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Backpack Awareness Day at Chester Street Elementary

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For Hanover Township’s Patty Phillips, running was more than a resolution

<p>Derrick Pouliot notices the zeros on his stat sheet.</p><p>He&#8217;s well aware that in seven games with Pittsburgh and nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton he has yet to register a point.</p><p>But Pouliot isn&#8217;t concerned. In order to get his season, and career, back on track the defenseman has to fine-tune the other parts of his game first.</p><p>The points will come.</p><p>&#8220;You try not to worry about the points and work on the things in your game that you need to,&#8221; Pouliot said after Tuesday&#8217;s practice at the Toyota Sportsplex. &#8220;This year has been all over the place. It&#8217;s just not happening right now as far as points.&#8221;</p><p>Pouliot&#8217;s season has lacked the consistency he hoped for back in the preseason.</p><p>He made Pittsburgh&#8217;s roster out of training camp, sat out the beginning of the season before suffering an injury in his first contest on Oct. 20.</p><p>After a conditioning stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that began on Nov. 22, Pouliot was recalled to Pittsburgh a week later, didn&#8217;t play and was sent down again to play four more games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He went back up to Pittsburgh in mid-December and played six games, posting a minus-3 before returning to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the weekend.</p><p>Pouliot said for right now the biggest hurdle is mental, not physical.</p><p>&#8220;The start of the year was slow. I sat for a bit, then I got injured and sat some more and then I was up and down,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Now, it&#8217;s about staying in one place and getting things back on track.&#8221;</p><p>And that means plenty of ice time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.</p><p>In his last two games, Pouliot posted a plus-1 in a 5-2 loss against Providence and was even in Saturday&#8217;s loss in Binghamton.</p><p>And while he has yet to record a point in nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, head coach Clark Donatelli said that isn&#8217;t the focus.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re working more on his defensive game. The offense will take care of itself,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;The biggest thing with Derrick is playing a lot of minutes and getting his game back. Getting his confidence back.&#8221;</p><p>Pouliot is happy with his play over the last two games. He said he and rookie blueliner Lukas Bengtsson have developed chemistry together and have done a good job creating chances and getting the puck up the ice.</p><p>As far as getting his game back, Pouliot said that will happen as well and he hopes to be a stronger player after going through the period of adversity.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not the first guy that went through this sort of thing,&#8221; Pouliot said. &#8220;Going down the road this is something you look back on and maybe it helps you develop and turns you into a better player.&#8221;</p><p><strong>An all-star behind the bench</strong></p><p>Donatelli will coach the Atlantic Division All-Star team after guiding Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to the best record in the AHL over the first three months of the season. The game will be held on Jan. 30 at the PPL Center in Allentown.</p><p>Donatelli credited his coaching staff and players for helping to attain the honor.</p><p>&#8220;These guys do a lot of work. I just happen to be the guy standing on the bench,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;I&#8217;m representing our staff and our organization, both Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It&#8217;s an honor.&#8221;</p><p>This is the second-straight season that a coach for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will represent the Atlantic Division. Donatelli becomes the fifth coach in Penguins history to lead an All-Star team. He joins Joe Mullen (2006), Todd Richards (2007), John Hynes (2011) and Jay Leach (2016) as Penguins coaches who have manned the bench at the AHL All-Star Classic.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In seven games with Pittsburgh and nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Derrick Pouliot has yet to register a point. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_Pouliot1.jpg</photo0><caption0>In seven games with Pittsburgh and nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Derrick Pouliot has yet to register a point. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger file photo | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Up next&#8230;</strong></p><p>Hartford Wolf Pack (11-17-3-1, 26 points, 7th place in the Atlantic Division) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (21-7-3-0, 45 points, 1st place in the Atlantic Division)</p><p>Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena</p><p>Listen live on 103.1FM-WILK</p><p><strong>Players to watch:</strong></p><p><strong>Hartford </strong>&#8212; Nicklas Jensen leads Hartford with 14 goals and 24 points in 29 games.</p><p><strong>Penguins </strong>&#8212; Oskar Sundqvist has a goal and six points in three games against Hartford this season.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot not worried about lack of offense