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Wednesday, January 19: Lehigh Valley 3 @ WBS 1
Tonight’s lineup vs Lehigh Valley brought to you by @MotorWorldMO! pic.twitter.com/akDxE1liGO
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 19, 2022
Fresh off their first victory of the season over the Hershey Bears, the WBS Penguins opened their week with a midweek contest against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their seventh game out of 12 this season against their rivals from Allentown. The first 40 minutes produced nothing in the way of goals, with Lehigh Valley’s Felix Sandstrom fending off 18 WBS shots and the Penguins’ Alex D’Orio saving 17 Phantoms shots.
In the third period, the much-maligned WBS special teams let them down, as Wade Allison and Linus Sandin scored power play goals at 3:57 and 10:41 of the third period. Jordy Bellerive scored his fifth goal of the season to keep the Penguins close, but they could not recover Sandin’s goal. Maksim Sushko scored into an empty net with 39 seconds to go to give the Phantoms the victory.
Sandstrom finished with 28 saves on 29 shots for the victory, his first for Lehigh Valley since November 10. D’Orio finished with 21 saves on 23 shots in the losing effort. The WBS power play was held scoreless in four attempts, while their penalty kill conceded two power play goals in only three chances to provide the difference in the game.
The @LVPhantoms posted a pair of power play goals in the third period, then tacked on an empty net tally to pull out the 3-1 win over the #WBSPens on Wednesday night.
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 20, 2022
Postgame Highlights presented by the @PALottery pic.twitter.com/z3138MsmJp
Friday, January 21: Toronto 1 @ WBS 5
Tonight’s lineup vs Toronto! @MotorWorldMO pic.twitter.com/MGfEBH6EQE
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 21, 2022
The Penguins then welcomed the Toronto Marlies to town for their only visit of the season. Toronto entered this game 7-3 in their last 10 games, having just lost a 6-game winning streak Wednesday night in Hartford by a score of 5-2.
Alex Nylander set the tone for the Marlies’ visit just 30 seconds into the game with his 11th goal of the season and third for WBS.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO: Alex Nylander opens the scoring 30 seconds into the game. pic.twitter.com/nPhOL2E8vi
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
The game stayed 1-0 until late into the 2nd period, when WBS broke open the floodgates. The Penguins’ leading scorer Valtteri Puustinen scored his 12th of the season with a rare power play goal.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO - Puustinen puts it in. 2-0 pic.twitter.com/WcJ54Ir1A0
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
Fellow rookie Filip Hållander rejoined the scoresheet with his fourth goal of the year and first since November 23.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO - Holler for Hallander. pic.twitter.com/b4q1qic0EC
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
Toronto’s Antti Suomela broke Alex D’Orio’s shutout bid with just 10 seconds left in the second period, but that’s all the Marlies would be able to muster on this night. Kasper Bjorkqvist, returning to WBS after his recent stint in Pittsburgh, scored his third goal of the season for WBS to restore the 3-goal lead.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO - @KaspBjork on the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/COjuDippzm
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
Then, Nylander scored his second goal of the night to provide the final margin of victory, 5-1. It was easily WBS’s strongest performance of the season since their 6-0 victory over a depleted Springfield team on December 12.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO - Nylander with his second of the game. pic.twitter.com/99zGEsqPxw
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
D’Orio finished with 21 saves on 22 shots for his first victory of the season for WBS in seven games. Erik Källgren took the loss in net for Toronto, stopping 25 of 30 WBS shots. The WBS power play showed vast improvement, scoring on 2/4 opportunities; the penalty kill, although it gave up one goal in five opportunities, excelled by dispatching 1:56 of Toronto two-player advantage in the first period.
POSTGAME HIGHLIGHTS: Alex Nylander netted a pair of goals, while Valtteri Puustinen notched his team-leading 12th of the season to lead the #WBSPens to a 5-1 victory over the @TorontoMarlies on Friday night.
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
Postgame Highlights courtesy of @PALottery pic.twitter.com/T0OUnMI0Xq
Saturday, January 22: Toronto 2 @ WBS 3 (OT)
Here is tonight’s lineup! @MotorWorldMO pic.twitter.com/tgyZSKFAoJ
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 22, 2022
Toronto was much more prepared for the return game on Saturday night, WBS’s annual “Pink in the Rink” game. Jack Kopacka and Mikhail Abramov struck early to give the Marlies to a 2-0 advantage after 20 minutes.
Toronto held that lead through the second period, but WBS’s most prolific scorers were able to turn the game around in the third period. First, Puustinen scored his 13th goal of the season at 3:03 of the third to temporarily take the team lead in goals.
#WBSPENS GOAL VIDEO - Valtteri Puustinen with lucky 13 to make it a 2-1 game pic.twitter.com/JDJgywpiPE
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 23, 2022
Fortunately for WBS, “temporarily” only lasted about 16 game minutes. With starting goaltender D’Orio pulled for an extra attacker, Nylander scored his 13th of the season and fifth for WBS with just 47 seconds to go to tie the game at 2 and send the game to overtime.
In overtime, with Toronto’s Brett Seney in the penalty box for holding, Nylander closed out the week in style.
NYLANDER WITH THE OT WIN GOAL! pic.twitter.com/Wu68xbqMqr
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 23, 2022
Nylander’s sixth goal for WBS in just nine games clinched a 3-2 victory for the Penguins, who were able to jump out of last place in the Atlantic Division for at least a day with the win. WBS were pegged back to last place at week’s end by a Bridgeport 4-3 overtime win over Springfield on Sunday.
D’Orio finished with 22 saves on 24 shots for his second win in as many days, while Toronto’s Michael Hutchinson finished with 31 saves on 34 shots, many of them strong saves, in a hard-luck losing effort. The power play winner in overtime was WBS’s only power play goal of the game in two chances, while the penalty kill dispatched both Toronto advantages.
Alex Nylander tied the game with under a minute left in regulation, then posted the overtime winner as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins posted a thrilling 3-2 come from behind victory over the Toronto Marlies on Saturday night.
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 23, 2022
Postgame Highlights courtesy of @PALottery pic.twitter.com/IDWsSgSIXP
Atlantic Division standings, through the games of January 23:
- Providence Bruins: 31 games played, 17-10-3-1, .613 points percentage
- Hartford Wolf Pack: 34 games played, 18-11-3-2, .603
- Springfield Thunderbirds: 36 games played, 19-12-4-1, .597
- Hershey Bears: 36 games played, 19-12-3-2, .597
- Charlotte Checkers: 36 games played, 19-15-2-0, .556
- Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 33 games played, 12-13-6-2, .485
- Bridgeport Islanders: 40 games played, 15-18-3-4, .463
- WBS Penguins: 33 games played, 13-16-1-3, .455
Statistics, powered by HockeyDB:
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Note that the above stats list does not include Nylander’s numbers with Rockford before joining WBS. His eight goals for the IceHogs, combined with his six for WBS in just nine games, gives him 14 on the season, tied for ninth in the AHL. Also of note is Puustinen’s 13 goals, tying him for 14th in the AHL in goals.
WBS’s three power play goals against Toronto elevated their conversion percentage on the season to 11.7%, still last in the AHL. The penalty kill finished the week with a kill percentage of 77.1%, 27th in the AHL.
There’s no rest on the horizon for the Penguins anytime soon, though. On account of COVID-related rescheduling, WBS will have four games this week. First off is the first of two rescheduled home games against the Cleveland Monsters tonight, January 24, start time 7:05 pm EST. Then, tomorrow night, January 25, the Penguins hit the road to visit the Hershey Bears for their fifth game in 7 days, start time 7:00 pm EST.
WBS then makes their only visit of the season to Cleveland for their two road games against the Monsters Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29, both starting at 7:00 pm EST.
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