Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Springfield Thunderbirds Saturday, October 6, 2018 2017-18 Season Statistics 2017-18 Season Statistics W-B/Scranton Penguins nd Springfield Thunderbirds th 45-22-6-3 (99 pts, 2 Atlantic) 32-37-5-2 (71 pts, 7 Atlantic) Team Game: 1 26-10-1-1 (Home) PP: 13.8% Team Game: 1 19-15-3-1 (Home) PP: 14.2% Home Game: 1 19-12-5-2 (Away) PK: 82.0% Away Game: 1 13-22-2-1 (Away) PK: 84.1% 2017-18 AHL Season Statistics 2017-18 AHL Season Statistics # Goalie GP W L OTL GAA SV% SO # Goalie GP W L OTL GAA SV% SO 31 G Anthony Peters 24 12 7 3 2.71 .907 1 33 G Samuel Montembeault 41 13 23 3 3.25 .896 2 35 G Tristan Jarry 16 9 5 2 3.05 .901 0 39 G Michael Hutchinson 26 17 5 4 2.08 .935 2 40 G John Muse 15 11 2 1 2.46 .919 1 60 G Chris Driedger 10 2 5 0 4.04 .885 0 # Pos . Player GP G A P PIM +/- # Pos . Player GP G A P PIM +/- 2 D Jeff Taylor 14 0 1 1 8 -1 4 D Mike Downing 27 1 4 5 22 -2 3 D Tim Erixon 52 2 21 23 44 +3 5 C Henrik Borgström 0 0 0 0 0 E 4 D Zach Trotman 49 7 10 17 25 +24 7 C Blaine Byron 39 6 7 13 10 -7 5 D Kevin Spinozzi 16 0 2 2 8 +3 8 RW Jayce Hawryluk 64 10 26 36 82 -13 6 D Ethan Prow 40 4 13 17 16 +2 9 LW Harry Zolnierczyk 73 21 21 42 62 -12 7 D Kevin Czuczman 71 4 31 35 48 +15 12 D Ian McCoshen 2 0 1 1 2 E 8 D Will O’Neill 59 6 13 19 14 +7 14 LW Joel Lowry 12 3 2 5 11 E 10 LW Troy Josephs 4 0 0 0 0 +1 15 RW Paul Thompson 76 24 14 38 108 +1 11 RW Jimmy Hayes 3 0 2 2 0 E 17 D Ludwig Byström 6 1 0 1 4 -1 12 RW Zach Aston-Reese 41 9 20 29 49 +21 19 C Jake Horton 9 0 0 0 6 -2 13 RW Patrick McGrath 19 2 0 2 95 -3 21 C Jonathan Ang 0 0 0 0 0 E 16 C Thomas Di Pauli 58 12 8 20 38 -1 25 RW Anthony Greco 75 29 19 48 26 -13 17 RW Anthony Angello 2 0 0 0 0 E 26 LW Bobby Farnham 69 11 10 21 123 -22 18 RW Sam Lafferty 9 1 2 3 4 E 27 D Thomas Schemitsch 69 10 9 19 40 +3 19 LW Garrett Wilson 69 17 25 42 139 +11 29 LW Dryden Hunt 58 23 23 46 37 +4 20 C Jarrett Burton 52 9 10 19 25 +6 37 LW Tony Turgeon 22 1 1 2 39 +3 21 D Stefan Elliott 0 0 0 0 0 E 40 LW Henrik Haapala 20 3 5 8 4 -3 22 C Joseph Cramarossa 65 9 13 22 66 -11 41 C Juho Lammikko 59 8 20 28 16 -11 23 C Teddy Blueger 70 21 24 45 43 +16 44 D Julian Melchiori 49 4 10 14 15 +14 24 LW Ryan Horvat 57 4 17 21 51 -9 57 D Matt Mangene 63 7 19 26 44 -5 25 RW Tobias Lindberg 64 10 13 23 30 +8 61 D Riley Stillman 0 0 0 0 0 E 28 D Dane Birks 1 0 0 0 0 +1 91 RW Patrick Bajkov 0 0 0 0 0 E 36 C Linus Ölund 0 0 0 0 0 E 92 RW Sebastian Repo 0 0 0 0 0 E 37 LW Sam Miletic 0 0 0 0 0 E 39 RW Ryan Haggerty 47 16 21 37 22 +20 42 D Matt Abt 0 0 0 0 0 E 44 C Cam Brown 14 1 1 2 4 -1 47 LW Adam Johnson 70 11 20 31 16 +5 55 D Chris Summers 64 1 10 11 51 +5 General Manager Bill Guerin General Manager Eric Joyce Head Coach Clark Donatelli Head Coach Geordie Kinnear Assistant Coach J.D. Forrest Assistant Coach Doug Janik Assistant Coach Jarrod Skalde Goalie Coach Leo Luongo Athletic Trainer Seamus McKelvey Athletic Trainer Alex Ambrose Equipment Manager Jared Mycyk Assistant Athletic Trainer Tyler Stratton Assistant Equipment Manager Anthony Ciambriello Equipment Manager Ralph Calvanese Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Joyce Equipment Manager Dan Hughes Video Coach Madison Nikkel Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Donoghue Broadcaster Nick Hart Broadcaster Ryan Smith NHL Affiliate Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Affiliate Florida Panthers ECHL Affiliate Wheeling Nailers ECHL Affiliate n/a Today’s Officials Referees Conor O’Donnell (41), Mike Sheehan (74) Linesmen Ryan Knapp (73), J.P. Waleski (14) Today’s Schedule RFD vs. CLE, 1:00 p.m. SYR vs. HER, 7:00 p.m. BEL vs. UTI, 7:00 p.m. TOR vs. BNG, 7:05 p.m. BRI vs. LV, 7:05 p.m. LAV vs. PRO, 7:05 p.m. CHA vs. ROC, 7:05 p.m. GR vs. SA, 8:00 p.m. MIL vs. TEX, 8:00 p.m. ONT vs. STK, 9:00 p.m. CHI vs. COL, 9:05 p.m. SJ vs. BAK, 10:00 p.m. SD vs. BAK, 10:05 p.m. Penguins vs. Thunderbirds Game Notes The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins kick off their 20th season celebration with an Atlantic Division showdown against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (45-22-6-3) has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs for 16-straight seasons, and an unexpected early exit from the postseason last spring has motivated the team to do damage this year, as well. Springfield (32-37-5-2) did not make it to the Calder Cup Playoffs last year, but by adding veteran free agents to support a new crop of promising prospects, the Thunderbirds look to take the city of Springfield back to the postseason for the first time since 2014. The Penguins finished second in the Atlantic Division last season, while the T-Birds placed seventh in the Atlantic. LAST GAMES… Penguins Thunderbirds Thursday, Apr. 26 – Game 3, Atlantic Division Semifinal Sunday, Apr. 15 WBS 3 vs. Charlotte 7 Springfield 2 at Providence 4 Goals: Johnson, Angello (2) Goals: Hunt (2) Goalie: Jarry (25 saves / 30 shots) Goalie: Sateri (31 saves / 34 shots) PP: 0/1 PK: 6/6 Shots: WBS 29 – Charlotte 32 PP: 0/3 PK: 2/2 Shots: Springfield 29 – Providence 35 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came out swinging in the first period but were quickly smothered by the Charlotte Checkers’ offense in a 7-3 loss in Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinal at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Charlotte’s win completed the first round sweep. The Penguins tallied the game’s first two goals, as Anthony Angello and Adam Johnson found the back of the net. The Checkers responded swiftly with five-straight goals, putting the Penguins on the brink of elimination. Angello scored his second of the game at 13:31 of the third period, giving the Penguins a sliver of hope. However, hopes of a late comeback were dashed when Andrew Poturalski and Janne Kuokkanen added two empty netters to win the series and advance to face the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Springfield Thunderbirds were narrowly defeated by the Providence Bruins, 4-2, in their final game of the 2017-18 regular season at Dunkin Donuts Center. Providence’s Zach Senyshyn scored the first goal of the matchup late in the first period, but Springfield’s Dryden Hunt tipped one in at 1:26 of the middle frame to tie things up, 1-1. The Bruins answered back 17 seconds later when Ryan Fitzgerald backhanded the puck past goaltender Harri Säteri for a 2-1 lead. The T-Birds received another goal from Dryden Hunt at 12:58 of the second, tying the game once again. Providence capitalized early in the third period as ATO rookie Trent Fredric snapped a quick wrister over the Säteri’s glove, establishing a 3-2 lead. Despite Springfield’s efforts to equalize, a late empty netter by Providence put the icing on the cake. TONIGHT’S GAME… The Penguins and Thunderbirds face-off for the first of six season meetings. Last year, the Penguins had a perfect 4-0-0-0 record against the T-Birds last season. In all four of those head-to-heads last season, the Penguins scored first. Furthermore, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton carried a lead into the third period in all four of those victories. The Penguins had one of the league’s best records last season when leading after two periods (29-1-1-0), whereas Springfield only mustered one comeback win when trailing after two (1-28-4-0). Both Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Daniel Sprong and Springfield’s Dryden Hunt led the season series with total points each, but Sprong is currently with the Penguins’ NHL affiliate in Pittsburgh while Hunt is expected to dress for tonight’s matchup. Special teams was an issue for both teams last season, as the T-Birds and Penguins both finished 28th (14.2%) and 29th (13.8%) in the league, respectively, on the power play.