Scouting McGroarty & WBS Penguins; Guys Starting to ‘Take it to Next Level’ (+)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa — The last time the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms met was last Saturday, and the 7-2 Penguins’ blowout win nearly devolved into a bench-clearing brawl. Instead, the hostilities were limited to well over 100 penalty minutes, coaches screaming at each other from the benches, and quite a bit of tete-e-tete in the media that drew national attention.

Last Saturday, LVP coach Ian Lapierre ripped WBS coach Kirk MacDonald for putting his top power-play unit on the ice late in the game. MacDonald replied, “Sometimes, when you’re losing, you have to play better.”

Lehigh Valley is, of course, the Philadelphia Flyers AHL affiliate.

No, the two teams don’t like each other—just like at the NHL level. Following form to send a message to their rivals, MacDonald went old school and started his rough-and-tumble fourth line, which includes minor league enforcer Boko Imama.

Yeah, the Penguins vs. Phantoms game began hot Friday, which made it the perfect contest for Pittsburgh Hockey Now to scout the Penguins’ top prospects, specifically Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen (we did a full scouting report on Tristan Broz from WBS a few weeks ago). However, a sharp defenseman took control of the Penguins’ attack.

We also have some updates on Broz’s progression. The pair of defensive zone faceoffs he won in the final minute to protect a one-goal lead were invaluable and another indication of prospect growth, but he wasn’t the only one laying out with the game on the line.

“You kind of relate it back to juniors, where this is the time of year when the first-year guys, it kind of starts to click for them. Not that they haven’t been good, but it’s when the first-year guys start to take it to that next level, and you can kind of feel it,” said MacDonald. “Those faceoffs late in the game (were outstanding).”

We got a good look at the Penguins’ prospects under fire, and one is clearly improving rapidly. So, here we go.