Nathan Legare is looking like he got the message after he was a healthy scratch in Hershey last Sunday.
After Legare and Sam Poulin were both scratched for a game in last weekend's series in Hershey, head coach J.D. Forrest said afterward that he was just looking for more "game growth" from the two of them, and that a series of "repeat offenses" had led to the scratches. He wanted both players to play more responsible, and focus on playing to their strengths more.
"The way to hit home most with guys right now is ice time," Forrest told me of the decision.
Poulin's scratch came on Saturday, and he had the opportunity to respond when he was in the lineup the following night. Legare's scratch came on Sunday, and he had to wait five days before his first opportunity to respond in a game would come.
Legare put in the work, studying what he called "a lot of video" with different people in the organization, and putting in some extra time with strength and conditioning coach Mike Joyce.
"I think I just turned the page and had a great week of practice," he told me Sunday of the days after he was scratched. "I think I got to build during the week to have a good weekend."
When I spoke with Forrest during the week after practice, he was encouraged by what he had seen from Legare in that setting, but was anxious to see whether Legare would be able to put all of those things to use in a game.
"When he's put in those same scenarios, when it's the same situation, is he going to have the same decision? Is he going to stick to the gameplan? Which direction are we going here? So I think we'll see more of his response on Friday," he said. "I thought he had a good few days of practice here, some good meetings. But all that stuff, he's got to take that into game situations and be able to apply it."
Legare was in the lineup for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's game on Friday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, skating on the third line on Jordy Bellerive's wing. While he didn't record any points in that game, Forrest said that the way Legare played was "what we were looking for" as far as a response.
"He played a much more involved game, he was around the puck more, he was moving his feet more, a lot of these little things that I think make his game go," Forrest said. "We were just looking for that tonight, he did a nice job today of adjusting those things and trying to be consistent with shift to shift. Whether it was being physical around the net there or making his wall plays strong, or even just keeping his feet moving with the puck, you can tell that he was paying attention to those aspects of his game."
Wilkes-Barre traveled to Lehigh Valley on Saturday, and Legare scored just his third goal of the season in the 5-2 win with a wrister set up by Bellerive:
Legare's best performance on the weekend, though, came on Sunday when Wilkes-Barre hosted the Hershey Bears. With the game tied 1-1 midway through the third period, a 2-on-1 started to develop for the Bears. Legare hustled on the backcheck to break up an intended pass between the two Bears players and set up Patrick Watling for a breakaway up the other way. Watling scored, with the goal standing as the eventual game-winner in the 2-1 win:
"I tried to did a backheck and I was a little bit lucky that I cut the play," Legare told me of that play. "And then I didn't want to do a turnover, so I put the puck out of the zone, and Patrick was there. He did an amazing play, he just put the puck behind the goalie."
That's the kind of play the Penguins want to see from Legare moving forward.
"That was just a great backcheck by Nathan," Forrest said of the goal. "We've really been hammering that with him. We know how hard he can work. But sometimes, it's not that he doesn't have a work ethic there, sometimes he just kind of starts watching it. And he's been doing a better job, getting his feet moving, and then kind of processing as he goes. So now, his instinct is to get back there hard. And that's what he did, and picked off that puck."
Legare said that he thought he had a good weekend because he was able to keep his feet moving, force turnovers, and play physical like the coaching staff wanted. He knows that if he's going to be successful as a pro, he's going to have to rely on those areas of his game.
"That's the way I want to play to the next level," he said. "I know I scored a lot of goals in junior. But I feel like in the pros, I've got to do all the small details. It's going to lead to do some offensive chances. That's what I did this weekend. I was focused on my defensive side of the ice, and I get some good bounces on the offense. So I'm looking forward to doing that for the next 47 games."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Wilkes-Barre has now won two straight, after beating the Phantoms in Lehigh Valley 5-2 on Saturday. They rank last in the Atlantic Division (but no longer last in the league!) with a 11-15-1-3 record.
• The win over Hershey was their first against the Bears this season, having gone 0-6-1-0 in their first seven meetings this season. It's safe to say that this win meant a little extra.
"Yeah, that one feels a little different, with everything from earlier in the season here and them kind of having our number," Forrest said. "But you know, that's the way we've been playing lately. I wasn't really shocked that we were going to come out on top for this one. The guys did a great job."
"We had some struggles since the beginning of the year against them," Legare said. "And to get the two points against them, it's a huge thing specially in a three-in-three. So we're looking forward to the rest of the season."
• After a scoreless first period, Alex Nylander opened the scoring with a power play goal in the second period. It was his 10th goal of the season and second goal as a Penguin, with his first goal coming in Saturday's win. Poulin had great work to set it up:
Nylander now has two goals and three assists in six games since the trade, and Forrest said he sees the growth from Nylander already, calling Sunday's game a "really strong game" from him.
"We're looking for a lot, we know what he can do with the puck and offensively," Forrest said. "So we're looking for some things in some other areas that we'd like to see an adjustment. His forecheck tonight, he had a few just by himself that were fantastic. And I thought his attention to the D zone was strong. You know, he doesn't necessarily have a reputation for that, but it's not something that you can't work on and get better at. I think he's shown in the short time that he's here that he's willing to do it."
WBS PENGUINS
Alex Nylander in Sunday's game in Wilkes-Barre.
• Poulin skated as a center for the third game in a row, now playing four games as a center this season. He's now played four games since he was a healthy scratch last Saturday in Hershey, and this been without a doubt his best stretch of the season. That's not necessarily because of his offensive production -- though he has a goal and two assists in that span -- but more so just his being responsible and doing more of the little things right, like this potentially game-saving block in the final two minutes when Hershey had the extra attacker:
"He's really playing a purposeful game," Forrest said. "You can see that he's trying to take ownership of the identity of himself as a player and where his strengths are, and knowing his weaknesses and how to minimize putting himself in those situations and how to maximize putting himself in a situation where he's at the advantage."
That's why the points have started coming more, too.
"It's not because he's trying for them, it's because he's doing all the other things," Forrest said of Poulin's offensive production. "Those are just the results of focusing on his style of play. So it's been really good to see. And it's nice that it's been a consistent few games here in a row, something we can build on, something we can work with moving forward."
• Watling's goal was his first in the AHL, playing in his third game with Wilkes-Barre this season on a professional tryout contract. The 28-year-old forward has played with Wheeling the past two seasons, and is their leading scorer this year with 12 goals and 19 assists in 19 games.
Watling's career has followed an interesting path. He went pro in 2014-15, and split that season between the AHL's Toronto Marlies and ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears. He spent two more years in the ECHL before a broken ankle forced him to miss the entire 2017-18 season, after which he went to the University of New Brunswick in Canada, where he played two seasons before signing in Wheeling.
"It was time to take a look at what my life was needing ahead," Watling said of that decision to go to university. "At UNB, they're a great organization over there. They play a pro atmosphere, pro style, so I could still keep getting better while getting my degree. So I did that, and then they set me up to come back pro after that."
WBS PENGUINS
Patrick Watling in Sunday's game in Wilkes-Barre.
• Cam Lee was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row, something unusual to see. With Wilkes-Barre losing eight straight games before Saturday's win, Forrest said that they were just looking for some more "predictability" on the back end. Chris Bigras earned the nod in Lee's spot instead.
"Cam and I will have some chats about that," Forrest said. "We just wanted a little bit of some predictability with another player back there. Then we ended up winning last night, so we kept it the same. Cam's a really good player there. He brings that offensive element, he can do a lot of things with his skill with his elusive skating ability. There's some areas of his game we'd like to see more consistent improvement. I think that goes for everybody. But it's something where it's not easy to sit a guy like him. I'm sure he'd rather be playing, but hopefully we can readjust."
• Wilkes-Barre's two healthy goaltenders are Tommy Nappier and Alex D'Orio, and Wilkes-Barre rides whoever has the hot hand when they have a three-in-three. Last week both goalies split the first two games then D'Orio earned the third start. This week they again split the first two games then Nappier earned the third start. He made 20 saves on 22 shots in Saturday's win over the Phantoms, then 23 saves on 24 shots tonight.
"He did exactly what we needed," Forrest said of Nappier. "You know, he made a big save here and there and took care of the ones that he should take care of. So it's good for him to get a little bit of a roll there with last night's game and tonight's game. But you know, our goaltending position is always, always a competition. It's a daily type of thing."
• The power play went 1-for-4.
• The penalty kill went 1-for-1.
• Felix Robert plays like he has no idea that he's just 5-foot-9, in a good way. Something I've noticed several times now over his two seasons in Wilkes-Barre is that if he doesn't like a hit on one of his teammates, he shows no hesitation in stepping up to defend them, no matter how big the opponent is. So when 6-foot-4 Riley Sutter charged Wilkes-Barre defenseman Mitch Reinke, Robert came in and dropped the gloves right away. They were separated before an actual fight broke out, and Robert didn't take a retaliatory penalty either. You have to admire the courage:
• Wilkes-Barre played Renegade during the final TV timeout. Fitting for Sunday.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza:
1. Patrick Watling, Penguins
2. Tommy Nappier, Penguins
3. Alex Nylander, Penguins
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Goaltender Filip Lindberg is day-to-day with an ankle injury sustained during the game on Nov. 12. Forrest said that it's the type of injury that's tough to get to 100 percent, and that there's no timeframe for his return. Lindberg was practicing with the team before the holiday break, but hasn't been in a full practice since then.
• Forward Michael Chaput is week-to-week with an lower-body injury. He skated on his own for the first time, without any other gear, before Friday's morning skate.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest's lines and pairings:
Felix Robert - Sam Houde - Valtteri Puustinen
Alex Nylander - Sam Poulin - Jan Drozg
Patrick Watling - Jordy Bellerive - Nathan Legare
Jamie Devane - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson
P.O Joseph - Mitch Reinke
Matt Bartkowski - Taylor Fedun
Cam Lee - Will Reilly
And for Scott Allen's Bears
Joe Snively - Garrett Pilon - Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Kody Clark - Mike Vecchione - Brian Pinho
Shane Gersich - Drake Rymsha - Mason Morelli
Kale Kessy - Riley Sutter - Ryan Dmowski
Lucas Johansen - Dylan McIlrath
Tobias Geisser - Cody Franson
Jake Massie - Alex Alexeyev
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins host the Phantoms on Wednesday, then the Toronto Marlies for a two-game series at home on Friday and Saturday.
THE CONTENT
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