PENGUINS WEEKLY – 12/24/24

Penguins celebrate Holidays after successful rivalry weekend

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (16-8-1-0) will return from break with more rivalry games, White Out on Friday

Weekly Rewind

Wednesday, Dec. 18 – PENGUINS 0 vs. Toronto 3
Matt Murray returned to Mohegan Arena for the first time as an opponent and treated his old team like he treated many others back when he was a Penguin by recording a shutout.

Saturday, Dec. 21 – PENGUINS 7 vs. Lehigh Valley 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton responded to Wednesday’s blanking by posting a season-high seven goals in front of a rowdy home crowd. Seven different players accounted for the Penguins’ seven goals, three of which came on the power play and one while shorthanded. The two rivals managed to combine for 132 penalty minutes by the end of the night.

Sunday, Dec. 22 – PENGUINS 1 at Hershey 0
In their last game before the holiday break, Filip Larsson delivered an early present by recording a 33-save shutout. Tristan Broz tallied the game’s only goal at 5:33 of the second period. With no room for error, Larsson was exceptional in the third period, leading to his third shutout of the season.

The Week Ahead

Friday, Dec. 27 – PENGUINS vs. Lehigh Valley
Fan Controlled Friday is back, and a fan vote has resulted in the return of the WHITE OUT for this rivalry showdown. The Pens have won four of their six games against the Phantoms this season, but Lehigh Valley will be out for revenge after the emotional finish to last week’s lopsided loss.

Saturday, Dec. 28 – PENGUINS at Hershey
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton returns to Giant Center six days after holding the Atlantic Division leaders and back-to-back Calder Cup Champs without a goal. The visiting team has won every game so far in their season series. Overall, Hershey has lost more games at home this year (7-8-1-0) than they did all of last season (29-7-0-0).

Ice Chips

– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s power play ranks second overall in the league (24.0%) and has scored multiple power-play goals in a game seven times this season.

– Filip Larsson is tied for the most shutouts in the league (3), but has the fewest starts among the six other goalies with which he’s tied (8).

– Ville Koivunen is tied for the second-most assists (16) and power-play points (11) among AHL rookies.

– The Penguins are 15-2-0-0 (.882) all-time when Corey Andonovski scores a goal.

– Mac Hollowell will represent Canada at the 2024 Spengler Cup. The 96-year-old tournament held in Davos, Switzerland will run from Dec. 26–31.

DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM LEADERS

* = rookie
x = not on current roster

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE

DATE                    OPPONENT              LOCATION                                TIME        

Fri, Dec. 27         Lehigh Valley            Mohegan Arena                    7:05 p.m.

Sat, Dec. 28        Hershey                     Giant Center                          7:05 p.m.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

DATE                  PLAYER                                                              TRANSACTION

Tue, Dec. 17      (D) Nate Clurman                                            Recalled to PIT

Wed, Dec. 18    (D) Nate Clurman                                 Reassigned from PIT

Fri, Dec. 20        (D) Mats Lindgren                                  Reassigned to WHL

Sat, Dec. 21       (D) Nikolai Knyzhov                                         Signed to SPC

Mon, Dec. 23    (D) Nate Clurman                                           Recalled to PIT