The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins held a quick skate this morning at the Coal Street Rink, before getting on the bus again. This time the destination is Syracuse, New York, for Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals tomorrow night.
The team had a full skate with all three goaltenders on the roster as well as all of the Black Aces squad. Not practicing today were forwards Chad Kolarik, Zach Sill and Jayson Megna and defenseman Dylan Reese.
Head coach John Hynes said that Kolarik and Sill were fine, while adding that Reese and Megna are "day-to-day".
That being said, I would imagine that Megna won't be in the lineup tomorrow and the WBS 4th line will become Zach Sill centering Dominik Uher and Chris Minella.
Bobby Farnham, who left Game Five last Saturday night, skated in a red no-contact jersey. I don't think he'll be ready for Game One tomorrow night either.
The blog is busy today as I will have my third round edition of Know Your Opponent: The Syracuse Crunch posted tonight. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll break down the series, the matchups and offer up a prediction. Tomorrow night I'll post the Game One Preview complete with starting goaltenders, WBS line combinations & defense pairings and more.
After the jump, a sort of double-feature on defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson, former teammates at Boston College and current defensive pairing with the AHL Penguins.
The "BC" Boys on the Blue Line
Teammates at Boston College from 2009-2011, Philip Samuelsson and Brian Dumoulin were re-united as teammates with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins following Dumoulin's trade this past summer to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization in a move that sent then NHL Penguins forward Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes.
While not often paired together in the AHL like they were in college, Samuelsson and Dumoulin find themselves entering the Eastern Conference Finals paired together as the top blue line tandem, heavily relied upon to shut down their opponents top offensive counterparts.
"It's definitely something I enjoy," Samuelsson said of the increased role, adding "it's the kind of player I want to be going forward and there's no better time than the playoffs to prove that you can do that so I think I'll be enjoying the challenge."
While Samuelsson is in his second pro season, Dumoulin is in his rookie season as a pro. It's safe to say both are gaining valuable exprience this season as the Penguins open up third round playoff action tomorrow night in Syracuse.
"We were teammates at BC and we're roommates now so we know each other pretty well," Dumoulin said. "Sammy (Samuelsson) and I seem to be playing well together so things are going well right now."
One of the main reasons the Penguins were able to make the historic comeback from down 3-0 last series to make it to the final four was the commitment to team defense as well as shutting down the opponent's top offensive threats - a challenge that both Samuelsson and Dumoulin are looking forward to.
"They're a good offensive team," Dumoulin said of third round opponent Syracuse, "so everyone is going to have to play a good solid game. I'm excited about the challenge, hopefully we can shut them down."
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