Tough times on the injury horizon in Wilkes-Barre
The Wilkes-Barre Penguins are coming off a 1-2-0 week that saw all their games decided by four or more goals. From Nick Hart at WBSPenguins.com:
Wednesday, Dec. 4 – PENGUINS 1 vs. Hershey 6
The Bears enacted revenge on the Penguins for their triumph at Giant Center on Nov. 30 by coming to NEPA and running up the score. Boris Katchouk notched Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s only goal, tying him for the team lead with seven on the year.
Saturday, Dec. 7 – PENGUINS 6 at Hartford 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s special teams led the way with three power-play goals and a pair of shorthanded goals. Vasily Ponomarev scored the first hat trick of his career, part of his first four-point game. Valtteri Puustinen also tallied two of his team’s man-advantage markers, while Filip Král also earned two power-play assists.
Sunday, Dec. 8 – PENGUINS 0 at Providence 5
Shut-out for the second time this season, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lost its first meeting with Providence. The P-Bruins scored once in the first period, but tallied three goals in the second period to pull away. Brandon Bussi made 21 saves to blank the Pens.
The injury situation is becoming a pressing matter. This week alone Wilkes saw Jack St. Ivany, Emil Bemstrom and Raivis Ansons all pick up undisclosed upper body injuries. The latter two are considered day-to-day but St. Ivany is out a on week-to-week basis. Key defenseman Mac Hollowell was also banged up enough to miss a game.
The blueline is particularly thin now with St. Ivany, Hollowell, Sebastian Aho and Scooter Brickley all on the shelf. That’s opened up a bigger than expected role for Nikolai Knyzhov. What a career journey for him, after spending a good bit of time with NHL San Jose, Knyzhov had a brief pro tryout in Pittsburgh that went no where fast. He played for ECHL Cincinnati at the start of the year before the AHL Penguins brought him back on an AHL contract. A couple injuries later and Knyzhov is suddenly a key piece for Wilkes.
"We're all fighting our own demons in our head & like, it's not an easy situation mentally. But I think I'm learning a lot here going through this."
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) December 8, 2024
Nikolai Knyzhov began last season in the NHL. He began this season in the ECHL after going unsigned. https://t.co/xCtjhHZbul
Here’s a recent lineup card for the AHL Pens to give a sense of how they are looking lately.
Tonight’s lineup ⬇️
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 8, 2024
Catch the action on AHLTV on FloHockey: https://t.co/CrNDVVI2ER pic.twitter.com/AGVITOFgwN
Some various news and notes about figures that NHL fans seem to care about:
It will be a busy upcoming week for WBS, three home games are on the docket (tonight and Friday both against Charlotte, on Saturday they’ll see Springfield come to town). That Saturday game, 6pm start, is available for free on streaming if you’re so inclined to want to fire up the hockey a little early before the NHL Pens get started.
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