Wilkes Weekly: Even up weekend on the road

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 16: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald yells at an official during the first period of the American Hockey League game between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Cleveland Monsters on October 16, 2026, at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a 1-1 week on the road, blowing a 3-1 lead against Utica then coming back strong with a 5-0 shutout victory against rival Hershey.Here’s a succint recap from WBSPenguins.com:Friday, Oct. 30 – PENGUINS 3 at Utica 4The Penguins and Comets went head-to-head on the night before Halloween, and Utica managed to trick the visitors with three unanswered goals. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Utica both scored on their first shots of the game. A shorthanded goal by Avery Hayes and an early second-period lamp-lighter from Bill Zonnon put the Black and Gold ahead, 3-1. The Comets scored twice in eight seconds to tie things up before the second intermission, then notched the game-winner with 30.8 seconds left in regulation.Sunday, Nov. 1 – PENGUINS 5 at Hershey 0In their first of 12 matchups on the season, Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton went into Hershey and walked away with a lopsided win. Taylor Gauthier was the star of the night, amassing a 43-save shutout. Melvin Fernström and Zonnon both scored for the second-straight game, followed by tallies from a returning Rutger McGroarty, Mikhail Ilyin and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. Defenseman Phil Kemp posted a career-best three assists.One item illustrated last weekend that has been developing into a trend is the discrepancy in goal. Joel Blomqvist and Taylor Gauthier have both played five games this season, splitting the ten games the team has played so far. Blomqvist has given up 17 total goals in his five games, including four on Friday. His other stats aren’t great either, a 3.41 GAA and .864 save percentage. Gauthier, on the other hand, is starting off much stronger – seen with his 43-save shutout on Saturday. That’s boosted his stats to only conceding ten goals on the year, with a sterling 2.02 GAA and .939 save%. Goalie usage will be interesting in the future to see if the results begin to influence playing time – though with the standard minor league schedule loading up on weekend games it’s likely a split will continue to some extent out of necessity.From the NHL view, the Penguins will have to be satisfied that players like Rutger McGroarty and Avery Hayes are still pushing and playing well. Both players scored a goal for Wilkes in their AHL returns (McGroarty against Hershey, Hayes against Utica).Other than that, the season continues. Veteran Rafael Harvey-Pinard (on an AHL contract this season) made his season debut recently. Other vets like team captain Phil Kemp (three assists vs Hershey) and Hugh McGing (1G+7A in nine games) are also chipping in with quality performances around the young host of players like Atley Calvert (10 points in as many games this season), Mikhail Ilyin (eight points) and Bill Zonnon (seven points) who are showing well early on in the season.Now that we’re ten games into the 72-game AHL schedule, a peak at the standings.So far, WBS is looking to find their footing a little bit, in the crowd of teams within their division. They’re in an OK spot by being third in points percentage, though at this early point of the season there’s not much separating the bottom of the division from the top.The upcoming weekend should be a good challenge, the Pens will be in Charlotte for a pair of games coming up against the first place Checkers.