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Happy birthday James Bombay Teitelbaum!

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TruTV star Michael Carbonaro brings magic to Wilkes-Barre’s F.M. Kirby Center

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Things couldn&#8217;t have gone much better for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during their weekend trip to Canada to play the St. John&#8217;s IceCaps.</p><p>The Penguins returned to the ice at the Toyota Sportsplex Wednesday after taking three of a possible four points &#8212; a 6-2 victory and a 3-2 overtime loss &#8212; during against St. John&#8217;s. Now the Penguins turn their focus to three games in three days this weekend, with back-to-back home games Friday and Saturday against the Hershey Bears before traveling to Bridgeport for a 5 p.m. tilt against the Sound Tigers on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;We had a couple days off &#8212; a long travel day and then a day off yesterday &#8212; but got out there. Was a good practice today,&#8221; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton center Kevin Porter said after Wednesday&#8217;s practice. &#8220;Got a good sweat in. It&#8217;s good to get back out on the ice.&#8221;</p><p>If anything, the Penguins are coming away from the trip to Newfoundland and Labrador with a strong confidence in their power play. Four of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s eight goals on the trip were scored on the power play.</p><p>&#8220;I think we kept it simple,&#8221; Porter said of the power play. &#8220;We started to get more shots to the net, and guys are starting to get to the net and banging rebounds. We&#8217;re not looking for the pretty play, we&#8217;re just looking to score goals and just bang in rebounds and get those crappy goals that no one wants to get in front of the net where you&#8217;re getting slashed and cross-checked. We&#8217;re starting to get those and we&#8217;re just working hard.&#8221;</p><p>The Penguins are looking forward to getting back on home ice for the first time since Nov. 26, a 1-0 victory against Bridgeport.</p><p>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t seen Hershey at home yet, which is nice,&#8221; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Chad Ruhwedel said. &#8220;We&#8217;re excited to be back out in front of our own fans and let them help us to a couple big wins.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Familiar faces back</strong></p><p>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is got a pair of difference-makers back on Wednesday in forward Jake Guentzel and defenseman Derrick Pouliot. The two were re-assigned by Pittsburgh in the morning.</p><p>&#8220;Those guys will be coming down and obviously they&#8217;re really good players, and we&#8217;ll inject them into the lineup for sure,&#8221; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Clark Donatelli said.</p><p>Guentzel, who is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s points leader, returns after a five-game stint with Pittsburgh. The forward scored a pair of goals in his Nov. 21 debut against the New York Rangers, and finished with three goals and an assist.</p><p>Pouliot has played three games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. The defenseman was activated from injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury in his lone NHL action on Oct. 20 against the San Jose Sharks.</p><p><strong>Sestito set to debut</strong></p><p>Winger Tom Sestito was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday after starting the season with the parent club, and is expected to make his debut this weekend against Hershey.</p><p>The 6-foot-5 left wing played a large role in the Penguins&#8217; Calder Cup playoffs run last season, registering four points in seven games. Donatelli is expecting Sestito to play a big role while with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s down, he&#8217;s in great shape,&#8221; Donatelli said of Sestito. &#8220;He had a fresh practice here with us and worked extremely hard and had a good conversation with him. He&#8217;s ready to go. He&#8217;s going to help up us. He&#8217;s a big guy with really great hands and in great shape.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re looking for more the same when he came down last year in the playoffs and played really well for us.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Injury update</strong></p><p>Donatelli provided an update on right wing Carter Rowney, who suffered an upper-body injury during the Nov. 25 win at Bridgeport. He&#8217;s considered week-to-week and is not expected to play this weekend.</p><p>&#8220;Maybe next week we can get him, but if not we&#8217;ll get him after break,&#8221; Donatelli said of Rowney. &#8220;No re-aggravation, just hit or miss on it. We&#8217;re still waiting to see.&#8221;</p><p>Donatelli also shined the light on Thomas Di Pauli&#8217;s situation. The center recently underwent back surgery and his recovery is expected to take 10-12 weeks.</p><p>&#8220;He was going day-to-day and he was playing with it, and we decided to have it done. He ended up going to Pittsburgh and ended up getting it done,&#8221; Donatelli said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be without Carter Rowney this weekend when they host Hershey Friday and Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL030716Penguins1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be without Carter Rowney this weekend when they host Hershey Friday and Saturday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Pens-1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">With Jake Guentzel re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Wednesday, the Penguins will get their points leader back just in time for a weekend series with the Hershey Bears. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Pens-1-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>With Jake Guentzel re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Wednesday, the Penguins will get their points leader back just in time for a weekend series with the Hershey Bears. </caption1><photoCredit1>Gene J. Puskar | AP photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong><strong></strong></p><p>Friday: Penguins vs. Hershey, 7:05 p.m.</p><p>Saturday: Penguins vs. Hershey, 7:05 p.m.</p><p>Sunday: Penguins at Bridgeport, 5 p.m.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WBS Penguins return home after successful trip to Canada