It’s hard to believe, but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are already one-fourth of the way through the 2016-17 American Hockey League regular season. Through 19 games, the Penguins hold a13-4-2-0 mark, good for 28 points and a .737 winning percentage – the top mark in the Eastern Conference.
It hasn’t been all easy sailing for the Penguins, though, who are coming off of a tough stretch of six games in 11 days during which time they went 3-2-1-0. The Pens also experienced their first back-to-back non-wins last week, when they dropped a 4-0 decision in Hershey on November 23, and fell in overtime to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers two days later.
“There’s a way in which we play the right way. If we don’t do it, things don’t come out our way,” said captainTom Kostopoulos, noting the team’s result in Hershey. “If we do things the right way, like we did most of the night against Bridgeport, last game, we didn’t give up any goals.”
The Penguins have had a chance to catch their breath this week, enjoying a day off on Sunday, followed by three days of brisk practices at the Toyota SportsPlex. That’s been a benefit to the club according to defenseman Cameron Gaunce.
“I think we’ve really improved our game over the last couple of days,” Gaunce stated. “I think our second game with Hershey, we weren’t as good as we could have been. Coming back, getting a day, and then playing Bridgeport back-to-back was good for us.
“Though we didn’t win in the first night, I thought we played well in Bridgeport. Then we had an even better game, a very complete game, on Saturday night, winning 1-0. I thought it could have been even more, but their goaltender played pretty well.”
Gaunce and his teammates now hit the road to take on the St. John’s IceCaps for a two-game set in Newfoundland this Saturday and Sunday. Both games start at 2:30pm Eastern Time (4:00pm in St. John’s).
The Penguins return home on Friday, December 9 when they play the Hershey Bears at 7:00pm. It’s an Eyewitness News Fan Friday, with $14 lower bowl tickets, select draft beers for just $2 from 6-7:30pm, and a post-game autograph session with two Penguins players.
Penguins ticket packages, including 22-game, 12-game, and 10-voucher flex packs, are available directly through the Penguins offices by calling 570-208-7367.
