Comments Off on Weekend Preview — So, Canada
Posted by nafsnep on December 21, 2023
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins head to Canada for a Thursday and Friday pair of games against more North division foes in Belleville and Laval before breaking for Christmas.
Music to set the mood…
From me and the cats, Merry Christmas!
A Quote…
Consistency is what transfers average into excellence.
— Unknown
The Penguins are 6-3-1 in their last ten, winning more than losing and finally, just maybe, settling into a consistent winner. You want to see this continue this week with more North Division opponents on the plate.
The Setup
Trip to the Bay of Quinte on Thursday for a visit with the Belleville Senators and then a Friday in Laval to take on the Rocket.
Last week, the Penguins swept all three games, beating the Syracuse Crunch, Utica Comets and Rochester Americans. Rem Pitlick is red hot with nine points in his last eight games. Alex Nylander is scoring goals and they got a goal from a returning Sam Poulin on Saturday.
The Belleville Senators last played on Friday in Cleveland and were swept by the Monsters. They have not won in three games.
The Laval Rocket got pasted in Hershey 7-1 on Saturday. They beat Lehigh Valley the night before on Friday. They played Syracuse yesterday in Syracuse and won 3-2.
Records
The Penguins are 14-9-3-0, good for 31 points and third in the Atlantic Division.
Belleville is 10-10-2-2, good for 22 points and fifth in the North Division.
Laval is 8-13-3-2, good for 21 points and in last place in the North Division.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Pittsburgh: Jansen Harkins, Vinnie Hinostroza (he cleared waivers over the weekend but was not immediately assigned) and Valtteri Puustinen.
Back from Pittsburgh: Marc Johnstone and Jonathan Gruden. Also assigned was Ryan Shea.
Justin Addamo was returned to Wheeling on Friday. Lukas Svejkovsky and Tanner Laderoute followed suit on Tuesday.
The Pens recalled Owen Headrick from Wheeling. Headrick was acquired in the Peter Abbodonato trade.
Sam Poulin returned from injury and played Saturday.
The Libor Hajek experiment is over, the Penguins released him from his PTO and he returned to his native Czechia.
Still up from Wheeling: Raivis Ansons.
Injured: Avery Hayes and Sam Houde.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
They should easily beat a slipping Belleville and a last place Laval team. But if they start to wallow in their past successes, they can and likely will get caught and lose to Belleville in a tight 2-1 game or get caught already into the egg nog and lose by five in Laval. It can happen. It shouldn’t if you are a believer in J.D. Forrest and his coaching staff.
Looks like they may be shifting away from Joel Blomqvist as their rock solid #1 and going more and more to Magnus Hellberg, who started two games last week.
Also they look like they are getting healthier, with just Avery Hayes (who I have to assume is close to a return) and Sam Houde out with injuries.
Finally these points they are accumulating have them ascending the Atlantic Division. Hershey and Hartford look like the class of the field right now. It’s a dogfight between the three through six seeds.
Who’s in Goal?
I’d go Hellberg Thursday and Blomqvist Friday. I’m hoping to see leviathan Mads Sogaard, all 6’7 of him, for Belleville on Thursday and maybe more towers of power with 6’5 Jakub Dobeš for the Rocket on Friday.
Who’s Running the Show?
Dre Barone and Mathieu Menniti have the referral duties on Thursday with Justin Johnson and Dustin McCrank on the lines. On Friday, Dre Barone will follow the team to Laval and be joined by Alex Normandin with Antoine Bujold-Roux and Anthony Lapointe on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
We will see if there is any lessons learned with this little win streak when the Hershey Bears come back calling and the Pens travel there next Wednesday. The Penguins close out 2023 with a pair of games against the Charlotte Checkers Friday and Saturday.
Give us a bold prediction…
They will finish out the year without a regulation loss.
Comments Off on Falling Comets — Pens WIN 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 15, 2023
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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton’s mastery of the North Division continues, with a 4-1 win in Utica Friday night.
It was not a close affair.
The Comets had only six shots after two periods and only registered their third shot with 4:21 to play in the period, after the Penguins were already up 2-0.
Peter Abbandonato scored in the third and made it 3-0. Utica finally breaks through shorthanded to get on the board but it was far too little far too late.
Lineup Notes: The Penguins sent Justin Addamo back to Wheeling and released Libor Hajek. Addamo got shuffled out and Hajek never really had an impact and was taking up a veteran spot.
First Period: No scoring, tons of penalties. The AHL’s top two penalty kills were getting a workout. Penguins by some miracle outshot the Comets 13-4.
Second Period: Goals in this period were scored by defensemen.
Will Butcher’s first as a Penguin then a nifty play, move and shot by Jack Rathbone.
The Comets didn’t have a shot on goal for well over 15 minutes into the period. When they did manage their first shot, it was too raucous cheers by the Utica faithful. You thought Penguins fans were rough?
Third Period: Penguins notch another goal when Peter Abbandonato, who has been the Penguins most consistent player, scored to extend the lead to 3-0.
Three Stars: 3) Ryan Schmelzer (goal) 2) Colin White (goal, assist) 1) Jack Rathbone (goal)
The Good: They seem to be on a roll right now and that’s a good thing.
The Bad: Would have like to have seen them get a shutout for their goalie, but it was a good night at the office for the road team.
Turning Point: Abbandonato’s goal in the third squashed any hopes for a Utica comeback. You knew the Comets would respond (they had 16 shots in the third) but having to dig from three down after a sleepwalking start is a daunting task for any team, anywhere.
Housekeeping: I will be out of town tomorrow and not at the Saturday home game against Rochester. I may not have a full writeup, but will try to recap something.
Comments Off on What a Fool Believes… — Pens WIN 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 13, 2023
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Syracuse has lost now three straight. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins made them look like that with a 4-1 handling Wednesday night. Goals scored by Rem Pitlick, Jack Rathbone, Austin Rueschhoff and a beautiful breakaway goal by Matt Filipe had the Penguins off to the races against the Crunch.
Work night, school night, let’s get this over with.
Lineup is Fedun and Samorukov in as they rotate 7 D again. POJ was recalled after conditioning. Up front 11 forwards so Laderoute and Addamo come out and Svejkovsky slots in.
You kind of wanted this type of sleepy start if you were the Penguins with how offensively potent the Crunch are and can be.
Second Period: Penguins stay relentless on a wall battle, it is dug out and over to Jagger Joshua who finds Jack Rathbone at the top of the slot. Rathbone unleashes a shot that beats Matt Tomkins and it’s a 2-0 Penguins lead.
But almost immediately, the Penguins respond for a goal from Austin Rueschhoff off a deflection from Dmitri Samorukov that re-establishes the Penguins two gaol lead.
Look at that explosion right there. That’s power skating and I don’t even know how. With every stride, he’s losing his defender. He has to finish, and does. Just an all around great play.
Third Period: Penguins went 0/4 on the power play, and had three of those four chances in the third period but didn’t score.
Three Stars: 3) Corey Andonovski (two assists) 2) Matt Filipe (shorthanded goal) 1) Jack Rathbone (goal, assist)
The Good: Team effort, team win. Goals came from all walks of life with half the team on recall. That’s how you do it.
The Bad: Power play was humming, until Wednesday. 0/4 is manageable because you beat a out of division rival, but these are habits you don’t want to fall into.
Turning Point: I love Filipe’s shorthanded goal so much it gets it here. The Rueschhoff goal could get it, but the Filipe shorthanded goal when you have a chance to get back into it if you are Syracuse just deflates you.
Standings: Hershey 40 – Hartford 33 – Providence 30 – Springfield 28 – Penguins 27 – Lehigh Valley 26 – Charlotte 25 – Bridgeport 13
Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.
Video Highlights:
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins received goals from four different scorers en route to a 4-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview — New York, New York!
Posted by nafsnep on December 13, 2023
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will be taking the three teams left in the State of New York head on this weekend, so it’s only fitting…
Music to Set the Mood…
Ol’ Blue Eyes. They don’t make music like they used to. That’s for sure.
Also, yes. I am keenly aware as New York Mets fan that this song is played after Yankee home game wins. Yankee scum.
Regardless, New York City is the greatest City in the world. You can’t change my mind so don’t even try.
A Quote…
I can make it there, I can make it anywhere. — Frank Sinatra
Sinatra was referring to New York City. I’m referring here to the North Division and the AHL teams Syracuse Crunch, Utica Comets and Rochester Americans. Syracuse is neck and neck with the division leading Cleveland Monsters, just beat the Hershey Bears on Friday ending the Bears nine game winning streak, Rochester is a team full of a bunch of really good prospects and Utica seems like they suffer from the same problems that befell the Penguins in that they are consistently inconsistent.
The Setup
I kind of just gave it to you in the last paragraph, but slightly out of order. Syracuse at home Wednesday, Utica on the road Friday and Rochester at home on Saturday.
The Crunch stopped the Bears nine game winning streak and beat the Bears clean 4-1 on Friday then came back the next night and laid a dud against Utica (sound familiar?) and in the home and home rematch against the Comets in Utica they lost again 4-1, so it was a sweep by the Comets which probably didn’t sit well with the Crunch and their fans. Think Penguins and Bears fans don’t get along? Ratchet that up to ten with Comets and Crunch fans.
Utica beat Bridgeport Friday which isn’t saying much because the Islanders are terrible. They swept their biggest rivals in Syracuse this past weekend, detailed above.
Rochester split in Belleville Friday and Saturday, winning in shootout Friday and losing clean Saturday. The Americans will be in Springfield Wednesday and Hartford on Saturday.
The Penguins had last Wednesday off, beat the Cleveland Monsters decisively and then let one line beat them handily Saturday when the Providence Bruins came to town and spoiled Teddy Bear Toss Night and won 5-1.
Records
The Penguins are 11-9-3-0, good for 25 points and fifth in the Atlantic.
The Crunch are 13-7-0-2, good for 28 points and second in the North.
Utica is 10-8-3-0, good for 23 points and sixth in the North.
Rochester is 11-7-2-0, good for 24 points and fifth in the North.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Pittsburgh: Jansen Harkins, Vinnie Hinostroza, Marc Johnstone and Valtteri Puustinen. P.O. Joseph was recalled from his conditioning stint on Sunday.
Dmitri Samorukov was returned back to Wilkes-Barre after clearing waivers.
Up from Wheeling: Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Lukas Svejkovsky, Tanner Laderoute.
Injured: Avery Hayes, Sam Poulin and Sam Houde. Colin White returned from injury Saturday against Providence.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
How do they fare against a high flying Syracuse team they shutout then lost 6-3 in a home and home back in November and how do they fare against a brand equal in Utica and Rochester? How do they fare against a Crunch team who was swept by Utica and a Utica team that swept the Crunch? After they navigate through all that, how do they play against Rochester?
I honestly was expecting a reversal of fortune last week, that is a loss against Cleveland and a win against Providence. The opposite happened. They handled Cleveland, who I think is dealing with injuries and callups to key guys and straight let one line score all the goals against them on Saturday. It’s frustrating because there is potential with this team, and I think we all know it. The pattern of being consistently inconsistent is going to be with them for some time and as a result the inability to surprise (winning a game I don’t think they should have won Friday against Cleveland) and a clunker against a division rival they will be at pace with into 2024 and into the Spring.
I keep trying to remind myself that they are who we thought they were, that they aren’t going to get any better and can only marginally get worse and that the bottom can fall out at any time and they are out of playoff spot with how tight things are save for Bridgeport.
They have shown they can run with and beat Syracuse. They have yet to play Utica and Rochester yet but if early returns are to believed, this consistently in consistent team should find some consistency and beat all three teams, provided they do things the right way.
It should be simple to know what works vs. what doesn’t. Don’t let one line beat you. Get a couple power play goals. Stay out of the penalty box. Easy right? We shall see.
Who’s in Goal?
I thought it was Blomqvist’s world that we are are all living in but after these last couple of games I am not so sure.
Blomqvist is 6-4-2 and has lost his last three against Hershey (loss) Springfield (OT loss) and Providence. What was once a sure lock isn’t looking like that so much presently. But this is the AHL and a development league. This is adversity he has to battle through and I think that the skill set is there. The use has to be executed on.
Also being hung out to dry like Tuesday’s laundry like his team let him in parts against Hershey and Springfield and a lot against Providence needs to stop.
I’d go Blomqvist with both home games, Garrett Sparks in Utica.
For the opposition, Hugo Alnefelt for the Crunch, Nico Daws for Utica and don’t be surprised to see old friend Dustin Tokarski out first for the Americans on Saturday.
Who’s Running the Show?
Justin Kea and Jack Young are the scheduled referees on Wednesday against Syracuse with linesmen Patrick Dapuzzo and J.P. Waleski on the lines. On Friday up in Utica, Andrew Bell and Chad Ingalls are the referees and Jeremy Faucher and T.J. Dockery are the scheduled linesmen. Saturday in Wilkes-Barre sees Andrew Bell again with Peter Schlittenhardt and Chandler Yakimowicz and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Penguins head north of the border for a Thursday game against Belleville and a Friday game in Laval before breaking for Christmas.
Give us a bold prediction…
They shock us all and win all three games by multiple goals.
The line of Georgii Merulov (2-3), Jesper Boqvist (2-2) and Justin Brazeau (1-1) terrorized the Penguins to a tune of all five goals scored and five assists. The Penguins had no answer for that line Saturday night at all. It is rare that a single line like that completely dominates in a hockey game at this level. I can’t remember when a single line completely murdered the Penguins like that. The 2010 Hershey Bears? The Norfolk Admirals the year they won six million in a row? I can’t remember. The Penguins had no answer for that line and were completely humbled.
Arkoudaphobia is a fear of bears, by the way.
Can’t beat Hershey (Bears) can’t beat Providence (Bruins, a synonym for a bear) but can beat or compete with pretty much every team in the AHL that they play.
Alex Nylander scored a power play goal with :03 left on it in the third period. There were some rogue teddy bears that hit the ice (after they all rained down in the second intermission) which I found hilarious.
The Penguins were in the game into the second period, only down one off of a Merkulov goal at 5:53 of the first period, but that’s when Providence went to work, netting a pair of goals by Brazeau and Boqvist. Brazeau was lest alone in the slot and fired a high shot that went in and Boqvist scored his goal off a rebound left by Penguins starting goaltender Joel Blomqvist.
Blomqvist had a bit of a ride. I thought he should have been better overall, but was left out to dry by his team. Remarkably, Xavier Ouellet was the only player to finish in the negative for the Penguins. Every other player was a -1 or worse. Ty Smith was a -3. Seven others were -2. Yikes.
Here’s how they lined up:
Colin White is back in action for the first time in just under a month, and Tanner Laderoute makes his AHL DEBUT!! pic.twitter.com/lhkqMUKKLL
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 9, 2023
Lineup was Taylor Fedun and Lukas Svejkovsky out for Colin White, returning from injury and Tanner Laderoute making his WBS debut.
Three stars were all Providence Bruins. Jesper Boqvist (two goals, two assists), Brandon Bussi (30 saves) and Georgii Merkulov (two goals, three assists)
The Good: The assumption is kids in need will get those teddy bears.
The Bad: Penguins had no answer for a one dimension line that sent them into another dimension.
Turning Point: There was a sequence in the second period where they were already down 1-0 and a goal mouth scrum where they couldn’t score. Had they did, teddy bears would have rained down and who knows what would have happened to the momentum and ultimate outcome from there.
Around the Division: Not going to give you boxes tonight. Hershey beat Cleveland 6-0, Springfield beats Bridgeport 5-1, Laval beats Hartford 5-1 and Lehigh Valley leads Charlotte late. Saturday’s scoreboard here.
Standings: Assuming that Lehigh Valley result holds.
Hershey 36 – Hartford 33 – Providence 29 – Penguins 25 – Springfield 24 – Lehigh Valley 24 – Charlotte 22 – Bridgeport 13
Wheeling Update: Nailers are losing to the Tulsa Oilers big. Box on that here.
I don’t think anyone wants to watch video highlights. I sure don’t.
More midweek when Syracuse stops by. They stopped Hershey’s nine game win streak. Should be fun!
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 8, 2023
Lineup: The trend of dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen is a trend, I guess.
At around noon Friday, Pittsburgh recalled Marc Johnstone, Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden. For Johnstone it was his NHL debut. They returned Joona Koppanen and the aforementioned Alex Nylander.
Lineup wise, Koppanen and Nylander were joined by Lukas Svejkovsky and P.O. Joseph for Johnstone, Gruden and Sam Houde, who is injured again.
First Period: Cleveland scores on a boffo shot from behind the goal line that banks off of Magnus Hellberg and in.
Monsters were bottling up the Penguins and it was bothering me that I couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. Shots were 12-10 but it seemed like the Penguins were lacking something.
Second Period: Ty Smith shoots and his first shot doesn’t go in. Ty Smith gets the puck, shoots again and it goes in.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 9, 2023
Penguins find themselves in penalty trouble. Cleveland has :47 of two man advantage and fail to score. This was a gargantuan kill for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton. If Cleveland scores here it’s tied, they may score again on the other penalty and re-take the lead. None of that happened.
Third Period: They flew through the first 7:39 without a whistle. Refs Alex Normandin and Riley Brace called an excellent game I thought.
Issue still in doubt, will they, won’t they blow the lead and Alex Nylander scores to make it 3-1.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 9, 2023
That move was sick.
Peter Abbandonato picked up an assist here, he’s a point machine for the Penguins.
Then four goals in the span of about three minutes. Here goes nothing…
– Corey Andonovski into an empty net, 4-1 Penguins;
– James Malatesta for Cleveland then scores and hold the phone, 4-2 Penguins;
– Alex Nylander from the opposing blue line on what was technically an empty net power play goal and it’s 5-2 Pens;
– But then Roman Ahcan bags his second on a snipe and it’s 5-3.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 9, 2023
Monsters didn’t GIF their second and third goals.
Three Stars: 3) Corey Andonovski (goal, assist) 2) Raivis Ansons (goal, assist) 1) Alex Nylander (two goals)
The Good: Seems like they fought through adversity. Coaching? Maybe.
The Bad: Really couldn’t put a finger on anything. That finish was thrill a minute. Overall I think they played a solid, sound sixty minute hockey game.
Turning Point: That penalty kill back in the second period when they were down two men gets it here. May be the most important penalty kill of the season thus far.
Standings: Hershey 36 – Hartford 33 – Providence 27 – Penguins 25 – Springfield 24 – Charlotte 22 – Lehigh Valley 22 – Bridgeport 13
Wheeling Update: Nailers take down the Indy Fuel 4-3 in overtime. Davis Bunz gets the overtime goal, Jordan Frasca with a goal and an assist. Issac Belliveau with a goal and two assists.
Video Highlights:
Alex Nylander netted two goals, while Ty Smith, Raivis Ansons and Corey Andonovski each picked up a goal and an assist, and the #WBSPens defeated the @MonstersHockey, 5-3, at the @MoSunArenaPA on Friday night.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Whose Land?
Posted by nafsnep on December 8, 2023
I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed not having a Wednesday game to have to watch or write about this week. Won’t last long, as they have a home game next Wednesday against Syracuse.
This week, it’s Cleveland Friday and Providence Saturday this weekend for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, both at home.
Music to Set the Mood…
There’s even a bear! The Providence Bruins! Hooray relevancy!
A Quote…
Don’t let others think for you… — Unknown
There’s a lot of back and forth I have seen from what’s left of the media in this town about J.D. Forrest and his job performance and job safety. I kind of just laughed it off and kind of ignored it, but if you the fan, think that the head coach sucks and isn’t doing a good enough job in doing what he is paid to do and what you paid money to see, then don’t let someone else who gets paid to cover the game and gets in for free dictate to you how to think. You pay the money to watch the product. Unless or until those who tell you to think otherwise fund or pay for you to attend or watch these games, feel how you want to feel.
I certainly am not going to tell you how to feel.
The Setup
Not your uncle’s Cleveland Monsters and the mercurial Providence Bruins come to town.
The Monsters have led the North Division for a couple of weeks now which made me think of something in the lead up to Friday’s game. Would you rather be a Monsters fan or a Penguins fan? Columbus has a ton of really good prospects in the pipeline in Cleveland and the Penguins have Joel Blomqvist and that’s it. The Monsters have the right mix of veterans (Trey Fix-Wolansky) to blend with exciting prospects (Kent Johnson, currently on recall) that has Cleveland at the top of the North and setup for success all season.
I mean the Penguins have been OK, certainly better than last year, but struggle with great teams (Hershey) and can’t play like the better team when met with equal teams (OT win and loss against Springfield last week)
Providence has been OK, slightly worse than the Penguins, and more inconsistent then the Pens, if you could believe that.
Records
Wilkes-Barre / Scranton is 10-8-3 and in fifth place with 23 points in the Atlantic.
Cleveland is 14-5-1 and in first place with 29 points in the North.
Providence is 11-8-1-2 and in third place with 25 points in the Atlantic.
The Pens had a 3-1 lead against Hershey at home Wednesday and lost in frustrating fashion 7-5 then split a pair of overtime games with the Springfield Thunderbirds Friday and Saturday in a home and home.
Cleveland split a pair with the Utica Comets at home this past weekend then went to Hartford Wednesday and won in overtime 4-3.
Providence swept Bridgeport in a home and home this past weekend and beat Lehigh Valley at home Sunday. They will be in Allentown on Friday, and have won five straight coming into the weekend.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Pittsburgh: Dmitri Samorukov, Jansen Harkins, Joona Koppanen, Alex Nylander and Vinnie Hinostroza. I may give Hinostroza the Radim Zohorna treatment going forward and consider him permanently up.
Up from Wheeling: Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons and Lukas Svejkovsky.
To Wheeling: Owen Headrick.
On Loan from Pittsburgh: P.O. Joseph.
Injured: Avery Hayes, Sam Poulin, Colin White and possibly Sam Houde, who got injured on a hit by Hunter Skinner on Saturday. Skinner was assessed a checking to the head match penalty.
Svejkovsky has been on a tear with Wheeling, as he should be as a guy who spent all season in the AHL. Joseph will be here for the weekend and likely recalled Sunday.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Hypothetically, they should go 2-0. They own Cleveland at home and Providence has more open holes than the Penguins it would seem. Will they? Let’s examine.
If they go up early against either team will J.D. Forrest be able to get his team to maintain the lead and win, which he wasn’t able to do against Hershey at home Wednesday?
If they give either team eight power plays like they did Saturday against Springfield, they may not be so lucky with the offensively powerful Cleveland team.
If they put together a solid twenty minutes consistently, like they did in the third period, down 0-2 in Springfield Friday, then it should be a much easier path for them. Will they? I guess that’s all part of the joyride.
Who’s in Goal?
Both goalies in Joel Blomqvist and Magnus Hellberg showed well last week. I’d go Blomqvist Friday and Hellberg Saturday.
For Cleveland, you will probably see Jet Greaves in goal Friday and on Saturday likely Michael DiPietro.
Who’s Running the Show?
Riley Brace and Alex Normandin are here enforcing the AHL Rule Book and John Rey and Bill Lyons are manning the lines making sure they stay onside and handling face-offs.
On Saturday, it will be referees Liam Maaskant and Adam Tobias with Bob Goodman and Richard Jondo on the lines.
Looking ahead…
New York, New York! Syracuse at home on Wednesday, a trip to Utica Friday and then Rochester drops by Saturday.
Give us a bold prediction…
One of the Penguins goaltenders gets a shutout this weekend.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 