CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Alex Nylander certainly made the most of his AHL All-Star Classic experience.
Nylander, 24, was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's only representative in the event, replacing injured defenseman Xavier Ouellet last week. The Laval Rocket played host, with the skills competition between the two conferences taking place on Sunday and a three-on-three round robin tournament between the four divisions taking place on Sunday.
The Eastern Conference won the skills competition by a score of 16-10. Nylander participated in three events -- the Puck Control Relay, Pass and Score, and the Breakaway Relay.
Nylander went head-to-head with Bakersfield's Seth Griffith in the Puck Control Relay and lost, coming just shy in the race:
The Pass and Score event was a 3-on-0 breakaway challenge, with each goal scored counting toward a goal in the final standings. The East won the event 5-2, with Nylander contributing a goal himself:
The Breakaway Relay functioned similar to a shootout, with each goal scored counting as one in the standings. Nylander was part of a group of players shooting on Iowa's Jesper Wallstedt, who stopped Nylander and four of the other six shooters in the round.
Nylander and the Atlantic Division faced the Central Division in the first game of the round robin tournament on Monday. Nylander recorded an assist in regulation, and then the lone goal in the shootout to secure a 4-3 win:
The Atlantic Division lost 6-2 to the Pacific Division in its next game, with Nylander again recording one assist.
Nylander was again the hero in the Atlantic Division's third game against the North Division. He scored a goal in regulation to put his team up 3-2:
The North Division forced overtime and the game again went into a shootout. Each team's second shooter scored, and that was it until Nylander came out to shoot in the 11th round. He scored the goal that eliminated the home team and secured a spot in the finals:
The Atlantic Division fell to the Pacific Division in the final game, 1-0.
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Here's how the Penguins' other NHL-contracted players in the minors or draft picks elsewhere did this week:
FORWARDS
Corey Andonovski
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-1/194
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 39 games, 8 goals, 7 assists, 52 PIM
Andonovski scored a goal and an assist in three games. His goal was a redirect:
Raivis Ansons
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-1/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, fifth round
Age: 20
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 32 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, 23 PIM
Ansons was scoreless in three games.
Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-0/178
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, second round
Age: 20
Team: Denver (NCAA)
Season totals: 28 games, 9 goals, 12 assists, 12 PIM
Broz had an assist in one game.
Drake Caggiula
Position: Center/wing
Size: 5-10/176
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 28
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 39 games, 9 goals, 23 assists, 27 PIM
Caggiula had two assists in three games this week.
Judd Caulfield
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-4/212
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Age: 21
Team: North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 27 games, 8 goals, 7 assists, 10 PIM
North Dakota didn't play this week.
Luke Devlin
Position: Center
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)
Season totals: 36 games, 7 goals, 17 assists, 11 PIM
Devlin was scoreless in two games centering the Warriors' top line.
Jordan Frasca
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-2/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 3 games, 14 PIM (AHL), 16 games, 2 assists (ECHL)
Frasca was scoreless in two games this week for Wheeling. He's still playing left wing as of late as opposed to center.
Ty Glover
Position: Center/ left wing
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 28 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, 7 PIM
Glover was scoreless in two games.
Jonathan Gruden
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-0/172
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 35 games, 12 goals, 5 assists, 34 PIM (AHL), 3 games (NHL)
Gruden had one goal in three games this week:
Filip Hallander
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, second round
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 28 games, 8 goals, 17 assists, 12 PIM (AHL), 2 games (NHL)
Hallander returned to Wilkes-Barre's lineup this week and was scoreless in his first two games back. I wrote about him and his recovery from his injury after his return game.
Nathan Legare
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-0/205
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2019, third round
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 43 games, 5 goals, 6 assists, 25 PIM
Legare recorded two assists in three games.
Alex Nylander
Position: Wing
Size: 6-1/192
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 24
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 43 games, 19 goals, 19 assists, 8 PIM
Nylander had two goals and two assists in three games.
Zam Plante
Position: Center
Size: 5-9/161
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, fifth round
Age: 18
Team: Chicago Steel (USHL)
Season totals: 26 games, 4 goals, 13 assists, 2 PIM
Plante had a goal and two assists in two games centering Chicago's second line.
This assist was pretty good, too:
Sam Poulin
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-2/214
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2019, first round
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 13 games, 4 goals, 6 PIM (AHL), 3 games, 1 assist, 2 PIM (NHL)
Poulin remains away from the team on personal leave after leaving on Dec. 7.
He wrote this message on Instagram last Wednesday evening: "Not being OK is more than OK. Opening yourself up about what's going on might be one of the hardest things to do, but ultimately, one of the best things you can do for yourself. Let’s normalize this stigma & spread more love to the people around us, because there's more people than we think who struggle mentally every single day. If you are struggling, know you are not alone."
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/183
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 44 games, 16 goals, 18 assists, 20 PIM
Puustinen was scoreless in three games.
Lukas Svejkovsky
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/170
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2020, fourth round
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 28 games, 2 goals, 7 assists, 6 PIM
Svejkovsky returned from the lower-body injury he sustained on Jan. 20. He recorded one assist in two games.
Kirill Tankov
Position: Center
Size: 6-1/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 20
Team: SKA-Neva (VHL)
Season totals: 1 game
Tankov suffered a season-ending neck injury in the opening game of the season and required surgery to repair a fractured vertebrae. He is expected to be able to play next season and is no longer wearing a neck brace.
Chase Yoder
Position: Center
Size: 5-10/176
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, sixth round
Age: 20
Team: Providence (NCAA)
Season totals: 29 games, 5 goals, 6 assists, 12 PIM
Yoder was scoreless in his two games this week centering Providence's third line.
DEFENSEMEN
Santeri Airola
Size: 5-11, 163
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Age: 22
Team: Ilves (Liiga), KOOVEE (Mestis)
Season totals: 5 games, 2 PIM (Liiga), 27 games, 8 goals, 12 assists, 22 PIM (Mestis)
Airola recorded two assists in his one game this week in the Finnish second league.
Isaac Belliveau
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Age: 19
Team: Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season totals: 36 games, 6 goals, 27 assists, 18 PIM
Belliveau was scoreless in two games this week on the second defense pairing.
Nolan Collins
Size: 6-3/194
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Season totals: 42 games, 5 goals, 9 assists, 39 PIM
Collins had one assist in three games this week on Sudbury's top defense pairing. It was on an empty-net goal after he had a big blocked shot:
Taylor Fedun
Size: 6-1/201
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 34
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 37 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 14 PIM
Fedun scored one goal in three games this week. It was his first goal of the season:
Daniel Laatsch
Size: 6-5/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 20
Team: Wisconsin (NCAA)
Season totals: 28 games, 5 assists, 4 PIM
Laatsch was scoreless in two games on Wisconsin's second pairing.
Josh Maniscalco
Size: 6-2/205
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 8 games, 1 assist, 5 PIM (AHL), 31 games, 8 goals, 20 assists, 42 PIM (ECHL)
Maniscalco was a healthy scratch in Wilkes-Barre this week.
Ryan McCleary
Size: 6-2/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 19
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 46 games, 11 goals, 14 assists, 29 PIM
McCleary was scoreless in three games on Portland's top pairing.
Xavier Ouellet
Size: 6-0/196
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 29
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 29 games, 2 goals, 15 assists, 21 PIM
Ouellet is week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered on Dec. 31.
Owen Pickering
Size: 6-4/180
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, first round
Age: 19
Team: Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Season totals: 40 games, 6 goals, 24 assists, 12 PIM
Pickering had three assists in three games on Swift Current's top pairing.
Ty Smith
Size: 5-11/179
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 29 games, 4 goals, 10 assists, 10 PIM (AHL), 9 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 PIM (NHL)
Smith played one game this week and was injured:
Jack St. Ivany
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 36 games, 5 assists, 20 PIM
St. Ivany was scoreless three games this week.
Colin Swoyer
Size: 6-0/185
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 24
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 18 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, 4 PIM (AHL), 6 games, 1 assist, 4 PIM (ECHL)
Swoyer scored one goal in two games this week. It was his first pro goal:
GOALTENDERS
Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-2/183
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, second round
Age: 21
Team: Karpat (Liiga)
Season totals: 21 games, 2.29 GAA, .907 SV%
Blomqvist has been injured since Dec. 16 after an in-game collision that included contact to the head. His team hasn't disclosed what the injury is, but if it is a concussion, it's his second one of the season after he previously had one in October from another collision in a game.
Taylor Gauthier
Size: 6-2/207
Catches: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 10 games, 2.44 GAA, .914 SV% (AHL), 16 games, 3.09 GAA, .896 SV%, 1 shutout (ECHL)
Gauthier appeared in two games for Wilkes-Barre. One was a loss in which he stopped 37 of 40 shots faced. He played 24:27 in relief of Lindberg the following night after Lindberg was pulled. Gauthier stopped 9 of 11 shots in relief.
Filip Lindberg
Size: 6-1/194
Catches: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 18 games, 3.20 GAA, .892 SV%
Lindberg started one game this week and was pulled after allowing six goals on 19 shots in 35 minutes. It was his second game in a row being pulled midway through after starting.
Sergei Murashov
Size: 6-0/167
Catches: Right
Drafted: 2022, fourth round
Age: 18
Team: Loko Yaroslavl (MHL), Lokomotiv (KHL)
Season totals: 38 games, 1.38 GAA, .953 SV%, 11 shutouts (MHL), 1 game, 1.00 GAA, .947 SV% (KHL)
Murashov started in two games in the MHL this week on back-to-back nights. He stopped 37 of 40 shots in his first game, then 35 of 36 the following night.
