WBS Penguins prepare for busy month

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (26-11-4) returned from the All-Star break and took care of business over the weekend, picking up back-to-back wins and moving into second place in the AHLs Atlantic Division with games against first-place Hershey up on the schedule this week.

The Penguins enter Tuesday nights matchup five points behind the Bears with five fewer games played.

Friday, Feb.

7, Penguins 3, Bridgeport 0: The Penguins got first-period goals from Sam Poulin and Tristan Broz, leaning on goaltender Tristan Jarry the rest of the way to earn two points.

Boris Katchouk (goal, assist) added an empty net tally with 2:49 left to play to put a bow on the win for the Penguins, while linemate Ville Koivunen added two assists.

I thought you could feel the guys just feeling their way back into it early in the first period, and (it was) just sloppy, Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald said.

(We) couldnt really string a couple of consecutive passes together, but I thought as the period went OK we got our game going.

Jarry put together a strong performance, stopping all 31 shots he faced and earning his 10th career AHL shutout to improve his record on the season to 5-3-0.

I thought they were doing a good job keeping the puck in their end, and when thats the case I think that makes it easy for me, Jarry said.

It kind of allows me to just focus on my game, kind of focus on the little things.

And I thought they just did a great job around me, too.

Saturday, Feb.

8, Penguins 5, Cleveland 4 (OT): The Penguins put themselves in a hole early, getting into penalty trouble to the tune of five minor penalties in the opening 12:54 of the contest.

The Monsters capitalized, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the game, including converting on two five-on-three power plays.

From there, the Penguins clawed their way back into the game.

After Jack St.

Ivany scored his first goal of the season in the first period, Joona Koppanen inadvertently redirected Valtteri Puustinens shot into the back of the net as the puck bounced off of his right leg.

The Penguins trailed, 4-2, heading into the third period, but goals from Jonathan Gruden with 8:55 left and Sam Poulin with 18.3 seconds left (with the Penguins net empty for the extra attacker) forced overtime.

After killing off a 4-on-3 power play to begin overtime, the Penguins completed the comeback when Owen Pickering joined a rush in the final 30 seconds, getting to the slot before accepting a pass from Avery Hayes and firing the puck off the inside of both posts and in.

I had been out there awhile, so Im glad I scored because I probably didnt have a back check in me, Pickering said.

Its a great feeling to get an OT winner.

It went post-post, so it scared me a little bit.

But its fun.

News & notes Forward Tristan Broz returned after a seven-week absence Friday night, missing 12 games after contracting mononucleosis.

I think it was a little frustrating at first, but I think now that I have time to reflect on it, just being away from the game gave me such a good perspective of how much I love it, Broz said.

I think its the old adage of you dont know how much you love something until you miss it.

So just really grateful to be back and gratefully playing hockey again.

Poulin has been on a bit of a scoring surge lately with goals in four of his last five games, totaling six points (four goals, two assists).

Im just playing my game, keeping things simple.

Im not trying to do too much, Poulin said.

I know what the coach is expecting of me.

Im just trying to do everything they want me to do, and just have fun out there.

And I think it has worked pretty well.

With the NHL on a two-week hiatus for the Four Nations tournament, Pittsburgh reassigned goaltender Joel Blomqvist and forwards Emil Bemstrom and Vasily Ponomarev to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The timing couldnt be better for the AHL Penguins, who have a busy four-game slate this week and seven games in their next 13 days.

Week ahead The Penguins schedule picks up dramatically in February.

This week, the Penguins travel to Hershey for a Tuesday night road game before playing three games in three days this weekend, hosting Lehigh Valley on Friday at 7, followed by a home game against Hershey on Saturday at 6:05 p.m., and wrapping up at Lehigh Valley on Sunday at 3:05 p.m..

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