The Wilkes-Barre Penguins endured a season-long losing streak of five games, which they finally put to an end by defeating Lehigh Valley last Saturday. Rutger McGroarty scored the opening goal in the 3-1 win to set the tone. McGroarty has produced five points in the five games during month of the March.
Sunday’s win was much needed to get back on the right track after previous losses last week to Hershey and those same LV Phantoms. From WBSPenguins.com:
Friday, Mar. 13 – PENGUINS 2 vs. Hershey 4
A five-minute lapse in the second period allowed the Bears to seize a 3-0 lead. The Penguins turned up the heat in the third, nearly staging an electrifying comeback. However, a tying tally never arrived after goals by Aidan McDonough and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard inspired hope.Saturday, Mar. 14 – PENGUINS 3 vs. Lehigh Valley 4 (OT)
Lehigh Valley pulled off a stunning rally, erasing the Penguins’ 3-1 lead in the last 5:13 of regulation, then winning the game on a power-play in overtime. Both Joona Koppanen and Tanner Howe had two-point games relegated from the headlines as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton dropped its fifth game in a row.Sunday, Mar. 15 – PENGUINS 3 at Lehigh Valley 1
The Penguins found redemption by clapping back against the Phantoms fewer than 24 hours later. Rutger McGroarty, Gabe Klassen and Owen Pickering all found the net for the Black and Gold to improve to 7-0-1-1 in its season series with Lehigh Valley.
Pickering’s empty net goal marked his sixth tally of the season, he had only two goals in 47 games last year with Wilkes. While not known for his offense, that’s a healthy uptick in goals this season for the 22-year old.
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The games against Lehigh Valley were a nice reset from WBS’s recent trend of falling behind in games, as touched upon here last week, a trend that continued with falling behind against Hershey.
Here were the lines from the last game, Jack St. Ivany is back in Pittsburgh following his latest conditioning stint and Alexander Alexeyev has been returned to WBS after a short time on the NHL roster where he did not appear in any games with Pittsburgh. Tristan Broz remains out with an injury. A potentially good developing situation for Wilkes is that Avery Hayes was a healthy scratch in the NHL and could be further from playing after Sidney Crosby returns from his injury to boost the numbers of the Pittsburgh forward group. Pittsburgh made a paper move on deadline day to put Hayes on the AHL roster and maintain his eligibility to play in that league if they want him to send him back that option is open.
Clinching a playoff spot is all but a formality at this point, the magic number for WBS sits at one point gained by them or lost by Springfield and Bridgeport to officially punch their ticket. The bigger magic number to chase is 19 – any combination of those points gained by Wilkes or lost by Charlotte ensures a second place finish with 12 games remaining in WBS’s regular season.
The Penguins are waiting to see if Cruz Lucius will be signing with them and joining Wilkes for the remainder of the season. Lucius, named to the first team of the NCHC, had his college career wrap up recently with Arizona State after finishing 2025-26 as one of the nation’s top scorers with 46 points (15G+31A) in 36 games. Two of his teammates have signed contracts and turned pro but as of yet he has not. His options include staying to finish a degree and turning pro later this summer, either with the Penguins or waiting to become a summer free agent where he could sign with any NHL organization.
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Up next is a rare Canadian road trip for the WBS Pens, with upcoming games against three North Division opponents in Laval, Belleville and Toronto. They should be clinching a playoff spot at some point on this trip and have the opportunity to get to work to solidify the important second seed.
