PENGUINS WEEKLY – 3/19/24

Star Wars Night highlights upcoming three-in-three weekend for Penguins

WEEKLY – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-20-8-1) in tight race for seeding in Atlantic Division playoff picture

Penguins Weekly Rewind

Wednesday, Mar. 13 – PENGUINS 3 vs. Lehigh Valley 0
Jagger Joshua nabbed the first two-goal game of his career while Joel Blomqvist turned away 23 shots for his first AHL shutout. Corey Andonovski also tacked on two assists.

Sunday, Mar. 17 – PENGUINS 2 at Cleveland 3 (OT)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton used goals by Vinnie Hinostroza and Sam Poulin to build a late, third-period lead. However, Cleveland scored with an extra attacker and then again on a power play in overtime to snatch a stunning victory. The Penguins doubled the Monsters in shots, 34-17.

Monday, Mar. 18 – PENGUINS 5 at Cleveland 2
Radim Zohorna put on a show, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist for the first four-point game of his career. Naturally, Zohorna took home first-star honors, but Jack St. Ivany also generated three assists, and Jagger Joshua earned a “Gordie Howe hat trick” with a goal, an assist and a fight.

The Weekly Ahead

Friday, Mar. 22 – PENGUINS at Syracuse
The Penguins start their three-in-three weekend by heading up to Syracuse, where they shut-out the Crunch on Nov. 10. The Crunch are 6-2-1-0 (.722) in their last nine games.

Saturday, Mar. 23 – PENGUINS vs. Utica
Star Wars Night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza will feature the Penguins wearing Ahsoka-themed sweaters, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Allied Service Foundation.

Sunday, Mar. 24 – PENGUINS at Lehigh Valley
The ninth game in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s season series with Lehigh Valley wraps up this three-in-three. The Penguins and Phantoms have split their series at four wins apiece, but the Black & Gold are 3-0-0-1 (.875) at PPL Center.

Ice Chips

– Joel Blomqvist is the fifth goalie in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton franchise history to amass 20 wins in his rookie season, joining Marc-André Fleury (2004-05), John Curry (2007-08), Matt Murray (2014-15) and Casey DeSmith (2016-17).

– Radim Zohorna’s hat trick was the Penguins’ first of the season and first since Sam Poulin potted three goals against the Laval Rocket on Mar. 13, 2022.

– Zohorna has 14 points (6G-8A) in his last 11 games.

– Poulin has 14 points (5G-9A) in his last 13 games.

– Jagger Joshua has four points (3G-1A) in his last three games.

DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM LEADERS

* = rookie
X = not on current roster

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE

DATE                   OPPONENT         LOCATION                             TIME      

Fri, Mar. 22        Syracuse              Upstate Medical Arena        7:00 p.m.

Sat, Mar. 23       Utica                     Mohegan Sun Arena            6:05 p.m.

Sun, Mar. 24      Lehigh Valley      PPL Center                             3:05 p.m.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

Fri, Mar. 15     (D) Jack. St. Ivany                             Recalled to PIT

Fri, Mar. 15     (D) Ryan Shea                            Reassigned by PIT

Mon, Mar. 18  (D) Jack St. Ivany                       Reassigned by PIT

Tue, Mar. 19   (C) Jonathan Gruden                      Recalled to PIT