The Pittsburgh Penguins' power play ranks dead last in the NHL with just a 9.1 percent conversion rate.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' power play isn't any better.
Wilkes-Barre's power play sits last in the AHL with an 8.2 percent success rate, a full two percentage points behind the next team. Through 61 power play opportunities, Wilkes-Barre has scored five goals and allowed four shorthanded goals.
Saturday's game wasn't the worst the Penguins' power play has looked in recent games. They were able to get good offensive zone time and chances on the man advantage throughout the game. But in terms of results, this might have been the power play's worst showing. The power play went 0-for-7 (the last power play lasted just 20 seconds) and allowed what proved to be the game-winner in a 4-0 loss to the Checkers.
The power play hasn't produced a goal in 36 straight opportunities, with the last power play goal coming on Oct. 30, Nathan Legare's overtime winner over Springfield.
"We had chances, but we're having a tough time finding the back of the net there," head coach J.D. Forrest told me after Saturday's game. "We'll find a way to break through. Hopefully we can come up with a process this week that helps us find that that answer or at least the next effort that puts us over the top."
With four shorthanded goals in 13 games, the Penguins are allowing a shorthanded goal nearly every three games, a concerning trend. They lead the league in goals allowed on the power play.
The shorthanded goal allowed Saturday was the first goal in a natural hat trick by Cole Schwindt. All four forwards were deep in the Checkers' zone, and Checkers goaltender Chris Gibson sprung Schwindt and another Checker on a 2-on-0.
"The one tonight, it was bizarre," Forrest said. "We were just trying to find a stick and we have four guys below their goal. ... I think everyone wants to do the right thing. They want to go get the puck, but you got to play defense as well, even on a power play, you just have to be in the right position. There just wasn't a whole lot of support there. Everyone's aware of it. It's almost one of those things where now it's like, a golfer shanking the ball or something. That's what it sort of feels like. We're just trying to get the shanks out, and hopefully we can turn it around here."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Wilkes-Barre is now 6-6-0-1, tied with Charlotte for fifth in the eight-team Atlantic Division in terms of points percentage.
• Goaltender FIlip Lindberg was injured in Friday's game, and Tommy Nappier finished that game in net. With Lindberg still unavailable tonight and Louis Domingue in Ottawa with the parent club, Nappier got the start again in net. Forrest said that as of Saturday they don't have an update on Lindberg yet, and that he would be evaluated further on Monday.
"It's not quite a day-to-day situation, but we still have to figure out exactly what it is he's dealing with," Forrest said. "We know it's lower-body, we just don't know the severity and the precise location of the area it is. We'll figure that out with some appointments on Monday."
• Forrest also said that Anthony Angello, who has been out since the start of the season with a lower-body injury, is "progressing well."
"At the beginning, it was kind of day-by-day, but it changed to week-by-week. He's getting closer and closer."
• Alex D'Orio was recalled from Wheeling to Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day to back up Nappier, but ran into some travel issues along the way and just barely made it to the bench for the start of the game. They had an emergency backup goaltender on hand, and he actually took warmups with the team because D'Orio wasn't ready yet. In recent years, former Penguins goaltender Sebastien Caron served as the emergency backup, since he still lives in the area. The emergency backup on Saturday before D'Orio arrived was 36-year-old Brody Micolucci, who is a former goaltender for Mercyhurt's club hockey team and is currently the goaltending coach for Division III King's College.
• Nappier fared well in his second appearance in as many nights, making 27 saves on 30 shots. He had to make 26 of those saves in the first two periods alone.
"He was excellent once again," Forrest said. "We gave up 2-on-1s, 2-on-0s, just really high-end opportunities there that he was able to stop. Even the shorthand one, we kind of slid into him, and he had it, and it slid in. So you can't say enough about the goaltending we've had, we're just not doing enough in front to support that and match the level that the goalies are giving."
• The second goal was a weird goal, too. The AHL's rule for when a player's helmet falls off is the same as in the NHL, the player has to either immediately put it back on or get off the ice. Charlotte's Luke Henman lost his helmet and started to head back to the bench. Schwindt came off the bench before Henman was off the ice and scored:
"They had two guys on the ice waiting there," Forrest said. "The ref said he just didn't think it had anything to do with the play. In my eyes, it gave the guy a head start. But he saw it differently. So there's not really a whole lot I can say about it. They made the call. It's a snap decision. The ref made the call he thought was right one."
• Schwindt completed the natural hat trick later in the third period. Matt Kiersted scored an empty-net goal for Charlotte.
• The penalty kill went 2-for-2
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza:
1. Cole Schwindt, Checkers
2. Christopher Gibson, Checkers
3. Carsen Twarynski, Penguins
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Forward Anthony Angello is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and has been since the start of the season.
• Goaltender Filip Lindberg is being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest's lines and pairings:
Felix Robert - Radim Zohorna - Valtteri Puustinen
Sam Poulin - Michael Chaput - Kasper Bjorkqvist
Filip Hallander - Jordy Bellerive - Nathan Legare
Sam Houde - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson
Matt Bartkowski - Taylor Fedun
Chris Bigras - Dylan MacPherson
Cam Lee - Mitch Reinke
And for Geordie Kinnear's Checkers:
Aleksi Heponiemi - Kole Lind - Grigori Denisenko
Max McCormick - Alex True - Logan Hutsko
Scott Wilson - Luke Henman - Serron Noel
Henry Bowlby - Cole Schwindt - Carsen Twarynski
Gustav Olofsson - Cale Fleury
Matt Kiersted - Connor Carrick
Olli Juolevi - Chase Priske
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will be on the road for the next two weeks. They'll play the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday and the Providence Bruins next Saturday, followed by two games in Charlotte on Tuesday and Wednesday.
THE CONTENT
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