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WBS Penguins Weekly Report - 1/27

Kyle Dreibelbies | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Jan 27, 09:24 PM | Hype this story!

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head into the All-Star break tied for second place in their division. This was thanks to two wins in the last three games, all on the road. There have been more player transactions for these baby Penguins also.

TRANSACTIONS:

Fs Ryan Stone, Tim Brent, and Chris Minard were returned to Wilkes-Barre after their short stay in the NHL. From the AHL team’s standpoint, that is great news, although players like Chris Blight and Ned Havern may be headed out of town since the reinforcements have returned.

D Alain Nasreddine and C Nathan Smith are headed to Pittsburgh after the all-star break. Nasreddine will most likely be the 7th defenseman and will see time as a penalty killer. This is one weakness that the NHL Penguins have had since Mark Eaton went down.

INJURIES:

Other than RW Dennis Bonvie, everyone seems healthy at the moment. Bonvie is day-to-day with back spasms. This was a concern last week because of the depleted roster, but now will not be much of a problem.

GAMES:

Last Wednesday saw the WBS Penguins beat the Lowell Devils 3-2 in front of a lot of empty seats in Lowell, Mass. The Penguins won on the strength of goals by their hottest scorer C Kurtis McLean and unlikely scorers LW Joe Jensen and D Mark Ardelan.

The Penguins were scheduled to play against a very tough Portland Pirates. WBS welcomed back their three forwards, but lost 2-1 on the strength of Portland LW Drew Miller’s two goals. C Nathan Smith scored the only WBS goal.

The close of the first half of the season came in Manchester on Sunday. WBS posted a 2-0 lead on goals from McLean and Smith. Minard had the eventual game-winner.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Wilkes-Barre returns home for two home games this weekend, a Friday tilt against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and a Saturday matinee against the Norfolk Admirals.