Chirps from Center Ice

The Magic Number for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins is in the single digits. Seemingly, it’s not a matter of if the Penguins will clinch a 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs spot, but when.

Well, it won’t be this weekend, at least.

The magic number coming into Saturday’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms is eight so, like I said at the top, getting closer.

Music to Set the Mood…

I don’t know. I just type in random stuff that tries to fit the theme, and this is what YouTube gives me this time.

A Quote…

I’m such a dope because I forgot to add this in.
— Jason Iacona

I can’t tell how long it has been since I last added in a quote with these. What sparked my reminder? I was looking at some older Weekend Previews and reminded myself that I used to run quotes here. I have to write stuff down to remember apparently.

The Setup

Just one this weekend with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Last week, the Penguins played in a three in three weekend and salvaged the weekend with a Sunday win in Allentown after getting shutout at home against Utica and losing up in Syracuse. Question I would have for the masses would be which do you remember most about the weekend past, the win in Allentown or the two losses the night before?

For me, it’s an in between. You expected them to beat a last place Utica team but they didn’t. You expected them to stay competitive with a good Syracuse team and they did and you expected them to be hungry against a Lehigh Valley team and they dominated. I think at this time of year it’s all about just getting to playoffs. The Penguins are walking a fine line of trying to chase down second place Providence and fend off Charlotte, Hartford and the rest trying to protect third place and balance chemistry with a seemingly whirlwind amount of call ups to Pittsburgh and Wheeling this we will get to in a minute.

For the Phantoms, in addition to losing to the Penguins last week, they lost to the Bridgeport Islanders 2-1 on Saturday. They were in Syracuse just yesterday and won 6-4. They remain in the sixth and final spot in playoffs positioning in the Atlantic.

Records

That thing I said about protecting third? Well, during the week the Penguins were passed for third by Charlotte, who shutout Hartford Wednesday. The Checkers made that game in hand they had on the Penguins count.

The Checkers played Friday against the Islanders and won 4-1 and are now in third ahead of the Penguins by three points, with 76 points.

The Penguins are 32-22-8-1, good for fourth in the Atlantic with 73 points.

The Phantoms are 28-26-5-3, good for sixth in the Atlantic with 64 points.

Check Your Surroundings…

Moving this up a few spots because I think moving from the records to this jives.

Providence beat Hershey this past Tuesday 4-1 and then traveled to Utica on Friday and won 7-4. They have Syracuse on Saturday. The Bruins have 83 points and are on even games played with the Penguins and both the Bruins and Wilkes-Barre have a game in hand on Charlotte. Providence also qualified for a playoff spot yesterday, making them the second team behind Hershey who have qualified out of the Atlantic.

The Checkers have soared to third thanks to their 8-2 in their last ten run. They have 76 points and have one more game played than the Penguins (64 to 63).

Hartford is on the other end of the spectrum with a 1-7-1-1 run and have fallen off. They hosted Springfield on Friday and lost 6-2 and have 63 games played and 69 points.

Providence is in Syracuse Saturday.

Charlotte is in Bridgeport on Saturday.

Hartford has Hershey at home Saturday, then host Bridgeport Wednesday.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Sam Poulin was recalled Tuesday, Jonathan Gruden was recalled Tuesday but sent back Friday, Ryan Shea was recalled Friday. So it’s Shea and Poulin up to Pittsburgh with Jack St. Ivany and Valtteri Puustinen.

Up from Wheeling are perpetuals Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky. Scooter Brickey played in his AHL debut on Sunday in Allentown after completing his education at The Ohio State University.

Transactions this week from Wheeling were a quartet. Taylor Gauthier and Matthew Quercia on Wednesday, Max Cajkovic and Evan Vierling on Thursday.

No idea on the Gauthier recall. I don’t think Blomqvist or Waeber are sick or injured. I don’t think it would be wise to “save” Blomqvist for playoffs, so I don’t know.

Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. Newly added are Jagger Joshua, who missed all three games last week and Vasily Ponomarev, who missed the last two.

And that’s the only ones we think we know.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

If they get back to third and Lehigh Valley squeaks in, it’s Pens-Phantoms in the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Or, should they dip to fourth, they get a stumbling Hartford team.

Ideally, they can get to second and have a first round bye, but that ship I think has sailed barring a Providence collapse.

They should have the same vim and vigor and “empty the tank” attitude they had Sunday in Allentown and keep that with them Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

They know they are close to sewing up a berth. Every game at this point is a battle with every point so important with the balancing act that I mentioned in the open.

Who’s in Goal?

Barring a surprise, Joel Blomqvist for the Penguins and Parker Gahagen again for the Phantoms.

Who’s Running the Show?

Austin O’Rourke and Mason Riley are the assigned referees Saturday with Chandler Yakimowicz and Robert Peterkin on the lines.

Looking ahead…

April! Yes!

Home against Cleveland Friday, a trip to Bridgeport Saturday and a Sunday home game (no comment) Sunday.

I am camping the following weekend, so that Sunday home game will be my last regular season home game. See you all in playoffs, hopefully.

Give us a bold Prediction….

Penguins are a playoff team by the time the clock strikes midnight next Saturday.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have 12 games left in their regular season and in those 12 games they play three three in threes or nine games. The first of those three in threes are this weekend starting in Syracuse Friday.

Music to Set the Mood…

Let’s hope this weekend turns up three roses for the Penguins.

The Setup

Three this weekend; road game in Syracuse, home against Utica, on the road in Allentown starting Friday.

The Penguins took three out of a possible four points in Cleveland this weekend. It should have been four because they gave up a late extra attacker goal to the Monsters on Sunday and lost in overtime. They are in good shape however and solidified themselves for third place while keeping the heat on Providence for second and a first round playoff bye.

I think they played exact duplicates of the two games in Cleveland, but had the breaks go more their way Monday, specifically in the third period, and won easily. I don’t think that Cleveland posed much of a threat to the Penguins at any time during the two games out in Cleveland.

The Monsters are dueling with Syracuse for tops in the North Division. The Crunch went 1-2 last week, dropping a close contest with Rochester last Wednesday, beating Belleville Friday and losing to Hershey on Saturday.

Utica went 2-1 last week, losing to Belleville Wednesday while beating Hershey in a shootout on Friday and beating a slumping Hartford side clean on Saturday. The Comets host Bridgeport Friday before taking the trip down I-81 Saturday.

Lehigh Valley were shutout by the Penguins last Wednesday, then went to Providence and took 3 out of 4 points, losing in a shootout on Friday.

This past Wednesday, the Phantoms hosted a regressing Springfield side and beat them 3-1.

Records

The Penguins are third in the Atlantic with a 31-20-8-1 record, good for 71 points.

Syracuse is second in the North with a 34-19-4-2 record, good for 74 points.

Utica is 26-24-4-4 and last in the North with 60 points.

Lehigh Valley is 27-24-5-3 and sixth in the Atlantic good for 62 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen is up and will likely be back at the end of Pittsburgh’s regular season.

Jonathan Gruden was recalled by Pittsburgh Tuesday, after being held out Monday in Cleveland. Jack St. Ivany was returned to Wilkes-Barre Monday and played against the Monsters in Game 2 and had three assists. Gruden was sent back and St. Ivany was recalled on Thursday. I would expect this trend to continue.

Up from Wheeling remain Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky.

Coal Street signed defenseman Scooter Brickey to an AHL contract which starts next season. He’s with the team currently on an ATO. He is from The Ohio State University.

Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. There’s hope from the chatter revealed this past weekend that Abbandonato and Johnstone are back at some point. Forget about Houde who has upper and lower body injuries.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

How quickly they can close out the 13 point gap they have to sew up a playoff spot and work on either pursuing second place or preserving third place.

Syracuse was an active team at the trade deadline, adding ex-Penguin Jordy Bellerive. They are a good team and likely better than Cleveland, so that should be a decent enough of a test for the Penguins on Friday. The Penguins split a pair of games with the Crunch back in November. Taylor Gauthier picked up a shutout then lost the next night. The Crunch are 6-3-1 in their last ten and trending towards better, with these acquisitions made.

Utica is above .500 but in last place but the North Division is very competitive. The Comets are 6-3-0-1 in their last ten. Don’t expect “last place team, easy win” vibes with this team. This is a trap game of all trap games for the Penguins.

Lehigh Valley is who we think they are, a mercurial team that can run with the Penguins but can be beat. They are to us what the Penguins are to the Hershey Bears. We always think we can beat Hershey and expect to, if we play the right way, but Hershey breaks down the Penguins and it’s usually the Bears winning. Same thing applies with the Phantoms, but the Penguins are the better team in this example.

Same thing that applies though, get good goaltending, score a power play goal, stay disciplined, get depth scoring. It sounds cliché but it’s simple really and fundamental.

Check Your Surroundings

Providence hosts Charlotte and Syracuse Saturday and Sunday respectively. At the end of the weekend, the Bruins will have two games in hand on the Penguins so if that deficit to second is smaller at the end of the weekend, it may be a bit of a mirage because the Bruins will have two games in hand.

Charlotte will have Springfield and Providence on the road this weekend and the Checkers will have a game in hand on the Penguins at the end of the weekend. Springfield is a bit of a mystery. Seems like they are fading, worse then Lehigh Valley for the six seed, so we will see.

Hartford is in a slump. If they don’t watch Lehigh Valley could catch them. Unlikely, but I’m more attentive to what Charlotte is doing vs. Hartford because remember the Wolf Pack had five games in hand on the Pens, and lost most of them.

The Wolf Pack played in Rochester on Wednesday and scored five goals but lost clean 6-5. They will have Toronto Saturday and Belleville Sunday. At various points in the season, they had five games in hand on the Pens, now they just have one, and are four points behind the Pens for the third seed.

Here’s a look at the standings coming into Friday:

2. Providence, 59 games played, and 77 points.
3. PENGUINS, 60 games played and 71 points.
4. Charlotte, 60 games played and 68 points.
5. Hartford, 59 games played and 67 points.

Who’s in Goal?

I would have expected Ludovic Waeber last weekend but J.D. Forrest threw a curve at me and everyone else and went Blomqvist for his fifth straight start and a back-to-back appearance out in Cleveland. Waeber will have to start a game in this three in three. My guess is Saturday.

Brandon Halverson, Akira Schmid, Cal Petersen if I had to guess for the competition, which I kind of am here.

Who’s Running the Show?

Justin Kea and Johnathan Daniels have the assignment in Syracuse with Dylan Blujus and Jarrett Burton on the lines.

Mathieu Menniti and Casey Terreri will be in the orange arm bands Saturday with Richard Jondo and Tyler Loftus on the lines.

Sunday in Allentown sees Brendan Schreider and Mike Dietrich with Robert Peterkin and Michael Magee on the lines.

Looking ahead…

One game next week, a Saturday game at home against, you guessed it! The Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Give us a bold prediction…

Magic number dips to single digits, Ludovic Waeber stands on his head with a 35+ save performance and a win for the Pens in his debut Saturday and Jagger Joshua picks up AHL Player of the Week honors with five goals and three assists. The Penguins score a power play goal in each game, including a game where they score two.

The Penguins get an extremely rare Friday and Saturday off in the AHL and are out in Cleveland for a pair of games on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening against the North Division leading Cleveland Monsters.

Music to Set the Mood…

Sigh, there’s always a bear.

The Setup

Two in Cleveland against the Monsters while trying to maintain the third spot in the Atlantic Division and watching second place Providence run off in the distance. The Bruins are now nine points, as of Saturday afternoon, ahead of the Penguins.

The Penguins took 4 of 6 points away from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a trio of games, most recently shutting them out on Wednesday 3-0 for the first North American shutout of Joel Blomqvist’s career. Long overdue in my opinion. Jagger Joshua netted a pair of goals in the win and is on the cusp of bagging a hat trick in my mind.

Cleveland lost a pair in Laval last weekend and beat Grand Rapids 3-2 in overtime at home Tuesday. They will host the Penguins for a pair this weekend before greeting the Hershey Bears next weekend.

Monsters fans are maybe wondering if this could be an Eastern Conference Finals Preview of some type. Penguins fans are dreaming of it, Bears fans are kind of expecting it.

Records

The Penguins are third in the Atlantic coming into Saturday night’s action in the AHL with a 30-20-7-1 record, good for 68 points.

The Monsters are currently tied with the Syracuse Crunch at the top of the North Division with 34-18-3-3 record good for 74 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen and Jack St. Ivany are up in Pittsburgh. St. Ivany was recalled Friday and it’s well deserved in my book. He’s really blossomed into a dependable defender. It will be interesting to see what, if any shot, he is given in Pittsburgh while the Penguins wind down their, what seemingly appears to be, a forgotten season.

Last time we did this Joona Koppanen and Jonathan Gruden were up, but they are back in the AHL now.

Dillon Hamaliuk and Tanner Laderoute were sent back to Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky remain up with Coal Street after being recalled from the Nailers.

Coal Street signed defenseman Philip Waugh out of Mercyhurst University to a two year AHL deal. They assigned him to the Nailers this week.

The injured guys remain Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde. Jack Rathbone and Lukas Svejkovsky were on this list last time we did this but are back healthy and playing.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

They seem to master playing against the Cleveland Monsters, beating them 5-3 in their only game of the season back in December so far out of the four they will play, so it’s four points seemingly there for the taking.

The power play is an abomination these days. They scratched Svejkovsky in favor of the new guy Vasily Ponomarev, but went 0/4 on the power play Wednesday against the Phantoms. They will need to capitalize on the opportunities given to them at the time if they want to have success on this road trip. I think they know this. Can they execute? That remains the question.

You will also see newly acquired goaltender Ludovic Waeber get a start in one of these two games against the Monsters, so you want him to show something in the form of being an upgrade to Magnus Hellberg, who I thought declined a bit as the season wore on, being outshined by Blomqvist’s play. Will it be more of the same from the backup goaltending position or can Waeber win you games when you put him out there?

Continue to get depth scoring from Jagger Joshua, Corey Andonovski and get Ponomarev, Radim Zohorna, Vinnie Hinostroza and Sam Poulin going.

Check Your Surroundings

Providence is in the midst of a weekend hosting the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Bruins beat the Phantoms Friday in a shootout and host them again Saturday in a rematch.

Hartford had Friday off. They only took one point out of their trip to North Carolina against the Charlotte Checkers midweek and kind of put the Checkers back in the discussion. The Wolf Pack have Utica at home Saturday night then embark on a four game road trip starting Sunday in Hershey.

Charlotte hosts Springfield for a pair of Saturday and Sunday games. Springfield is fighting to stay in the playoffs and will probably battle the Phantoms to the end for the six seed it would seem, so this is a huge weekend for the Thunderbirds.

Here’s a look at the standings coming into Saturday’s action:

2: Providence, 58 games played and 77 points.
3: PENGUINS: 58 games played, 68 points.
4: Hartford: 56 games played, 67 points.
5: Charlotte: 58 games played, 66 points.

Couldn’t be tighter.

Who’s in Goal?

Don’t oversimplify. Blomqvist Sunday, Waeber Monday. For the Monsters, Jet Greaves Sunday and newly acquired from Springfield Malcolm Subban on Monday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Graedy Hamilton and Stephen Hiff have the referee assignment with Kirsten Welsh and Luke Stork on the lines on Sunday.

Monday sees Justin Kea and Adam Tobias work the game with Welsh sticking around joined by Mitchell Hunt on the lines.

Looking ahead…

Another three in three, I think it’s the last of them against Syracuse on the road Friday, home against Utica Saturday then on the road Sunday against Phantoms.

Give us a bold prediction…

Jagger Joshua nets a hat trick before the end of the season.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have three straight games with their in state rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms this weekend and next Wednesday. Two, (Saturday and Wednesday) are in Wilkes-Barre. Gotta protect that home ice.

Music to Set the Mood

I don’t know what this is. I typed in “three ghosts” into YouTube and the came up, so let’s roll with it.

We Have a Trade to Announce…

Jake Guentzel was traded to Carolina with Ty Smith. In return, Pittsburgh got Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius and a bunch of draft picks. Out of  that group, Ponomarev has spent time in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves and would have the most impact, as he has 29 points with the Wolves currently.

Pittsburgh has traded away its AHL clubs leading scorer now three times this season. Rem Pitlick in the Fall, Alex Nylander a few weeks ago and now Smith. Jonathan Gruden, you’re next!

One thing that’s worth considering is that Carolina doesn’t have a bonafide AHL team to stash its prospects and Chicago is independent. If Ty Smith isn’t earmarked for the NHL, where does he end up? Does he stay with Wilkes-Barre as a Carolina property (awkward) or go to the NHL with the Canes or the island of misfit toys out in Chicago? I guess we find out soon.

The Setup

Three straight with the Phantoms, starting this Friday in Allentown.

Last weekend, the Penguins split with the Charlotte Checkers with a 4-1 win Friday and a 4-2 loss Saturday, when on Saturday they were up 2-0. Sam Poulin returned from injury and had five assists across two games but that wasn’t enough to get him AHL Player of the Week honors.

Lehigh Valley were shutout in Utica 3-0, lost to last place Bridgeport 2-1 at home Saturday and then at the tail end of their three in three weekend grit out a 1-0 shootout win over the Category 5 superteam known as the reigning, defending, undisputed 12 time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. Go figure.

One thing to note, the Phantoms will travel to Bridgeport on Sunday, completing yet another three in three weekend, then head back to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday, which starts an hour earlier because on the drive up to Connecticut, the Phantoms (and everyone else) will lose an hour when everyone turns their clocks forward one hour this Sunday. Just brutal.

Records

The Penguins are in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 28-19-7-1 record, good for 64 points.

The Phantoms are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, currently out of a playoff spot with a 23-22-5-2 record, good for 53 points.

The Penguins (55 games played) are chasing second place Providence Bruins, who have also played 55 games. Providence leads the Penguins by 9 points.

The Penguins are trying to ward off the Hartford Wolf Pack (52 games played) and the Charlotte Checkers (54 games played) – Hartford has 63 points and the Checkers have 60.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden are on NHL recall. Joona Koppanen joined them on Tuesday. They all will need to be “papered” back to the AHL by Friday in order to be eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Justin Addamo, Dillon Hamaliuk, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky remain on recall from Wheeling.

Max Cajkovic was returned to the Nailers on Monday. Tanner Laderoute was signed to a PTO Thursday morning. He has 20 goals and 41 points.

Injured are Svejkovsky above along with Peter Abbandonato, Sam Houde, Marc Johnstone and Jack Rathbone. I think it’s Rathbone, Abbandonato, and then you’re guess is as good as mine after that as to who returns from injury first.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

I think they should beat the Phantoms handily. If they want to remain in the faint discussion for a first round bye, they need at least 5 out of a possible 6 points out of this three game set with the Phantoms. How do they do this?

– Get good goaltending from their backup Magnus Hellberg, who should start Friday or Saturday.
– Limit turnovers. Radim Zohorna had his pocket picked behind his own net Saturday which led to the Michael Benning go ahead goal for the Checkers late in the game Saturday.
– Get a power play goal in each game. I know it’s a heavy lift, but before that Benning goal Saturday they had a power play they squandered in a tie game. If they score there, it’s probably a different outcome.

I mean I think that’s it. What do you think? Everything else should take care of itself. Joel Blomqvist will get two of the three starts here. The defense should take care of itself also. How hurt is Jack Rathbone, who is good on the power play and blocks a boatload of shots?

Force the Phantoms into mistakes, press the issue cautiously and there’s no reason why they can’t beat this team clean for a full six points.

Check Your Surroundings

New feature this week till the end of the season or as I see fit will look at the teams ahead of and behind the Pens in the standings.

Providence has Hartford Friday and Springfield Sunday. You just don’t want overtime Friday and want a Springfield win of some type.

Hartford has the Bruins Friday and Bridgeport Saturday, so no eating into the games in hand.

Charlotte hosts Hershey Friday and Saturday.

So it’s a positive schedule week for the Penguins I think, and important that they handle business against a Lehigh Valley team which is a consistent model of inconsistency.

Who’s in Goal?

Blomqvist Friday, Hellberg Saturday, Blomqvist Wednesday is what I would do if I were running things.

Parker Gahagen and Cal Petersen are the Phantoms current goaltending duo. Figure you see each this weekend and the better of the two Wednesday. It was Petersen who shutout the Bears on Sunday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mike Sullivan (no, not that one) and Austin O’Rourke are scheduled to be in Allentown Friday with Brandon Grillo and Bill Lyons on the lines.

Saturday, Sully (do they call him that?) and O’Rourke make the drive up the Turnpike and are with us again live and in person Saturday with Grillo in tow and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.

Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre sees Jake Kamrass and Jordan Watt as the assigned referees and Yakimowicz again on the lines joined by J.P. Waleski.

Looking ahead…

No games Friday or Saturday for the Penguins. A Sunday game which starts at 3:00 p.m. in Cleveland followed by a Monday game at 7.

I haven’t decided when I put the Weekend Preview out yet. To be determined…

Give us a bold prediction…

Blomqvist finally gets a shutout, or I drop the notion of same in this spot altogether.

So let’s talk about it.

At the beginning of last week I said that they were primed to make a run in March. Then last week happened. Let’s review.

– Alex Nylander given away for Matthew Phillips’ replacement, Emil Bemstrom.
– Colin White was lost on waivers to the Montreal Canadiens.
– Lukas Svejkovsky (good on the power play), Peter Addandonato (good overall) and Radim Zohorna were added to the injured list. Abbandonato was a late scratch in the last two games.
– Sam Houde (lower, week to week), Marc Johnstone (upper, week to week) and Sam Poulin (upper, day to day) remain on the perpetual injured list.
– They lose in overtime because they suck in overtime to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. They are 1-7 in overtime.
– They lose a squeaker in a penalty marred affair in Hershey on Friday.
– They obliterate a game Bridgeport team on Saturday and end the week with 3 of 6 points.

Meanwhile, the gap to second place Providence is nine points with equal games played and three points from fourth place Hartford with three more games played then the Wolf Pack.

How bad are the Wolf Pack that they are given a head start and still can’t catch up to the Penguins? Hartford is 3-5-1-1 in their last ten and the Penguins are 4-3-2-1.

Don’t look now, but Charlotte is nipping at the heels (paws? webbed feet?) of the Checkers and Penguins.

Can the Penguins catch Providence? Not without help. No more regular season matchups with the Bruins this season. Providence has one game with Hershey left in the season. They have Springfield, Hartford, Springfield, Lehigh Valley, in the first half of the month of March. I think if they take 8 out of a possible 12 points between now and the Ides of March, barring a collapse it’s probably ballgame on the second seed for the Penguins.

Music to Set the Mood…

I don’t have one for you this week. When I YouTubed “Checkmate” I got a rap video and a bunch of chess stuff. Beyond my comprehension so let’s move on.

The Setup

Two with Charlotte this weekend, at home.

I gave you what the Penguins did last week above.

The Checkers lost in overtime Friday at home against Lehigh Valley, then beat the Phantoms clean Saturday. This past Wednesday in Hartford, the Checkers beat the Wolf Pack 2-1 in overtime.

Records

The Penguins are in third in the Atlantic with a 27-18-7-1 record, good for 62 points and third place in the Atlantic.

Charlotte is 26-20-6-0 and fifth in the Atlantic with 58 points. They are a point off Hartford for third and for back of the Penguins. The Penguins have 53 games played, the Wolf Pack have 50 and the Checkers have 52.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

The only guy up is Valtteri Puustinen. Pittsburgh is in Western Canada so he isn’t walking through any doors around here this week or next likely.

Justin Addamo, Dillon Hamaliuk, Raivis Ansons and Lukas Svejkovsky are the recalls from Wheeling.

I gave you the injured list in the opening monologue.

Bit of good news is that Avery Hayes was sent to Wheeling on Wednesday, apparently healed from his upper body injury and good to go.

Max Cajkovic and Owen Headrick joined Hayes on the bus to Wheeling on Wednesday. They all retuned from their 20 minute car ride (Facebook special) and were back with the Pens Thursday.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

This very well could be a playoff preview here with Charlotte. If the Penguins stay in third, or even drop to fourth, it’s a good possibility that it’s the Checkers as their first round opponent.

The season series is 3-3. The Penguins would win one, then the Checkers would win the other or vice versa. The Checkers always stack games when they play the Penguins so it is very hard to beat them in back to back games. Is it impossible? Of course not, but in recent seasons the Penguins just can’t solve the Checkers by beating them in back to back games.

So, expect a three game series when these two teams inevitably meet in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs in late April.

Who is the better team? I think it’s the Penguins. I’d favor Wilkes-Barre over Charlotte in a three game playoff series. Defense and goaltending is what wins playoff games and I think the Penguins have that advantage. Both teams are good on the penalty kill but suck on the power play. The Penguins are 30th out of 32 teams on the man advantage. Where have you gone Rem Pitlick?

But we aren’t there yet, still having to play a month and a half more of regular season hockey.

If the Penguins want to stay ahead of Hartford, Charlotte, et. al and pursue Providence, they need to win both of these games.

Who’s in Goal?

Split the weekend with Joel Blomqvist going Friday and Magnus Hellberg going Saturday. Or flip it, it doesn’t matter.

Same thing applies with Spencer Knight and Evan Cormier. You’ll see both this weekend, I don’t think it matters when.

Who’s Running the Show?

Liam Maaskant and Casey Terreri have the honors on Friday with Chandler Yakimowicz and Dylan Lewis on the lines.

On Saturday, Jared Cummins and Chris Rumble will be ensuring things remain on the straight and narrow. Linesman Yakimowicz returns with J.P. Waleski.

Looking ahead…

Another Friday – Saturday set against one opponent, a home and home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms; Friday in Allentown, Saturday in Wilkes-Barre and then Wednesday at home against the Phantoms. I am including that Wednesday game in next weeks Weekend Preview because the following weekend they are in Cleveland Sunday and Monday. That means no Friday and Saturday games. I won’t know what to do!

Give us a bold prediction…

Another series split between the Penguins and Checkers.

So I think they are primed for a run.

They have a loaded March schedule. They play Lehigh Valley five times, the most out of any of the teams, in March. Utica is in there. Syracuse too. They have Cleveland’s number and are out there twice. Charlotte starts them off for a pair next weekend.

I think Pittsburgh’s goose is unfortunately cooked. I don’t see them making playoffs. Unless Kyle Dubas can make a trade with Father Time, they are only going to get older. Sidney Crosby is a Hall of Famer, Evgeni Malkin is too and so is Kris Letting, but they can’t do it all. Does Dubas get cute and trade assets now for one last ditch run now or does he sit tight and do nothing? It’s a fine line. I think that Wilkes-Barre should get through this relatively unscathed and should, if anything, get stronger as the season reaches its conclusion.

Music to Set the Mood…

Keep marching. Keep pushing.

The Setup…

A Wednesday game against Lehigh Valley, a road trip to Hershey Friday night and then home against Bridgeport for the first time this season.

The Penguins went to Toronto and pounded the Marlies on a Wednesday afternoon game in Ontario. Jack St. Ivany had a pair of goals. They bottled up Toronto and had their way with them.

Then they went to Rochester on Friday and ran into a hot goalie who does this all the time it appears and lost. It stunk, because Magnus Hellberg struggled again in goal.

They hosted the Laval Rocket and battled and won. 4 of 6 points from the week. You can take that.

Lehigh Valley had one game this past week and lost at home against Syracuse 2-1.

Hershey beat Toronto in overtime on Saturday then beat Belleville clean on Monday. They close out their Canada trip in Laval on Wednesday.

Bridgeport upset Providence 3-2 on Friday, lost to Hartford in overtime on Saturday and beat Laval in overtime on Saturday. In the last three games, they have only allowed five goals. The Islanders will be in Hartford on Wednesday.

Records

The Penguins are 26-17-6-1, good for 59 points in third in the Atlantic Division.

The Phantoms are 20-19-5-2, 27 points and seventh in the Atlantic.

Hershey is 39-9-0-2, 80 points and first place overall in the AHL.

Bridgeport is 15-26-6-1, 37 points and last in the Atlantic.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

I think I am going to consider Jansen Harkins up for good. He’s only played 11 AHL games and hasn’t been here since November.

Colin White and Valtteri Puustinen are up also. Puustinen went up with Vinnie Hinostroza and Jonathan Gruden, but those two (Hinostroza and Gruden) were sent back Sunday.

Wilkes-Barre has Justin Addamo, Max Cajkovic, Owen Headrick, Dillon Hamaliuk, Raivis Ansons and Lukas Svejkovsky up from Wheeling.

Garrett Sparks is down in Wheeling, having been assigned last week.

Jack St. Ivany is back off the injured list.

Remaining injured are Sam Houde, Avery Hayes, Sam Poulin and Marc Johnstone. Out of those, I am hoping that Hayes and Poulin are closest to returning.

What can we learn from the Penguins this week? 

How good is their backup goaltending and when exactly do we see Magnus Hellberg in goal for the Penguins? Does he go Wednesday and Saturday? Do you save Joel Blomqvist for the Hershey Bears?

Hellberg hasn’t been good. He’s been adequate, but this is a good league. You can’t win when good to great teams run out at you every night with average goaltending.

Interesting setup this week. Do you go Hellberg against the two non playoff teams and give Blomqvist the whole week to prepare straight up against Hershey, the one team the Penguins will have to go through if they want to make it out of the Division? I don’t know. You need to get the points to keep pace with Providence and stay ahead of the Hartford Wolf Pack. If you want to make that march, like I said at the top, every point matters.

Who’s in Goal? 

Ha! I love how this is flowing this week. I’ll go Blomqvist, Hellberg and whoever has played better to get the net Saturday against Bridgeport.

Parker Gahagen, Hunter Shepard and Henrik Tikkanen for the Phantoms, Bears and Islanders respectively. With my recent trend of misses with these predictions, expect the opposite.

Who’s Running the Show?

Jim Curtain and Mason Riley are the refs on Wednesday with Patrick Dapuzzo and J.P. Waleski on the lines.

Nothing on the Friday or Saturday crews yet. This is the last Wednesday game until the middle of March, hopefully we have the full crews when we do this next week.

Looking ahead…

You could just go back to the top of this piece to get that but since you are nice enough to read this far I will remind you that they host the Charlotte Checkers for a pair of games next weekend for Friday and Saturday.

Give us a bold prediction…

Beating this drum, but Blomqvist gets his first shutout of the season Saturday against Bridgeport.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins morph into the Pittston Tomatoes on Saturday when they host the Laval Rocket in their annual change your name to a local town and what that town is known for. Last year they were the Old Forge Pizzas. Next year? The Larksville Pierogis? The Nanticoke Kielbasa? The Jeddo Coal Breakers? Who knows.

Music to set the mood…

Hey why are you putting this out there on a Tuesday night? Good question. They play a school day game Wednesday up in Toronto, which bleeds into the next chapter…

The Setup

Trip North of the Border for the final time this season when they visit the Toronto Marlies in an 11 am Wednesday game, then a Friday stop in Rochester then home against Laval. It’s three North Division clubs on the menu this week for the Pens, and they are 6-3-1 against teams in that division.

Wilkes-Barre is a top ten team overall in the League and top five in the Eastern Conference. I don’t know if it’s a top heavy thing meaning that there truly are only a handful of great teams (Hershey, Milwaukee, Providence, Tucson, Coachella Valley, etc.) then just a bunch of contenders and then a bunch of dreck.

Toronto is in that contender group, Rochester and Laval are teetering on contender / dreck. With the race in the Atlantic Division tightening literally by the day, this is an important week for the Penguins.

The Penguins erased a two goal deficit in the third period Friday in Allentown only to lose in the shootout for the first time this season 5-4.

Toronto walloped Laval 6-1 on Friday and then Laval walloped them 7-1 on Saturday.

Rochester lost in overtime Friday 3-2 to Syracuse and then in the home and home with the Crunch on Saturday…lost 3-2 in overtime! They will be in Utica Wednesday before hosting the Pens Friday.

The Rocket are in the midst of a five game road trip and will be in Hartford Friday before taking the trip down I-84 to play the Pens Saturday.

Records

The Penguins are 24-16-6-1, good for 55 points and third place in the Atlantic Division.

The Marlies are 20-15-6-2 good for 48 points and third place in the North Division.

Rochester is 21-16-5-1, good for 48 points and fourth in the North.

Laval is 20-19-4-2, good for 46 points and sixth in the North.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Since we last did this, Jesse Puljujarvi signed an NHL contract with Pittsburgh, so assume he’s up for the duration. I don’t know if he will be rostered back at the clear day deadline or not. John Ludvig was recalled from his conditioning stint. Colin White and Jansen Harkins remain up. Have to figure one of those two may end back up here after Noel Acciari heals up. Likely White.

Owen Headrick, Dillon Hamaliuk and Lukas Svejkovsky are up from Wheeling.

Injured are Sam Houde, Avery Hayes, Jack St. Ivany, Sam Poulin and Marc Johnstone. Raivis Ansons was a regular customer here on this line he healed up and was sent down to Wheeling, but he’s back now, recalled on Monday.

Coal Street sent Garret Sparks, the third goalie here, to Wheeling. Sparks has played sparingly but will presumably get reps for the Nailers, who are on a tear.

Have to be gutted for Johnstone, who would be returning back to Toronto, a team he played for last season.

Houde and Hayes are week to week. Johnstone is “longer term” meaning likely separated shoulder / fractured collarbone after that hit into the boards two Friday’s ago in Allentown. Poulin and St. Ivany have been updated to “day to day”.

They can get by with this short term, but will miss Johnstone. I mentioned this Friday in my recap.

What can we learn from the Penguins this week?

This is the first bit of adversity they have faced since…November? Missing Poulin and St. Ivany and Johnstone suck. But they are resilient and looked better on the power play with Valtteri Puustinen and Lukas Svejkovsky slinging it around out there. They can get scoring from Vinnie Hinostroza. Radim Zohorna is a threat every time he is out there. The list goes on and on.

I want to set a high standard here and say that six points are a must if you want to consider them a contender for a first round bye come April. Consider Hershey a foregone division winner. They can catch Providence I think but need to win the remaining head to heads and hope for help as the Bruins and Pens are locked in games played wise. It’s not like the four games in hand the Hartford Wolf Pack still have on the Penguins.

Toronto is good but not great. Rochester is good but not bad and Laval is just bad. These are teams that, if you want to consider yourself a contender and not an also ran, you must beat.

Who’s in Goal? 

Have to think it’s Blomqvist, Hellberg, Blomqvist in that order. I’m not as high on Hellberg as I was say three weeks ago or so. He has only won two out of his last five starts, picking up wins against a bad Bridgeport team and an equally as disappointing Springfield club, although that Springfield team beat Hershey clean this past Saturday.

I’d expect Dennis Hildeby again for Toronto, Dustin Tokarski for Rochester and likely Jakub Dobeš or Kasimir Kaskisuo for the Rocket on Saturday.

Who’s running the show?

Riley Brace and Damian Figueira get the assignment for Wednesday with Spencer Knox and Dan Kovachik on the lines.

Nothing on the Friday or Saturday crews yet.

Looking ahead…

Back to divisional action with Lehigh Valley in for a Wednesday home game, a trip to Hershey on Friday then back home against Bridgeport Saturday for I think the first meeting in Wilkes-Barre between the two clubs as they close out February and the calendar flips to March.

Give us a bold prediction…

Blomqvist finally picks up his shutout Saturday playing as a Tomato and they connect for a power play goal in all three games.