The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are legit. One of the their best regular season starts in franchise history rolled on this past weekend as Pens grabbed a weekend sweep against the Charlotte Checkers in the Queen City.
Improving their record to 7–0-0-0 in the early part of the season, the Penguins now lead the AHL in goals for, goals against, and
The winning streak has shown the rest of the American Hockey League (AHL) that the Penguins are the team to beat early on.
After scoring twice in the opening-night win over Hartford, the Penguins are now on a six game streak of scoring three or more times.
The high-flying offense of the 2024-25 season has only gotten better, especially with the introduction of experienced veterans to the lineup, specifically Danton Heinen.
After being placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins and subsequently reassigned to WBS, the 30-year-old forward leads all AHL players in points with 12, scoring goals in four straight games now.
Ville Koivunen, who led all AHL rookies in points a year ago is second in the league, with his most recent goal being the 3-2 overtime winner to complete the sweep in Charlotte.
The “young guns,” Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, Atley Calvert and more only continue to become stronger every game.
Mainstays in the team for the past few seasons, Sam Poulin and Valterri Puustinen continue to be key contributors.
Since he made his debut in the 2021-22 season, no one in Penguins history has scored more goals, assists or total points than Puustinen. The second best in those categories in the same time span?: Poulin.
However, offense hasn’t been the only name of the game. With AHL and NHL vets joining a group of young defensemen, they’ve combined for some fantastic work in front of the net.
On the defensive side, the team has only conceded eight times, with only three of those goals coming in even strength situations.
Ryan Graves, in the same situation as Heinen has been a leader in the young Penguins defensive core, featuring the likes of AHL vets Alex Alexeyev and Sebastien Aho, as well as some defensive “young guns” in the form of Owen Pickering, Chase Pietila and Finn Harding.
Between the pipes, goaltender Sergei Murashov is continuing his historic run of form from last year as he grabbed his first shutout and fifth win on the road trip in Charlotte on Oct. 24.
The 21-year-old leads the league in wins, has a 5-0 record, a goals against average (GAA) of 1.40 and a save percentage (SV%) of .949. Murashov’s GAA is fourth-best in the AHL.
His backup, Filip Larsson has appeared in two games now, winning both with some spectacular saves. Larsson sits with the fifth-best GAA in the league with 1.46. He also has a .951 SV%.
With Joel Blomqvist potentially returning in a few weeks time after suffering an injury in Pittsburgh’s training camp, the goaltending depth in the entire organization will only continue to become stronger.
A combination of NHL and AHL vets alongside a fast-paced group of young guys has culminated into a dream team for head coach Kirk MacDonald here in the early stretch of the campaign.
There are still 65 games left in the season, but if the team continues to play their cards right, it’s going to be a memorable season for all.
The Penguins come back to NEPA on Oct. 29 and 31, when they take on the Providence Bruins and Bridgeport Islanders. Both games are slated for 7:05 p.m. from Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Update: The Penguins fell to Providence, 3-1 on Oct. 29.
For more information regarding the Penguins, visit www.thewilkesbeacon.com or www.wbspenguins.com. League-wide scores and statistics are available at www.theahl.com.
