Faceoff Factor

WBS Penguins Weekly Report - 11/28

Kyle Dreibelbies | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Nov 28, 04:44 PM | Hype this story!

Over the past week, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins went through a four games in five days stretch. Over these four games, the Penguins went 2-2. This included a 6-0 win over Worcester, a 3-1 loss to Binghamton, a 4-3 overtime win against those same Senators, and a 3-2 loss to the Hershey Bears.

Which players were hot over this stretch?
Who didn’t handle the games as well?

HOT:

W Connor James – 3 goals, 3 assists, +2
One of the hardest working players on the Penguins’ roster, despite being the smallest, James has been rewarded for his effort over those four games. Usually a low-scoring forward who specializes in defense and penalty-killing, he was able to score two goals in the second game against the Senators and played his role well throughout the weekend.

C Tim Brent – 1 goal, 6 assists, +1
Brent is one of the players who is relied on more since the callup of F Tyler Kennedy by Pittsburgh. For the most part, he has been somewhat inconsistent. However, this weekend, he was able to put up some points, including displaying some fine playmaking abilities while assisting on all four of the WBS goals in the second Binghamton game.

D Alex Goligoski – 2 assists, +4
Goligoski is a heralded rookie defensive prospect, but was able to hide in the shadows while D Kris Letang was in Wilkes-Barre. Now that Letang is gone, Goligoski is playing an expanded role, especially on the power play. The +4 rating shows that he’s playing a fairly decent defensive game at even strength also.

COLD:

RW Tim Wallace – 2 games played, 2 shots on goal, -1
Usually one of the energy players for the Penguins, Wallace was only able to play in two of the four games over the weekend. In those two games, he only registered two shots. Other than a few good hits, Wallace was invisible.

C Ned Havern – 0 points, -2
Havern was a recent callup from Wheeling. After a few games here in WBS, he has looked lost at this level. It may be time to send him back down and bring up someone who has a better chance at keeping up (Boogaard?).

D Ben Lovejoy – 0 points, 8 PIM
At some times, having 8 penalty minutes in two games is a good thing, especially when those calls are for things like roughing or were taken when protecting a teammate. This was not one of those times. The rookie defenseman has shown himself to be penalty-prone, especially to the lazy penalties (hooking, holding, tripping). He is a little overwhelmed at the moment, but the only available replacement on the WBS roster is another rookie defenseman who also makes his share of rookie mistakes, Jonathan D’Aversa.