The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed a fine regular season with a 46-17-7-2 record (the third and fourth items being OT and SO losses split out). That completed a 101-point season – third best in the entire AHL and gave WBS just their third 100+ point year.
Unfortunately for them, the best team in the AHL in the regular season, Providence, plays within the division which will make the playoff road a tough one to travel.
Currently WBS waits for the second round of the playoffs, expected to start on Monday April 27th. They get to watch to find out who their playoff opponent will be based on the results of Charlotte (3) vs. Springfield (6) and Bridgeport (4) against Hershey (5). In the AHL setup, Providence will play the lowest seed remaining and Wilkes grabs the other team from the mix. So, if Charlotte wins then they will play WBS. If Springfield pulls the upset in the very short best-of-three against Charlotte, then the Penguins will see the winner of the Bridgeport/Hershey series. After that would come the challenge of facing Providence in the following round, should the top seeds hold through two rounds of playoffs (which always is a dangerous assumption).
The Pens’ AHL season ended on a high note, winning 8-0 and getting the return of Tristan Broz who returned from injury to play for the first time since February 15th. Pittsburgh also sent plenty of reinforcements from the NHL in Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen and Joona Koppanen to boost the AHL squad for their own playoff run. There were a lot of encouraging names getting multiple points in Sergei Murashov’s fourth shutout of the season.
Nine multi-point performances by the #WBSPens this evening:R. McGroarty (2G-1A)T. Broz (1G-2A)A. Calvert (1G-2A)O. Pickering (1G-2A)R. Harvey-Pinard (2G)V. Koivunen (1G-1A)S. Aho (2A)J. Koppanen (2A)A. McDonough (2A)
Some notable end of season AHL stat lines for top prospects include:
Ville Koivunen: 41 points in 34 games (13 goals and 28 assists)
Avery Hayes: 39 points in 42 games (team-high 24 goals and 15 assists)
Finn Harding: 22 points in 54 games (4G+18A, with a team-high +34)
Sergei Murashov: 24-9-4 record, .919 save%, 2.20 GAA and four shutouts
Joel Blomqvist: 16-5-4, .913 save$, 2.40 GAA and one shutout
One player who won’t be involved in the playoff run is veteran Matt Dumba, who was given a contract termination at the end of the NHL regular season after the last paycheck stopped. It was a tough circumstance with some up and down play from Dumba, who still managed to produce 20 points (6G+14A) in 27 games down with Wilkes.
Overall, the Penguins have to be pleased with the strides taken at the AHL level. There was plenty of development and solid performances up and down the board by so many players on the team. WBS will wait to see how their future unfolds for the playoffs next week, until then it’s been a positive and incredibly solid year for coach Kirk MacDonald’s club.