PENGUINS WEEKLY – 1/27/26

Crosscheck Cancer Night highlights Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s upcoming slate

Penguins (27-12-2-2) have diligent week of practice before Saturday, Sunday games

Weekly Rewind

Wednesday, Jan. 21 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Belleville 3 (OT)
A goalie duel between two old friends took place, as Joel Blomqvist and Leevi Meriläinen went save-for-save in a starry display. However, Meriläinen’s 25 saves in the first two periods kept his team in it, leading to an OT win for the B-Sens. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Atley Calvert both scored for WBS.

Friday, Jan. 23 – PENGUINS 4 at Hershey 3 (SO)
A back-and-forth thriller at Giant Center ended with the Penguins surviving in a shootout. Owen Pickering and Ville Koivunen lit the lamp in the first period, and Avery Hayes forced OT with his late, tying goal. Rutger McGroarty posted an assist on all three goals. Koivunen scored again in the shootout, while Sergei Murashov thwarted all three of Hershey’s attempts.

Saturday, Jan. 24 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Charlotte 5
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wrapped its eight-game season series with Charlotte with a loss. Gabe Klassen and Aidan McDonough found twine for the Penguins, but Blomqvist’s season-high 35 saves weren’t enough. Charlotte won each of its for visits to Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza this season.

The Week Ahead

Saturday, Jan. 31 – PENGUINS vs. Syracuse
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton holds Crosscheck Cancer Night presented by Geisinger as the Black and Gold try to avenge a 6-0 shutout loss to Syracuse that kicked off the calendar year. Crunch forward Nick Abruzzese ranks third in the AHL with 29 assists.

Sunday, Feb. 1 – PENGUINS at Lehigh Valley
The Penguins and Phantoms officially hit the mid-point of their 12-game season series with their sixth meeting. The Black and Gold are 4-0-0-1 against the Orange and Black this season and 20-3-3-3 (.793) in their last 29 regular-season matchups. Harvey-Pinard has four goals in four games against Lehigh Valley.

Ice Chips

– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has allowed 2.56 goals against per game, fourth in the league and second in the Eastern Conference.

– In eight career games at Giant Center, Rutger McGroarty has 11 points (3G-8A).

– Over his last 11 games, Gabe Klassen has 10 points, including eight of his 11 goals on the season.

– Finn Harding leads all rookie defensemen in the AHL with his +16 rating.

– The Penguins are 4-0-0-0 when allowing a shorthanded goal.

DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM LEADERS

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE

DATE                  OPPONENT         LOCATION                                    TIME        

Sat, Jan. 31        Syracuse             Mohegan Arena                         6:05 p.m.

Sun, Feb. 1        Lehigh Valley      PPL Center                                 3:05 p.m.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

DATE                   PLAYER                                                    TRANSACTION

Sun, Jan. 18       (C) Joona Koppanen                           Recalled to PIT

Sun, Jan. 18       (LW) Rutger McGroarty            Reassigned from PIT

Tue, Jan. 20       (C) Joona Koppanen                 Reassigned from PIT

Tue, Jan. 20       (RW) Valtteri Puustinen           Traded by PIT to COL