PENGUINS WEEKLY – 3/3/26

Penguins riding six-game point streak into March

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (36-13-4-2) ranks Top 5 in both goals for and goals against per game

Weekly Rewind

Friday, Feb. 27 – PENGUINS 3 at Cleveland 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took the lead with a pair of quick goals and never looked back to defeat Cleveland in a spirited bout to start the weekend. Atley Calvert and Ville Koivunen scored 45 seconds apart to put the Penguins up 2-0 in the first period. Aidan McDonough buried one 23.8 seconds before the second intermission, keeping the team ahead 3-1. The Monsters made it a one-goal game in the third, but Joel Blomqvist was a fortress late, ensuring Wilkes-Barre/Scranton got the win.

Saturday, Feb. 28 – PENGUINS 1 at Cleveland 2 (OT)
Another nail-biter between the Penguins and Monsters went to overtime, where Cleveland picked up its league-leading 10^th OT win of the year. The Monsters struck first, but a power-play goal in the second period by Matt Dumba equalized. Koivunen posted an assist on the goal, running his point streak to six games. Sergei Murashov made 27 stops, including a save-of-the-year candidate when the game was tied 1-1.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, Mar. 4 – PENGUINS vs. Springfield
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a chance to sweep its season series with Springfield at home on Wednesday. The Penguins are 3-0-0-0 this season against the T-Birds and won nine of their last 10 matchups. Springfield had its leading scorer, Matt Luff, traded on Feb. 24. However, NHL veteran Mathieu Joseph was reassigned by St. Louis three days later.

Friday, Mar. 6 – PENGUINS at Syracuse
The Penguins and Crunch go head-to-head for the last time this season. Each of their previous clashes have ended in lopsided fashion: two shutout wins for Syracuse and a 4-1 victory for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Since dropping that 4-1 decision to the Pens on Jan. 31, the Crunch have gone 9-1-0-0 and scored 40 goals.

Ice Chips

– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is 21-6-1-1 (.759) on the road, the most road wins and third-best away record in the AHL.

– The Penguins hold fifth place in the league in both goals for per game (3.29) and goals against per game (2.55).

– Ville Koivunen was named Fortune Tires “Expect More” AHL Player of the Month for February. He led the league with 16 points (6G-10A) in 11 games in February and recorded a point in all but one of the Penguins’ games.

– Koivunen became just the third player in franchise history to win AHL Player of the Month, joining Chris Conner (Feb, 2010) and Carter Rowney (Mar, 2016).

– The Penguins are 10-0-1-0 when Matt Dumba has recorded a point this season.

DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM LEADERS

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE

DATE                  OPPONENT         LOCATION                                    TIME        

Wed, Mar. 4      Springfield          Mohegan Arena                          7:05 p.m.

Fri, Mar. 6         Syracuse              Upstate Medical Univ. Arena   7:00 p.m.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

DATE                   PLAYER                                                       TRANSACTION

Mon, Feb. 23     (RW) Avery Hayes                                       Recalled to PIT

Mon, Feb. 23      (LW) Ryan McAllister                        Reassigned to WHL

Tue, Feb. 24      (D) Emil Pieniniemi                Reassigned by PIT to WHL

Tue, Feb. 24      (RW) Nolan Renwick                          Reassigned to WHL

Tue, Feb. 24      (LW) Raivis Ansons                             Reassigned to WHL

Tue, Feb. 24      (D) Scooter Brickey                              Reassigned to WHL

Sat, Feb. 28       (LW) Filip Hållander     Recalled from conditioning loan

Mon, Mar. 2       (D) Scooter Brickey                              Recalled from WHL

Mon, Mar. 2       (RW) Nolan Renwick                            Recalled from WHL

Mon, Mar. 2       (LW) Zach Urdahl                                 Recalled from WHL