The Pittsburgh Penguins are staring down a third consecutive season without making the playoffs.
But in the American Hockey League, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton appears capable of putting together a deep run in the upcoming Calder Cup playoffs.
With their 4-3 overtime win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton officially punched its ticket to the postseason.
This season, a retooled roster has produced several ongoing individual performances worth celebrating, powering first-year coach Kirk MacDonald’s club.
Forward Rutger McGroarty continues to overcome a slow statistical start to his professional career, with Tristan Broz and Sam Poulin approaching 20 goals on the year.
Fellow wingers Vasily Ponomarev and Avery Hayes also have impressed.
However, two players — forward Ville Koivunen and goalie Sergei Murashov — have not only dazzled but put together performances of historical significance, etching their names into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s record books.
Koivunen’s elite production
When Penguins president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas traded away Jake Guentzel last March, he fetched a considerable return package.
In addition to a pair of 2024 draft picks, one of which was used to select defenseman Harrison Brunicke 44th overall, Dubas received NHL winger Michael Bunting, college prospect Cruz Lucius, a minor-league forward in Ponomarev and Koivunen, a Finnish winger at the time playing professionally in Liiga, the nation’s top league.
Bunting was flipped to the Nashville Predators at this recent trade deadline, and Lucius remains at Arizona State. Ponomarev has found a respectable amount of success in the AHL this season.
But of the bunch, Koivunen perhaps intrigued Dubas the most, and so far through his North American hockey debut, the 21-year-old Finn has impressed.
Koivunen led Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in points (55) and assists (34), contributing 21 goals, and was called up to the NHL earlier this week.
What’s more, Koivunen, a 5-foot-11 left-handed shot, leads AHL rookies in scoring and is tied for sixth in total points.
Koivunen already has recorded the fourth-most points produced by a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rookie in franchise history.
With four more points, he can pass Matt Murley, who had 58 points in 2006-07, and Tom Kostopoulos, the Penguins’ current director of player development, who also managed 58 back in 1999-2000, for third place.
Holding the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton record for most points by a rookie is Toby Petersen, who had 67 in 2000-01, with Daniel Sprong’s 65 in 2017-18 ranking second.
Murashov’s streak
Until late last summer, Murashov was an intriguing Penguins prospect putting up solid numbers half a world away in Russia.
Then, the 20-year-old fourth-round (No. 118 overall) draft pick in 2022 turned pro and formally joined the Penguins organization.
Before long, he was making waves in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers, setting a franchise and league record with 13 consecutive wins between Nov. 6 and Jan. 8.
No goalie in ECHL history had won so many games in a row, and Murashov had also set a Nailers rookie record for his undefeated stretch.
Murashov, named an ECHL All-Star, made his AHL debut in mid-October this season and since has bounced between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling.
Of late, he’s settled into a regular role with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’s continued to shatter records.
On March 22, Murashov set a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton record for most consecutive wins by a rookie goalie with 10, surpassing two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray, who won nine straight from Feb. 3-20, 2015.
With a win against the Wolf Pack on March 26, Murashov won his 11th consecutive AHL game, tying John Curry (2008-09) for the most in a row by a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton netminder.
This season, Murashov has gone 11-0-0 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .916 save percentage at the AHL level.
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At the ECHL level, he is 17-7-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .922 save percentage.