Farm Report: Penguins interested in grooming Dustin Jeffrey into a left winger

Johnson back at full health Right winger Nick Johnson (6ft2, 200lbs), is regarded by many NHL scouts as the Penguins most under-rated prospect. Johnson plays a strong two-way game and caught the eye of many members in the organization this past September, when Johnson pushed for a roster spot out of camp. Johnson likely would have been one of the Penguins call-ups during the Penguins rash of injuries in October and November but Johnson suffered a high ankle sprain just 7 games into the season, which sidelined him for 7 weeks. Johnson returned to the lineup Wednesday night, scoring 2 goals in Wilkes Barre’s 6-0 rout of Syracuse. This is a big year for Johnson to prove that he is

Farm Report: Caputi meeting expectations

When top prospect Luca Caputi entered training camp this past September, Pittsburgh wanted Caputi to have a Tyler Kennedy kind of training camp from 2007; Have a dominant training camp and carry that play to the minors for the first 2-3 months of the season. That wasn’t the case for Caputi who struggled for the most part. Pittsburgh had no intentions of Caputi pushing for a roster spot out of training camp but Pittsburgh wanted to see more out of him. Through 14 games with the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League, Caputi has put his subpar camp in the rearview mirror. Caputi has 6 goals on the season and he is finally playing with an “edge”. Management

Farm Report: WBS Penguins rout Portland 6-1

Wilkes Barre 6 – Portland 1 Defenseman Chris Lee had a goal and two assists and John Curry made 17 saves as the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins routed the Portland Pirates 6-1 Wednesday night to improve to 7-4-2 on the season. The Penguins played a tight defensive game limiting the Pirates to 17 shots on goal and the Penguins got plenty of scoring from their backend. Defensemen Brian Strait (1) and Chris Lee (1) each scored and Lee added two assists to earn the games No. 1 star. Keven Veilleux (2), Luca Caputi (5), Zach Sill (1) and Eric Tangradi (1) also scored for Wilkes Barre. Veilleux continues his strong play which has led to a promotion to the second line,

Farm Report: Marlies end Penguins 6 game unbeaten streak

Bayda scores 6th goal of the season in loss A four point night from Victor Stalberg and two goals from Pittsburgh native Christian Hanson, helped the Toronto Marlies get past the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-2 Sunday afternoon in front of 2,768 fans at Ricoh Coliseum. The Penguins failed to contain the Marlies top line of Stalberg, Hanson and Mike Zigomanis who joined the Marlies two weeks ago on a professional tryout. The Stalberg – Zigomanis – Hanson line combined for 9 points as Hanson and Stalberg led the way for Toronto. The loss was the Penguins first regulation defeat in their past six games. Wilkes Barre outshot Toronto 36-28 as Brad Thiessen (24 saves) took the loss. The two bright

Farm Report: Manitoba beats Wilkes Barre 2-1 in a SO

Manitoba 2 – Wilkes Barre 1 Daren Machesney made 26 saves and went 5-5 in the shootout as the Manitoba Moose defeated the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-1, Friday night. In the second of back-to-back games, it was another tight defensive game between the two squads. Dustin Jeffrey (1) scored on a penalty shot for Wilkes Barre but the Penguins were unable to solve Machesney for most of the night. Penguins goaltender John Curry made 25 saves and was named the games No. 3 star. Wilkes Barre (5-2-1-1), travels to Toronto on Sunday for a matchup with the Toronto Marlies. Notes Eric Tangradi missed his 5th consecutive game with a shoulder injury. Tangradi did travel with the team and has been

Farm Report: Lovejoy nets game winner in 6-4 win

Wilkes Barre 6 – Hershey 4 The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Ryan Bayda (4) and Mark Letestu (1) but needed a three goal third period to hold off the Hershey Bears en route to a 6-4 win against the Bears Friday night at the Wachovia Center. The win was Wilkes Barre’s third straight as goaltender John Curry (29 saves) earned his fourth win of the season. Last week Wilkes Barre benefited from the return of forward Mark Letestu and this week it was the return of top defenseman Ben Lovejoy. Lovejoy was strong in his own end finishing the game with a +2 rating and scored the eventual game winner

Source: Penguins to recall Bissonnette and Jeffrey

According to a source, the Penguins are expected to recall Dustin Jeffrey and Paul Bissonnette for tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. Bissonnette 23, made the Penguins roster out of training camp and appeared in 6 games for the Penguins. In 16 games with the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins, Bissonnette recorded 6 points and 82 penalty minutes.

Morning Buzz

The Penguins have caught many around the league by surprise in their ability to overcome the losses of Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar. Ryan Whitney is skating and looks to be in the best shape of his career. Whitney is determined to resemble the player he was two seasons ago and I expect him to have a big season when he returns to the lineup in December. Is Ryan Whitney trade bait? The Penguins have received a lot of inquiries about Whitney in the past year and despite the emergence of Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang, the Penguins view Ryan Whitney as the heir apparent to Sergei Gonchar and GM’s around the league know if will take an offer the