Pittsburgh Penguins AHL team continues to play well

The Pittsburgh Penguins minor league affiliate, the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins, hold a 16-9-2 record coming into Christmas.

While many are focused on the struggles of the big club, the Pittsburgh Penguins AHL team is holding it’s own in the minor leagues.

Their 16-9-2 record is good enough for fourth place in the Atlantic division, and 11th in the league overall.

Like their parent club, the Baby Pens are an offensively minded team, ranking sixth in the AHL with 98 goals scored in 28 games.

Offensively, the team is led by Daniel Sprong. The 20 year old has scored 15 goals and added seven assists for 22 points in 27 games played. He also leads all AHL rookies with 86 shots on goal. Kid likes to shoot.

Prospect Teddy Blueger has had a respectable campaign with 16 points, plus three goals in his last two games. Zach Aston-Reese has cranked out 14 points, and is second on the team in PIMs with 45.

Minding the crease, Casey DeSmith has seen a majority of the action this season. He holds a 10-4-1 record with a 2.63 GAA and .913 SV%. With Jarry playing full time in the show, and Leighton posting less than desirable numbers, DeSmith should continue to shoulder the load.

Powerplay Woes

Despite ranking in the top half of teams thus far, the W-B/S Penguins are dead last in the division with a shoddy 13% on the man advantage. 16% of their total goals come on the PP, while a staggering 80% come at even strength! The other four percent come from their short handed tallies.

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Even though they don’t get covered as much as the big club, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins can always find solace in the fact that their jerseys are pure HEAT.