WBS Weekly: Murashov ties a team rookie record

Checking in on the Penguins’ AHL affiliate

It was a critical weekend for the Wilkes-Barre/Scrantion Penguins and they pulled out a 1-1 split with Lehigh Valley after losing the first game. Here’s Nick Hart from WBSPenguins.com:

Friday, Mar. 14 – PENGUINS 1 at Lehigh Valley 3

The Phantoms scored 70 seconds into the game to take an early lead. McGroarty sniped the first shorthanded goal of his career in the second period, but Lehigh Valley gathered a power-play goal and an empty netter to take the win.

Sunday, Mar. 16 – PENGUINS 5 at Lehigh Valley 3

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton closed its 12-game season series with Lehigh Valley by putting on a high-octane special teams display. The Penguins scored twice on the man advantage and tallied a shorty for the second-straight game. Valtteri Puusitnen’s go-ahead goal with 3:36 left in regulation was the difference as the Penguins improved to 8-2-1-1 against the Phantoms this season.

While it’s a disappointment to lose a game at this time of the year, it’s tough to complain too much about going 8-2-1-1 (the latter two categories breaking out OT and SO losses) against a fairly decent opponent over the season. Not going to be able to literally win ‘em all.

The bounce-back win on Sunday marked rookie Sergei Murashov’s ninth straight – enough to match the WBS franchise record for longest winning streak by a rookie goalie. What is even more impressive is that Murashov only has nine AHL decision — he’s won them all!

As mentioned last week, the only reason Murashov is even currently getting AHL playing time is due to an injury to Joel Blomqvist. It’s entirely circumstantial that Murashov is in the AHL right now, but the youngster has made the most of every chance he’s gotten so far at that level. It’s a development that’s been a nice little wrinkle in the season (for everyone but Blomqvist, that is).

To give a sense about which players are in which roles these days, here was the lineup for the Pens in their last game out:

Amateur tryout season has already begun, 2024 draft pick Chase Pietila made his AHL debut. Pietila was named the CCHA’s defensive defenseman of the year following a solid sophomore campaign. The Pens are intrigued to see how the 21-year old can develop, he’s got some great size (6’3”, 195 pounds) and is a rough player to play against. Pietila doesn’t project to be a future impact player in the NHL but his progress is worth keeping an eye on.

As usual in the minor league world, the upcoming weekend will be a busy one. Wilkes hosts Providence on Friday and Hershey on Saturday before heading up to Bridgeport for a road game on Sunday.

Friday night’s game looms as very important. The AHL playoff format is the first two seeds in the division get a bye and 3/6 and 4/5 play in a short three-game series. Wilkes, Providence (and Charlotte) are all neck-and-neck for that important second spot in the standings. And peep those Games Remaining and remember that the AHL only has a 72-game regular season, not the 82 that NHL fans are accustomed to.

After that crucial Friday night game, the rest of the weekend provides one of the biggest swings available in the AHL. Hershey is No. 2 in points% in the league this year and the back-to-back defending champions but on the other hand Bridgeport ranks 32 out of 32 in points in the whole league (and by a country mile too). There’s always the threat of a let down game for the Pens on Sunday based off it being the third game in three days, on the road and an afternoon start against a lesser opponent but that should be one where the team takes care of business.