Entering Saturday's game, Penguins right wing Nick Schilkey hadn't scored in his previous 11 games, with his last goal coming on March 31 against Binghamton.
Schilkey opened the scoring for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and later added a power play goal to help lead the Penguins to a 4-1 win over the Devils on Sunday in the final home game of the season for the Penguins.
Schilkey, who turns 27 next week, was signed to an AHL contract last summer after spending the previous year with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he scored nine goals and 13 assists in 49 games. He was signed by Mike Vellucci before Vellucci was promoted to an assistant coach in Pittsburgh, with Vellucci being familiar with Schilkey after winning the Calder Cup together with the Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19.
After a scoreless first period on Saturday in which the teams were even in shots, 10-10, Schilkey opened the scoring in the second period after the Penguins had the Devils hemmed in their own zone for an extended period of time:
"That goal was just a little bit of mayhem in front of the net, which we like to try to create," head coach J.D. Forrest said. "(Jonathan Gruden) made a strong play on it. ... It was just a hard play all-around."
The Penguins carried the 1-0 lead into the third period. When they got their fourth power play opportunity of the game at the 8:01 mark, Schilkey and the second unit capitalized late in the man advantage to extend the lead:
"The power play there, we've just been working on working on being hard on pucks and trying to dial that in," Schilkey said. "Take advantage of our opportunities. So it was good to get one there also."
"It's great, Schilks has been strong for us all year, contributing offensively and other areas of the ice," Forrest said of the two-goal performance from Schilkey.
Forrest said that coming into this season, he was familiar with Schilkey not only from his professional career in the AHL, but even going back to USA Hockey festivals the two participated in when Schilkey was 15 years old.
"I'm really not surprised at what he's been able to do given the opportunity that he's had," Forrest said of Schilkey, who now has seven goals and 12 assists in 29 games this season. "Right from the get-go we slotted him into some spots that we thought he could be a balancing figure in our lineup with some of the younger guys, and he took advantage of it. He's got different opportunities on power plays whether it's the first unit or second unit, and we just like what he brings. He's smart, he's tenacious, and I think he's had these attributes in the past. He's just been able to show them off a little more this year. He's been really good for us."
Schilkey said that his focuses this season have been to evolve into a better 200-foot player and a leader.
"Whatever situation I'm thrown into, just try to step up and play the right way," Schilkey said. "Do the right things no matter where guys are, coming up and going down. ... It's just always a good chance for me to step up wherever I'm needed and try to evolve my game constantly."
In this game, Schilkey stepped up in a big way to help lead the team to a win.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Anthony Angello scored the game's third goal off of a great individual effort:
• Goaltender Tommy Nappier was making his second career AHL start after being signed out of Ohio State earlier in the spring, and had his shutout bid end with just 2:05 remaining in the game. He stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn his first professional win.
"He was really good tonight," Forrest said. "From start to finish today he made some really big saves for us. He played the puck really well for us, which helped us out a lot going back for pucks, especially toward the end of the game, there was some moments when they were putting some pressure on us and chipping it in, but he went back and made some nice plays with it. He was solid all night, really good to see from him. Hopefully a confidence-booster. The team played well in front of him, so it was a good night defensively and for Tommy in particular."
"He's been great in practice," Schilkey said of Nappier. "He's been working his bag off. Our goalies have been really, really good lately, especially down the stretch. For him to just be able to step in and play that well is just awesome for him, I was really happy for him to get that first win. I know he's just going to look to keep it going, and I know he will."
• Gruden fought Binghamton's Travis St. Denis:
Gruden had picked up the primary assist on Schilkey's first goal earlier in the game, so when he scored the empty net goal to make it a 4-1 game, he completed a Gordie Howe hat trick and seemed to celebrate a little extra hard for the goal.
Schilkey had a big smile on his face when I asked about Gruden getting the Gordie Howe hat trick.
"Johnny, he just keeps getting better and better all year," Schilkey said. "To see him, he's a complete player even as young as he is. It's going to be awesome to watch him grow the next few years. For him to show that he can play all aspects of the game, the fight, assist, goal, I'm sure he's pretty pumped up, that's why you see that in the celebration I'm sure. It's just good to see. He's a great kid and he keeps getting better. It's awesome for him to finish off the Gordie, absolutely."
• Forrest thought that this was one of the team's more complete games of the season.
"I still think we've got even more," he added. "Like I've said in the past, I thought we've had some games that we've lost where we've played just as good, if not better. Our consistency has been there lately, and I really like that. And we're finding ways to finish off games. And that's a good thing to see."
• Kasper Bjorkqvist played his second game since returning from Finland, and was scoreless with two shots. Forrest thought that Bjorkqvist looked much more comfortable and re-acclimated to the North American game compared to the previous game.
"He's already made some adjustments with the way he's playing in the last few days," Forrest said. "He had a couple of really good chances tonight, I know he wishes he got a better shot off here and there. But you could see his speed and his power, they're just really hard to defend. He's just so smart and he always gives that honest effort, top to bottom. I think the more ice time he gets, the more games we play here, the more he gets re-acclimated to the type of game that we play in the Penguins organization and the better off he'll be. But so far it's been a really good start for him."
• This was the last home game of the season for the Penguins, and they gave the home crowd a win.
"Even though it's limited capacity, the energy that we have here at Mohegan Sun Arena and the passion that our fans have, what it does to our players, it's been fantastic," Forrest said. "We couldn't be more appreciative of everybody coming out and watching our games and supporting us throughout the season. It's been a difficult one for the same reasons that everyone's going through in their own lives, but it's been really enjoyable when we've had home games in front of our fans."
"It's awesome," Schilkey said of giving the home crowd one last win. "It's been a crazy year, crazy season, and it was awesome getting fans in the building. To be able to get that win in the last game here with some fans in the building, it sometimes feels a lot bigger than hockey in a way. It's good to have fans here and have that little bit of normalcy. To get that win feels really good, the last one at home."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• AHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza:
1. Nick Schilkey, Penguins
2. Jonathan Gruden, Penguins
3. Tommy Nappier, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery. He's out for the rest of the season.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
• Forward Kyle Olson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Josh Currie-Anthony Angello
Kasper Bjorkqvist-Drew O'Connor-Nick Schilkey
Jonathan Gruden-Jordy Bellerive-Sam Miletic
Justin Almeida-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
P.O Joseph-Jon Lizotte
Cam Lee-Billy Sweezey
Kevin Czuczman-Will Reilly
And for Mark Dennehy's Devils
Brett Seney-Mason Jobst-Alexander Holtz
A.J. Greer-Travis St. Denis-Graeme Clarke
Aarne Talvitie-Ryan Schmelzer-Fabian Zetterlund
Ben Thomson-Nate Schnarr-Tyler Irvine
Colton White-Jeremy Groleau
Nikita Okhotiuk-Michael Vukojevic
Matt Hellickson-Reilly Walsh
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play their three final games of the regular season on the road, beginning with a 3 p.m. game in Lehigh Valley on Sunday. They'll close out the regular season with back-to-back games next weekend in Lehigh Valley on Saturday and then Hershey on Sunday, and then that's the end of it all. No playoffs in the AHL this year.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.