J.D. Forrest spoke during development camp about hoping to see forward Felix Robert take steps in his development this season, his second year as a pro.
"After having that last season under his belt, I think he's going to come in with some confidence here, and I'm excited to see how he challenges guys and and pushes," Forrest said. "We'll see what happens here as the season plays out."
Now 10 games into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season, things seem to be playing out pretty well for Robert. His goal in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Hartford was his fourth in eight games, tying him with Valtteri Puustinen for the team lead.
It's a small sample size, but it's an impressive start, especially given that Robert is typically in a bottom-six, energy-type role.
Robert played center in junior, and split his rookie season last year between center and wing. When I asked him about that transition last year, he spoke about his enjoyment for playing wing, liking the physicality that comes with playing more along the boards. This season he's been used exclusively as a wing, and has evenly split his eight games between left wing and right wing. During development camp, he talked about being able to use his speed more as a wing to help produce offense, and his numbers to start this season would seem to back that up.
"I never played the wing before coming in the AHL, and I loved it," he told me during development camp. "Honestly, I can transfer my game to more of a speed and rushing and get the pucks in the back of the D, so I kind of love this game. I think the organization likes my position as wing. If they put me on the wing, I'll be ready, if they put me on center, I'll make the step again. I just want to play and be in the lineup, whatever it takes."
Wilkes-Barre had a number of scoring chances early in Saturday's game, but trailed 2-0 after the first 20 minutes. The Wolf Pack extended that lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal in the second period, and then made it a four-goal game with a power play tally early in the final frame.
The Penguins' comeback attempt fell short, but it was Robert's goal that started the effort, dropping to one knee and finishing off of a feed from Jonathan Gruden:
Just 23 seconds later, Jordy Bellerive capitalized on a Hartford turnover to cut the Wolf Pack's deficit to two goals:
(Neither Robert's goal nor Bellerive's goal was shorthanded, both came at even strength, disregard the scorebug in the video telling you otherwise.)
Forrest pulled goaltender Louis Domingue in favor of the extra attacker late in the third period, and the Penguins got a late goal with the goalie pulled for the second time this season. Robert had the first one earlier this season in a win over the Checkers. Sam Poulin scored on the six-on-five this time, finishing from a tough-angle shot with 43 seconds left in regulation:
Poulin's goal brought Wilkes-Barre back within one goal, but the third-period comeback attempt stopped there.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Wilkes-Barre is now 5-4-0-1, ranking sixth in the eight-team Atlantic Division in terms of points percentage.
• Wilkes-Barre went 0-for-7 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal for the first time this season. The power play is a combined 0-for-20 in the last three games and has fallen to 30th in the 31-team league with an 11.1 percent success rate.
• The Penguins' penalty kill fared better, going 3-for-4. The penalty kill is operating at an 80 percent success rate.
• Bellerive dropped the gloves in the first period after Nathan Legare took a big hit:
• Cam Lee got a match penalty in the first period for a check to the head.
• Domingue's start was his second appearance in as many nights after playing 35 minutes in relief of Filip Lindberg in Friday's game. Domingue stopped 29 of 33 shots in this game.
• Radim Zohorna led with four shots on goal.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at XL Center:
1. Tanner Fritz, Wolf Pack
2. Jonny Brodzinski, Wolf Pack
3. Anthony Bitteto, Wolf Pack
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Forward Anthony Angello is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and has been since the start of the season. He's out likely another week at least.
• Forward Jamie Devane is out "longer-term" with a lower-body injury. It's not clear how he was injured.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest's lines and pairings:
Kasper Bjorkqvist - Radim Zohorna - Valtteri Puustinen
Sam Poulin - Michael Chaput - Filip Hallander
Felix Robert - Jordy Bellerive - Nathan Legare
Justin Almeida - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson
Matt Bartkowski - Mitch Reinke
Chris Bigras - Cam Lee
Chris Ortiz - Will Reilly
And for Kris Knoblauch's Wolf Pack:
Tim Gettinger - Jonny Brodzinski - Anthony Greco
Ty Ronning - Morgan Barron - Lauri Pajuniemi
Patrick Khodorenko - Tanner Fritz - Austin Rueschoff
Pierre-Cedric Labrie - Justin Richards - Alex Whelan
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson - Anthony Bitetto
Tarmo Reunanen - Hunter Skinner
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will host the Rochester Americans Wednesday, then host the Charlotte Checkers for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday.
THE CONTENT
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