Friday, Oct. 22 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Hartford 1 (OT)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton closed its season-opening, three-game homestand with a thrilling overtime win. Filip Hållander opened the scoring with his first AHL goal, but the Wolf Pack equalized 22 seconds before the first intermission. The stalemate persisted through the rest of regulation. Kasper Björkqvist buried the winning goal at 2:41 of overtime.
Sunday, Oct. 24 – PENGUINS 2 at Lehigh Valley 1 (OT)
The Penguins won their second game in a row by a 2-1 score in overtime thanks to two goals from rookie Valtteri Puustinen. Puustinen scored unassisted midway through the first period to get his team on the board. They maintained the one-goal lead through two periods and six penalty kills until Lehigh Valley tied the game with just 46 seconds left in regulation. Puustinen made quick work of OT and sealed the win for the black and gold.
The Weekly Ahead
Wednesday, Oct. 27 – PENGUINS vs. Lehigh Valley
The Penguins take on the Phantoms for the third time this season. Lehigh Valley is off to its worst start in franchise history (0-3-1-0), but lost three of their four games by only one goal.
Friday, Oct. 29 – PENGUINS at Hartford
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton skates into another matchup against Hartford exactly a week after they last met. The Penguins are 31-7-2-1 in their last 41 games against the Wolf Pack, including a 17-3-1-0 record at XL Center in that time.
Saturday, Oct. 30 – PENGUINS at Springfield
The Penguins’ road trip continues with their first meeting against the white-hot Thunderbirds. Springfield is unbeaten in regulation so far this season (4-0-1-0) and also has the AHL’s points leader, defenseman Scott Perunovich. The CCM/AHL Player of the Week has nine points (1G-8A) through five games.
Ice Chips
– All three game-winning goals scored by the Penguins this season have come from different Finns (N. Almari, K. Björkqvist, V. Puustinen).
– In both of Filip Lindberg’s games this season, he posted identical statlines of 30 saves on 31 shots faced.
– Eight of the last 11 games between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley have gone to overtime.
– The Penguins have successfully killed 10 opponent power plays in a row.
DIVISION STANDINGS
TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS Pts%
1. Springfield 5 4 0 1 0 9 .900
2. Hershey 4 3 1 0 0 6 .750
3. PENGUINS 4 3 1 0 0 6 .750
4. Hartford 5 3 1 1 0 7 .700
5. Charlotte 4 2 1 1 0 5 .625
6. Bridgeport 6 2 2 0 2 6 .500
7. Providence 5 1 2 1 1 4 .400
8. Lehigh Valley 4 0 3 1 0 1 .000
TEAM LEADERS
SKATERS GP G A PTS
Valtteri Puustinen* 4 3 1 4
Jordy Bellerive 3 0 2 2
Juuso Riikola^ 3 0 2 2
Michael Chaput 4 0 2 2
four players tied 1 0 1
GOALIES GP W-L-OT GAA SV% Shutouts
Filip Lindberg* 2 2-0-0 0.98 .968 0
Louis Domingue 1 1-0-0 0.98 .966 0
Tommy Nappier*x 1 0-1-0 3.07 .903 0
* = rookie
^ = currently with Pittsburgh X = currently with Wheeling
UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME
Wed, Oct. 27 Lehigh Valley Mohegan Sun Arena 7:05 p.m.
Fri, Oct. 29 Hartford XL Center 7:00 p.m.
Sat, Oct. 30 Hartford XL Center 7:00 p.m.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Sat, Oct. 23 (D) Juuso Riikola Recalled to PIT
Mon, Oct. 25 (LW) Kasper Björkqvist Recalled to PIT
Tue, Oct. 26 (G) Tommy Nappier Reassigned to WHL
Tue, Oct. 26 (LW) Justin Almeida Reassigned by PIT to WHL
