Hard Work and High Spirits: WBS Prepping for Playoffs

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins stopped to practice in Cranberry on Thursday ahead of a weekend series in Cleveland. They’ve already clinched a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs and have eight games left to jockey for postseason seeding, hoping to earn a first-round bye.

“Everyone wants to be playing for the championship. So, that’s our goal in the end, and, I mean, playing winning hockey starts now,” said forward Avery Hayes, tied for first on the team with 21 goals in 52 games. “You go to war with guys, you become brothers with them, and it makes everyone play harder. So, I feel like it’s going to be huge for all of our development.”

When it comes to what has made this team so successful, WBS assistant GM Amanda Kessel mentioned first-year coach Kirk MacDonald and his staff, “who have been unbelievable with our young guys. They spend a lot of time on development. They’ve heavily bought into that.”

From MacDonald’s standpoint, he mentioned how the group works and competes, and that they’ve bought into what the coaches are selling.

“Whatever 12 forwards, six D-men and two goalies are in the lineup, they’ve gone out and executed. We haven’t really worried about who’s in or who’s out,” he said. “And I think our leadership group has done an outstanding job showing the young guys what it means to be professionals and how they need to show up every day and work.”

And, perhaps most importantly, the group has a blast together.

“Watching practice today was a great example with the energy level. We worked really hard, but they were having a good time,” MacDonald said.

Whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, these guys truly love spending time with one another. They’re also all rooting for each other. Hayes said the team went to a Charlotte restaurant after their road game against the Checkers on Sunday to watch Ville Koivunen make his NHL debut and Rutger McGroarty skate on a line with the Penguins captain.

It’s funny – McGroarty said how the opportunity was slightly bittersweet, because while he was super excited, he would also love to be battling with his WBS teammates. But Hayes said they don’t want to see Rutger or Ville again for at least a little while.

“We’re the biggest fans when they come up, so it’s amazing watching them here (in Pittsburgh), and hopefully, we don’t get them back until the end of the regular season and we can watch a couple more of their games,” Hayes said.

In the meantime, the WBS crew is focused on honing a stiffer, playoff-style of hockey that should serve them well in the coming weeks.

“There’s not many teams that can match our skill level. We can all skate, and personally, I feel like we can play any style of game, a gritty game… we’re learning to play a gritty game right now, but I’m confident that we can come playoff time,” Hayes said. “I’m just super excited. We have a close team, which helps, so I’m excited.”

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WELL-DESERVED

Hayes is a fantastic story. The 22-year-old forward, who was undrafted, inked his first NHL contract last month after originally signing an AHL contract with WBS prior to the 2023-24 season. It’s similar to how two-time Stanley Cup Champion Conor Sheary started his career.

“He’s worked and earned everything that he’s gotten,” Kessel said. “He’s a great kid. He’s a really good player. He’s an all-around player that he can kind of do everything. He has a knack for scoring. He’ll fight somebody six, seven inches taller than him. It’s tough to find a player like him. We’re at a point where if you’re the player that’s playing best or whoever needs the call-up and you’re on an AHL deal, we’ll turn it into an NHL deal, and Avery’s earned that.”

GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE

The Penguins have some remarkable depth at the goaltender position, even with Joel Blomqvist sidelined due to injury. MacDonald has been rotating between Filip Larsson, who is tied for the AHL lead with five shutouts, and Sergei Murashov, in the midst of a remarkable rookie season.

“It’s been easy because they’ve played well and I haven’t really had to think about it,” MacDonald said. “Right now, Sergei and Lars are our two guys and they’ve been outstanding, so there’s no need to overthink it.”

With Larsson signing a two-year contract during free agency, Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas called the 26-year-old Swede the “more unknown” of the group at the beginning of the season. Larsson has gone on to perform extremely well when healthy, though he would like to have more consistency.

Larsson was incredibly complimentary of Murashov’s play. Murashov’s win streak ended at 11 games on Sunday, which is a new rookie record and tied John Curry (2008-09) for the longest win streak in franchise history. That is his only loss of the season so far.

“He’s awesome. I mean, he’s a winner. He’s 11-1 with us,” Hayes said. “He battles every day in practice like it’s Game 7, and he’s athletic. He’s just a great guy off the ice, too. I feel like he has a really, really bright future.”

But what’s amazing about Murashov is that he truly isn’t looking past the present. Sergei reiterated today how grateful he is for the opportunities currently in front of him, saying, “Enjoy the day, moments, working with guys, with coaches. It's really precious. It's my way. I love the Marcus Aurelius quotation, what stands in your way is your way. So, it's all my way, and I really love it.

“During this streak, I did the same thing because it's impossible to do it, thinking about all this stuff around. So, my goal is just win the next game, one in a row, and then repeat. So, that's it. To be honest, it wasn't a pressure for me or something like this. I just wanted to win the game for our team and do my best for my teammates.”

Murashov is a joy to speak with. He’s smart and insightful, and has such a joyful and positive outlook on life that is contagious. As he joked about turning 21 on April Fool’s Day, “I think my perception of life is just like one big joke, but in a good way. I just see so many fun things around me and just enjoy it. So, for me, I love to stay with the moment, to live this life and enjoy everything that comes to me.”

BIG DEBUT FOR BRUNO

The Penguins assigned 2024 second-round pick Harrison Brunicke to WBS after the defenseman completed his junior season with the Kamloops Blazers.

He had a terrific training camp with Pittsburgh and earned four preseason games as a result, with Head Coach Mike Sullivan singing Brunicke’s praises. Today, MacDonald singled out Brunicke’s elite skating ability, saying he can move the puck, which has helped him get out of any trouble faced in his two games thus far.

“Obviously, it’s a big change, whether it's pace or physicality, things like that,” Brunicke said. “Learning lots of new things that I haven't kind of been taught before. So yeah, it's been great going to the rink every day with these guys.”