Penguins hit road to end February

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (27-12-6) are in the midst of a six-game road trip, which continues with another three-in-three this weekend.

The Penguins split four games last week, losing twice to Hershey and taking a pair from Lehigh Valley.

Tuesday, Feb.

11, Hershey 5, Penguins 4: The Pens werent able to match the Bears intensity to the start the contest, being outshot, 12-4, and outscored, 3-1, in the opening 11 minutes.

Credit to the Penguins for making things interesting in the final minute after allowing an empty-net goal that put them in a 5-3 hole with two minutes left to play.

Mac Hollowell scored an extra attacker goal, and the Penguins had an offensive zone face-off with 10 seconds left, thinking they tied the game with 2.2 seconds left when a point shot was re-directed into the net by Boris Katchouk.

After initially calling a good goal on the ice, the officials conferenced at center ice and overturned the call.

The controversial call highlights the process AHL officials must go through due to the limited scope of reviewable plays in the AHL.

Whether the call is right or wrong is not necessarily the point of whether the process is right or wrong.

At the end of the day, we should have video review for that, Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald said.

Were in the 2nd best league in the world.

In the USHL, we would have had a video review for that.

Friday, Feb.

14, Lehigh Valley 3, Penguins 2 (SO): The Penguins managed a point against rival Lehigh Valley, but certainly werent at their best.

Sam Poulin gave the Penguins a lead in the first period, and Tristan Broz regained Wilkes-Barre/Scrantons lead late in the second period, but Lehigh Valley was able to hang around and keep within striking distance in the third period, tying the game and ultimately winning in the shootout.

Joel Blomqvist stopped 25 of the 27 shots for the Penguins, but was saddled with the loss after allowing the lone goal of the shootout when Rodrigo Abols beat him to the glove side in the bottom-half of the third round.

Saturday, Feb.

15, Hershey 4, Penguins 3 (OT): Its only mid-February, but this game between the Penguins and Bears, the top two teams in the Atlantic Division and two of the top teams in the league, had a playoff-like feel.

Ultimately, it was another back-and-forth game the Penguins came out on the short end of, but the season series between the teams has been tight with the Penguins 3-2-2 against the defending back-to-back champions this year.

Avery Hayes continues to be a force offensively, as he tallied two goals for the Penguins, including a go-ahead goal in the third period.

Valtteri Puustinen also scored for the Penguins, while Rutger McGroarty had two assists.

Hendrix Lapierre had a game-high three points for the Bears, both assisting on the Bears game-tying goal with 12.5 seconds left in regulation and scoring the game-winner in overtime.

Sunday, Feb.

16, Penguins 4, Lehigh Valley 3: The Penguins finished off their three-in-three weekend on a high note, taking it to the Phantoms in the first 40 minutes at PPL Center.

Hayes (one goal, one assist) recorded his second multi-point game on the weekend while extending his points streak to five games to open the scoring for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Poulin (goal, assist, fight) had his second career Gordie Howe hat trick at the PPL Center.

Blomqvist was strong in net, stopping 31 of 34 shots, including several key saves late in the third period.

News & notes Poulin found another gear offensively over the past three weeks, with nine points (six goals, three assists) in his last nine games.

Yeah, Im just playing my game, keeping things simple.

Im not trying to do too much, and I know what the coach is expecting, Poulin said.

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

And I think it has worked pretty well.

Hayes has arguably been the teams most underrated player this season, and like Poulin is also playing with a lot of confidence in the offensive zone to the tune of 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in his last 14 games.

McGroarty has gone 10 games without a goal, and has just one tally in his last 16 games, but its not due to a lack of offensive chances.

There have been several hit posts along the way, and McGroarty has consistently generated offense by creating turnovers on the forecheck.

People dont see defensive stuff.

Like, he blocks shots.

Hes killing (penalties) well.

You cant score every game, as much as wed love to, MacDonald said.

Hes doing a lot of good things.

And I think theres a lot of things that dont get noticed.

McGroarty had back-to-back two-assist games over the weekend and played well since assimilating to the pro game with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

With the NHL returning from its hiatus for the 4 Nations Faceoff, Pittsburgh summoned forward Emil Bemstrom and Blomqvist from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while reassigning goaltender Tristan Jarry to the AHL Penguins.

Pittsburgh also made a trade with St Louis last week heading into the weekend, acquiring forward Mathias Laferriere in exchange for forward Corey Andonovski.

Laferriere joins Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from the Springfield Thunderbirds, where he had 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 33 games.

He made his Penguins debut Saturday night, and also appeared in the Penguins win in Lehigh Valley on Sunday.

Week ahead The Penguins are in the Northeast this weekend, with a three-in-three on the road in Hartford (Friday, 7 p.m.), Springfield (Saturday, 7:05) and Providence (Sunday, 3:05)..

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