantic.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Status quo with all the injuries. Sam Houde came off last week. Jamie Devane, Filip Lindberg and Chris Bigras are all out week to week.

Who’s in Goal?

Expect a split of Tommy Nappier and Alex D’Orio in Charlotte and likely whoever plays better in Charlotte starting Saturday at home against the Thunderbirds. Expect a split of Spencer Knight and Joey Daccord with the Checkers and then likely Joel Hofer on rest Saturday for the Thunderbirds.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Are they serious contenders for a playoff spot or will they continue as a bubble team? Simple as that. If they go to Charlotte, a tough place to play, and get four clean points, then yeah, this is a team to keep an eye on. A split is more likely, just because you don’t go into Charlotte and sweep them unless you are an elite team. The Penguins aren’t that.

Springfield is a team that the Penguins have had success against, so maximizing six points this week is the game plan, obviously.

Who is running the show?

Riley Yerkovich and Jake Rekucki are the referees this week in Charlotte. Linesmen on Tuesday are Justin Johnson and Scott Senger. Wednesday sees Ken Radolinski and Shane Gustafson on the lines. Saturday back in WIlkes-Barre sees Michael Zyla and Mason Riley as the referees with Colin Gates and Josh Cleary on the lines.

Looking ahead…

A busy week to close out February. Tuesday trip to Hershey, Wednesday home game against Lehigh Valley then a Saturday trip to Bridgeport and a Sunday home game against Syracuse.

No Friday home games for the Penguins on back to back weekends. I’ll take it, but not at the expense of a Sunday afternoon home game.

Give us a bold prediction…

The Penguins sweep the week.

Coming off of a week where we answered whether or not the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins turned the corner (answer: yes) with games against in division rivals Springfield, Bridgeport and Providence, the Penguins head up to Rochester Wednesday to make up a game scheduled there originally for December then host Belleville Friday and then hit the road for a key matchup against the Phantoms.

Wow, run on sentence.

The Setup

They have turned the corner. The gremlins and bugs have been worked out of them. They can hang with any team (not named Hershey) that they play. They are catching Rochester in a rut. Amerks are 3-4-2-1 and losers of two straight against Charlotte and Toronto. Belleville comes in as a cellar dweller of the North Division, but to be fair, the North is top heavy. We all know who Lehigh Valley is. An inconsistent team that can explode at any given time. Belleville shut out the Phantoms 5-0 in Allentown on Tuesday.

Is the Pacific Division really going with ten teams next year?

Hah, you may have seen Patrick Williams sit down with Scott Howson’s State of the League where he mentions that Coachella Valley will be playing in the Pacific Division and they aren’t expecting any divisional realignment this season. It’s bat (bleep) crazy if you ask me. Why not move Tucson and Colorado to the Central, Grand Rapids to the North for a clean 8-8-8-8 divisional setup? Everyone plays 72 games next year. 8 and 72 are good numbers, you play everyone in your division at least 6 times if you are Colorado because everyone is flying in to see you anyway. Take a weekend and hit Chicago, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee then set up your next two weeks and have the IceHogs, Wolves and Admirals fly in for a pair each. You can still maintain your rivalries with easy flights to San Jose and Bakersfield.

The Records

Pens are 18-17-2-3 good for sixth with .513 percentage points. Americans are third in the North with a 22-15-2-1 record and a .588 percentage point showing. Lehigh Valley will have played Hershey Friday before hosting the Penguins Saturday. They have a 15-17-6-2 record as of Wednesday, good for .475 percentage points.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen and Michael Chaput went up to Pittsburgh on Monday after the NHL returned from their All-Star Break.

Goalie Filip Lindberg remains out with an ankle injury. Chris Bigras and Jamie Devane are week to week still and Sam Houde was upgraded to day to day. They all have upper-body injuries.

Who’s in Goal?

My guess is Alex D’Orio starts two and Tommy Nappier starts one. D’Orio is a lock for Rochester, so where to Nappier fit? My guess is with Belleville on Friday. But, D’Orio has had the lion share of starts (by happenstance because Nappier was down with COVID) so does D’Orio start all three? It’s a possibility.

One of the reasons Rochester has slowed down is because they have been a mess in goal. It’s been a merry go round. Mat Robson and Aaron Dell started both games for the Amerks this past weekend. My guess is Dell.

For Belleville, Mads Sogaard is the Senators horse, starting 20 games. Filip Gustavsson is the backup. The Penguins drafted and traded this guy away.

For Lehigh Valley, it’s anyone’s guess with it being a Saturday game. My guess will be Pat Nagle with Felix Sandstrom starting Friday against Hershey.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

They have turned the corner, now what? Can they keep winning without their leading scorer Puustinen?

I think they have figured out their goalie and the defense seems pretty set. I think they are slowly becoming a threat on the power play and the penalty kill seems OK for the norm. So building the house from the inside out is working. I guess the only question is how high can they go. What’s the ceiling?

Division leaders? I don’t think so. They have too many hurdles to get through to get to the top. Are they a playoff team? I have said yeah all along. Top three? May be a stretch. You are confident (obviously) as a three, four or five seed. I don’t like hanging at six. That’s the drop zone. One injury or one bad weekend can derail your momentum.

So really it is important to make sure that they keep the momentum rolling against two known tough opponents in Rochester and Lehigh Valley and an unknown with Belleville.

Who is running the show?

Conor O’Donnell and Kyle Lekun get the assignment Wednesday in Rochester with Brian Wasilewski and Adam Tobias on the lines. Friday sees Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Laura White in the orange armbands and Justin Johnson and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines. Saturday sees Samuels-Thomas again with Jeremy Tufts and Richard Jondo and Bill Lyons working the lines.

Looking ahead…

Trip to Charlotte early part of next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, a Friday off then a Saturday home game against Springfield.

Give us a bold prediction…

The Penguins score a power play goal in each of their three games this week.

How is it February and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are only NOW just getting around to playing every team in their division? This isn’t the bloated Pacific Division which boasts NINE teams this season and, if nothing changes with Coachella Valley coming in next season ten teams in the Pacific?

Tucson and Colorado will move from the Pacific to the Central, Grand Rapids will move from the Central to the North giving the AHL a symmetrical 8-8-8-8 division setup. That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler.

Anyway, enough about AHL geography and let’s get to the games at hand.

The Setup

I actually thought about renaming this segment this week to, “The Corner” because if you have read anything on the blog recently you have seen me talk about the “corner” that the Penguins may or may not be turning. The answer is going to come this week, because it’s all divisional opponents not named Hershey or Lehigh Valley.

Those divisional opponents are the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Bridgeport Islanders and the Providence Bruins.

Don’t Say What?

Yeah, the Sound Tigers are now the Islanders. I don’t know either. I guess they wanted symmetry when it came to their AHL team. We are all Islanders, or something along those lines. I am going to, despite my best efforts, call them the Sound Tigers at some point this weekend.

But before that, Springfield drops by on Wednesday. Don’t let their last ten record (3-5-2) fool you into thinking they are a bad team. It’s a wolf in sheep clothing. Yeah, they beat an injury ravaged Providence team and a .500 Lehigh Valley side last weekend. Hartford smoked them last Wednesday and the Sound Tigers Islanders (see?) edged them in overtime a week ago last Sunday.

Pens are 2-0-0-1 against the Thunderbirds this season. One of those wins came in overtime. If you are battling this team for one of the six spots for playoffs, two points clean is a necessity.

I don’t have much of a book on Bridgeport other than they play teams tight and are a lot better than their standings (last place) indicates.

Providence has been pillaged by injuries and taxi squad callups. The taxi squads end this Thursday, so expect an influx of talent to be injected back into the Bruins when they hit the ice for games this weekend.

The Records

Pens are 16-17-1-3 good for seventh in the Atlantic and a .486 points percentage. Springfield is second, 21-13-4-1 and on .603 percentage points. Bridgeport is playing in a kids day game on Wednesday against Lehigh Valley at the time this post goes up, but prior to that are in last with a 15-18-4-4 record, good for .463 points. Providence has yo-yo’d up and down the top four of the division but come in fourth with a 17-11-3-3 record good for .588 percentage points.

Percentage Points Are Stupid.

I know. This is the last year for it.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Tommy Nappier is out of COVID protocol and backed up both games in Cleveland. Pens released Tristan Cote-Casenave Monday. They recalled Niclas Almari from Wheeling and Patrick Watling was called up but didn’t dress in Cleveland and was shipped back down Monday as well. Pittsburgh recalled P-O Joseph, Kasper Bjorkqvist and Michael Chaput, who returned from injury and played in both games last weekend out in Cleveland. Tuesday saw Juuso Riikola go up to the taxi squad.

With Pittsburgh and the rest of the NHL on break, expect all three back in some form or fashion throughout the course of the week.

Who’s in Goal?

No reason to take D’Orio out in my opinion. Let the kid eat and start in all three games. If not, you have Nappier for possibly Friday.

Expect Joel Hofer for Springfield Wednesday, Jakub Skarek for the Islanders Friday and Troy Grosenick for the Bruins on Saturday.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Very simply, have they turned the corner? At the end of the week, if they have collected this many points, here’s the answer:

5-6 points: Hell yes. Points against quality opponents. Indeed, they turned the corner.
3-4 points: More data needed. Rochester next Wednesday up in New York? Oh bother.
0-2 points: No, they haven’t turned the corner. In fact, they have regressed, badly.

I think that’s a fair assessment. These are all home games. Springfield is stumbling, Bridgeport, despite the play on ice are a last place team and Providence will probably have bodies back from the NHL but so will the Penguins. Defend home ice against teams you’ll probably have to go through come playoff time, if you get there.

Who is running the show?

Jake Kamrass and Mason Riley get the duty on Wednesday of calling penalties with Josh Cleary and Patrick Dapuzzo handling offsides and icings.

Friday sees referees Brandon Blandina and Jim Curtin with Jud Ritter and Michael Magee on the lines.

Saturday has Jim Curtin stopping by again with Beau Halkidis and Caleb Apperson and Kirsten Welsh running the lines. Welsh is one of ten female officials the AHL hired this season. I believe this is the first time we see a female linesperson (lineswoman? I don’t know…) work a Penguins game.

Looking ahead…

Road trip up to Rochester next Wednesday, then Belleville stops in next Friday then the Pens are in Allentown next Saturday. So two road games sandwiched in between a home game.

Give us a bold prediction…

The Penguins will be above .500 at the end of the week.

Before we begin, it’s only apropos to spin this once before continuing…

–

The Setup

Two games in Cleveland against the Cleveland Monsters. Wouldn’t you know it, but Saturday is actually “Cleveland Rocks” night. Don’t believe me?

only ✨𝟲 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦✨ until 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

The first 10,000 fans will be able to take home one of these Dave Grohl bobbleheads presented by @DominionEnergy 🎸 Grab your tickets now!!

🎟: https://t.co/e4e0O1Acdn pic.twitter.com/qpQKLUgCng

— Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) January 23, 2022

Packed house on a Saturday in The Land with a Dave Grohl bobblehead? Monsters by a billion!

Anyway…

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins take on the Cleveland Monsters for a pair Friday and Saturday. After getting throttled 5-1 Monday, the Monsters went up to Syracuse Wednesday and lost 3-1. The Penguins lost in a special teams battle to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last Wednesday and then swept the then hot Toronto Marlies in blowout and comeback fashions and then, after beating the Monsters at home Monday, went to Hershey for their biggest test of the week and passed the first quarter but failed the second, third and fourth quarters and lost 6-2.

The Bears are 8-1 against the Penguins. They are average against everyone else. Don’t believe me? Their record is 20-12-3-2. Take away the games against the Pens and they are 12-11-3-2.

I know you can’t. The Penguins had the Bears where they wanted them Tuesday after the first period, couldn’t withstand the charge put forth by the Bears in the second and with the game in the balance in the third, give up their seventh shorthanded goal against and the game was over at that point.

The Pens may be good, but the Bears exposed a lot of holes Tuesday.

The Records

Pens are 14-17-1-3 in last place and a .457 points percentage in the Atlantic and the Monsters are 13-14-4-3, in sixth in the North with a .485 win percentage.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Alright so we thought that Filip Lindberg was on the precipice of returning and we were wrong. A setback has him back to week to week. Tommy Nappier was placed in COVID protocol thus necessitating the signing of Tristan Cote-Cazenave to a PTO from Reading of the ECHL.

Niclas Almari was sent to Wheeling to get reps in. The Pens could have used Patrick Watling Tuesday in Hershey, so they recalled him from the ECHL and took him on the trip Thursday.

Who’s in Goal?

Alex D’Orio is probably getting both games for the Pens unless they took Nappier on the trip with them then its safe to say they give him a game, probably Friday.

You saw both J-F Berube and Jet Greaves Monday in Wilkes-Barre, so it’s safe to assume that this is the planned case with Berube and Greaves. Berube goes Friday, Greaves goes Saturday. The Monsters have a home game against Utica Sunday, otherwise you would be looking at Berube twice. But I don’t see that as the case.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

I don’t think they are that bad honestly. They relied heavily on their big guns to beat Toronto and then said guns were silent in a blowout win against Cleveland. I’m slowly coming around to the fact that it may be a mental thing against Hershey. The keys to success with this team is to keep it simple defensively, get scoring from any part of your lineup and stay above water on the penalty kill and you can beat pretty much any team in this league.

Four points isn’t too much to ask, given the success the Pens have had historically against Cleveland / Lake Erie. I’ll take three. Two is okay. Anything less and you’re back at square one again asking questions of a team that ran circles around this opponent Monday. What changed? Hopefully, it doesn’t go down that path.

Who is running the show?

Brandon Blandina and Sean Fernandez get the Friday work of doling out penalties and such. Joe Sherman and Dan Kovachik will work the lines. On Saturday, Jake Rekucki and Jackson Kozari run the show with Kovachik again on the lines joined by Alex Simkins.

Looking ahead…

Another three game homestand for the Pens when Springfield comes in Wednesday, followed by the Bridgeport Islanders for the first time all season on Friday and the Providence Bruins on Saturday. Four of the next five are at home.

Give us a bold prediction…

A month from now, the Penguins are a top four in the division team.

After a 2-1 home win Sunday against Hershey, the Penguins set up shop at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza for a very busy stretch of home games. Four home games in six games, five games in seven with next Tuesday’s road trip to Hershey.

It is hellacious, but at least it is at home and not that far away from home. It also isn’t fair at all and is borderline dangerous, but that is AHL President Scott Howson and his circus for you.

Anyway, talking points aside, there are a lot of points at stake for the last place Penguins this week. Let’s dive right in.

The Setup

Home games Wednesday against Lehigh Valley, then a pair with the Toronto Marlies Friday and Saturday then back at it for a home game Monday against the Cleveland Monsters then a road game Tuesday in Hershey.

The Penguins played the right way against the Phantoms in both games last weekend and won one and lost the other. The Phantoms are still recovering from COVID ripping through their locker room having lost to the aforementioned Marlies on Sunday in overtime.

Toronto makes a stop in Hartford this Wednesday before two this weekend in Wilkes-Barre. They are one of the North’s hottest teams at 7-3 in their last ten and winners of six straight. These wins are against last place in the North Belleville (who are a .500 team, that’s how stacked the North is) Utica, (who have been the best team in the AHL for months) Springfield, (a very good team) Belleville again then overtime wins against Hershey and Lehigh Valley.

Call Cleveland the worst so far of the bunch in the. North, just 3-5-2 in their last ten but underestimate this club at your peril. They have played exclusively Central Division teams in 2022 thus far. If you were going to get me to rank divisions, it would probably go North, Central and Atlantic. I don’t know enough about the Pacific to be dangerous other than Stockton and Ontario are the head of the class and that’s it. The Central will have Chicago, Manitoba and Grand Rapids play leapfrog for the division lead from now until April and wouldn’t you know it but, after a weekend split in Rockford, the Monsters played Chicago and Grand Rapids close but lost both.

The moral of the story is, they are a good team.

Hershey is who they are, you know them like you know your brother or sister, if you have one. They will play host to the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday and Sunday before the Pens come in on their fifth game of the week.

The Records

Lehigh Valley comes in sixth in the Atlantic at 10-12-6-2 and a .467 win percentage, Toronto clocks in at third in the North at 17-10-1-1, good for .621 percentage points. Cleveland is fifth in the North, 12-10-4-3 with a .534 winning percentage and Hershey is third in the Atlantic with 18-11-3-2, good for a .603 win percentage.

The Penguins are last in the Atlantic with 11-15-1-3 record and a .433 win percentage.

But, if they play like they did this past weekend, it will not be for long.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Wilkes-Barre signed Pascal Laberge to a PTO Friday. He played in one game (Saturday) he was replaced by Patrick Watling on Sunday and Watling goes out and scores the game winning goal. The Penguins released Laberge Tuesday. Thanks for the fish, Pascal!

Pittsburgh sent Juuso Riikola back down Monday, then Anthony Angello, Kasper Bjorkqvist and Filip Hallander back Tuesday, so look for them to be inserted right in the thick of things with all these games coming up.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Are they serious playoff contenders or are they pretenders? I think a lot of that will be answered (yes, I realize it is January) this week because in the playoffs, it’s one game after another, kind of like what you will be seeing this week.

Sticking to the game plan reaped big rewards this past weekend. It may just be a style thing against the Phantoms and Bears, so I will really be interested in seeing how they fare against the Marlies this coming weekend and what, if anything, they have left for Cleveland Monday and in Hershey Tuesday.

Ten possible points at stake. Six of those ten should be a reasonable enough request. That may be shooting a bit too low, but you need to remind yourself you are looking at a last place team with 11 wins coming off an 0-7-1 skid. Remember what I said in my game stories about crawling and baby steps?

How they get those six is important too. Wins over Lehigh and Cleveland and a shootout win over Hershey still leaves a stale taste in the mouth if Toronto comes in and stomps you for a pair Friday and Saturday.

Who is in goal?

Good question. I think it’s stock up Tommy Nappier and stock down Alex D’Orio. D’Orio is still winless. How good do you feel when he gets the nod? Is Filip Lindberg back? I think he is close. They sure can use him.

It’s a fools game to play trying to predict goalies for the next five games. Nappier, Nappier, D’Orio, Nappier, D’Orio? Maybe. Mix in a Lindberg if he is back.

I’ll do it for the opponents though. Garrett Metcalf goes Wednesday for the Phantoms, Joseph Woll and Erik Källgren split the net this weekend for Toronto and J-F Berube goes for Cleveland next Monday. Pheonix Copley is likely out first against the Penguins on Tuesday in Hershey.

Who is running the show?

Peter Schlittenhardt and Casey Terreri in the orange arm bands Wednesday with Ryan Knapp and Jud Ritter on the lines.

Mitch Dunning and Casey Terreri (again) are the referees Friday with Josh Cleary and John Rey working the lines Friday then Justin Kea and Michael Zyla (what, no Terreri for the umpteenth time this month?) dole out penalties with Brian Wasilewski and Josh Cleary on the lines.

League website doesn’t have the crews listed for Monday and Tuesday yet.

One interesting note about one of the referees assigned this weekend is Justin Kea. Kea spent last weekend in San Diego and Ontario, California. At some point this week he’s boarding a plane back to the Northeast where the high temperature this weekend will be below freezing. The average temperature in Southern California this time of year is 75 degrees. I’ve always wondered what goes through a referees mind when they look at their itinerary and it has them in sunny California one weekend then the cold Northeast the next.

Looking Ahead…

Cleveland rocks. The Penguins play a pair in Ohio next Friday and Saturday.

Give us a bold prediction…

Justin Kea will be wishing he was still in the California sun.

If you don’t love me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.

Or something like that.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, on an 0-6-0-1 streak to begin 2022 and in last place in the Atlantic Division, come into a weekend set of games against in state rivals Lehigh Valley (who occupied the same grippe befuddling the Penguins for much of the Fall) and the Hershey Bears, who the Penguins are 0-7 against and can pinpoint the root cause of their misfortunes of late.

Where the hell have you been?

I needed a break. I still need a break, but I can’t stay away. Twitter is a desolate wasteland for me now, haven’t looked at or opened the app in a few days but for folks pinging me asking where I am. I have tweeted less, and smiled more.

This is sports. It’s an obtuse reality world where regular people vent their frustrations at paid professionals playing and coaching a game. In the end, it really doesn’t matter. Life goes on.

The moral here is, don’t take it seriously. When you do, like I have from time to time, step away. That’s what I did. I will gradually step back in.

The Setup

Home and home with Lehigh Valley Friday and Saturday and Sunday at home against the Bears.

The Phantoms are probably the hottest team in the AHL right now, at 6-0-1-1 in their last eight games. They were supposed to play up in Providence last weekend but, guess what, COVID worked its way into their locker room and those games were postponed.

Hershey has, well, beat up on a bad Penguins team. They lost last Friday to Syracuse, then curb stomped the Pens in back to back games, one was a shutout. The Bears coughed up a two goal lead Wednesday at home against Bridgeport and lost in a shootout. Seems like they are only good against the Penguins and meh against everyone else.

The Records

Hershey is up to second in the division with a 18-10-2-2 record, good for 0.625 points percentage. Lehigh Valley is sixth, 9-11-5-2 and .463 win percentage. The Penguins are in last, 9-14-1-3 with a .407 win percentage.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Recently, they have dressed a half decent lineup, which to be fair, hasn’t been really good. It’s a toothless offensive attack, dead last in the AHL in goals for (60), dead last in the League on power play (10.3%) and near the bottom (25th) on the penalty kill.

It’s not good. The players know that, the coaches know that and boy, the fans know that too.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Where is rock bottom? Are we there yet? Can we start climbing back to the top? Is there any hope left? Lehigh is on a run, but cooled off by not playing last weekend due to COVID and Hershey is who we thought they would be.

So what’s a fair expectation? Shootout losses? Overtime losses? All losses? All wins? Depends.

They have to show competitiveness. They did, in parts, in Utica and Sunday in Hershey, but for most of the weekend, it was a toothless, feckless effort. No one wants that.

I think it is also fair to ask if J.D. Forrest is in over his head? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time. But, if you are handed a Porsche with four flat tires, you aren’t going to go very far no matter who you are.

Who’s in Goal?

Tommy Nappier or Alex D’Orio. Take your pick. I think they go D’Orio, Nappier, D’Orio, unless Filip Lindberg comes back then you go Lindberg, D’Orio, Lindberg. Or, if he does return, you go D’Orio, Nappier, Lindberg. Who knows.

For Hershey and Lehigh, probably Felix Sandstrom for the Phantoms on both nights and I don’t think it matters for Hershey. The Bears can put a cardboard cutout in goal and probably still beat the Penguins. It’s insane how good and how deep Hershey is in goal.

Who is running the show?

Veteran referee Tim Mayer is paired with Casey Terreri Friday with Jud Ritter and Richard Jondo on the lines. On Saturday, Mayer takes the trip down the PA Turnpike to meet up with Reid Anderson and probably takes Jud Ritter with him as those two will be in Allentown with Tom George on the lines.

Sunday sees Casey Terreri again with Morgan MacPhee running things and Tyler Loftus and Bob Goodman on the lines.

Looking Ahead…

Four more at home. Lehigh Valley Wednesday, Toronto Friday and Saturday, and Cleveland next Monday. It’s hellacious, but at least you factor out the travel.

Give us a bold prediction…

I’ll be back next week with another weekend preview.

After mining three out of a possible four points in Springfield and Providence last weekend, its a quick turnaround and a visit to North Carolina for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who face off against the Charlotte Checkers in midweek action before heading home for Thanksgiving and rematching with the Providence Bruins at home Saturday night.

The Setup

The power play drought ended on the first one awarded last weekend which snapped an 0/36 skid that the Penguins were on. Drew O’Connor, fresh down form Pittsburgh made an immediate impact across both contests that the Penguins played in, scoring three goals. A 5-4 shootout loss in Springfield was followed up by a pretty good 3-1 win in Providence.

The Pens travel down to North Carolina for a Tuesday / Wednesday night set against the Checkers. The Penguins are 1-2 against the Checkers so far this season and 1-1 against Saturday’s opponent, the Providence Bruins.

The Checkers were in Hershey Sunday after becoming just another notch on the Utica Comets belt Friday. The Comets dismantled the Checkers 4-1. On Sunday in Hershey, the Checkers were beaten by the Bears 4-2.

Providence was last in action last Saturday against the Penguins but will have played in Hershey on Wednesday and in Bridgeport on Friday.

The Records

The Penguins are 7-6-0-2, good for .533 percentage points and 5th in the Atlantic Division. The Checkers are 7-7-1-0, in sixth and .500 and the Bruins, at the time this hits the blog Tuesday, are 6-5-2-1 and good for .536 percentage points, but this will change by the time the Bruins hit the ice in Wilkes-Barre Saturday having played in two more games.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Out?

Anthony Angello continues to flip flop from day to day, week to week, to day to day with his lower body injury. Who the hell knows.

Filip Lindberg is week to week with a lower body injury. The Penguins have made no transactions so far this week, giving the wire a break.

What can we learn from the Penguins this week?

If Drew O’Connor plays in all three games, how much does he factor in to the result? Do the Pens pull out a win with him going scoreless and with three shots or does the offense run through him? That isn’t going to be good once he’s inevitably recalled leaving the Penguins back at square one again.

There has been some continuity with the defense corps, which is good. Regardless of what happens up front, it should be interesting to see how the defense tries to contain the Checkers offense and how much of that plays into the ultimate outcome of the games this week. I’d like to see a shutout thrown in here somewhere.

Who’s in Goal?

I don’t want to think that the Penguins drive Louis Domingue until the wheels fall off but they made a liar out of me last weekend when I said that with him seeing 39 shots in Springfield there was little chance he started the next night in Providence. Not only did he do that, he went out and won too.

Do I think Domingue gets both games in Charlotte? Maybe. Is it a foregone conclusion that Tommy Nappier is just there for show? Maybe, too. He has to get his reps in but if you want to ride the hot hand and keep Domingue’s workload to a minimum Tuesday, why not go directly back to him Wednesday? It’s possible that head coach J.D. Forrest does just that.

For the Checkers you will see Joey Daccord and Christopher Gibson in some form or fashion on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Providence has a brutal at Hershey Wednesday, at Bridgeport Friday then at Wilkes-Barre Saturday at 6:05 on their schedule this week. It’s a hellish week of work, so who knows this far out who they go with Saturday. It’s either Troy Grosenick, working his way back from injury or Kyle Keyser, who the Pens saw on Saturday.

Who is running the show?

Referees Brett Roeland and Cody Beach get the two day assignment from the AHL as do linesmen Brian Pincus and Scott Senger. You aren’t having refs shuffle in and out there on back to back games. They send who they need to and then its onto the next city.

For Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, Mason Riley and Jim Curtin get the assignment and Tom George and Tom DellaFranco will handle the lines.

Looking ahead...

I don’t want to. The next time the Penguins hit the ice after this week it will be December already and time for snow. Speaking of snow and cold, the Penguins will travel to the coldest spot in the Eastern Conference next Friday when they face off against the Syracuse Crunch, then it’s back home again next Saturday night against the Charlotte Checkers and then get ready, the Hershey Bears make their debut on the schedule for the Penguins and in a big way. Four out of the next five are against the Bears, who the Penguins will see six times total in the month of December.

Give us a bold prediction…

You won’t shovel any snow until January. Happy Thanksgiving.