The Baby Penguins’ magical season came to an abrupt and disappointing end last night at Mohegan Arena in Game Six of their Calder Cup Eastern Conference Final series against the more seasoned Toronto Marlies.
Ex-Baby Pen and Penguin forward Alex Nylander inserted the dagger against his former team, beating Sergei Murashov (37 saves) at 13:44 of overtime to vanquish our kids by a 2-1 margin.
The Baby Pens snagged the early lead on a power-play goal by Aidan McDonough at 6:26 of the first period, but were unable to pad their advantage against Toronto goalie Artur Akhtyamov, who made 39 saves and was exceptional throughout the six-game set. Easton Cowen knotted the score for the Marlies at 9:11 of the second frame, setting the stage for Nylander’s game- and series-winner.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now attended the game and wrote an excellent summary of the proceedings, including insightful reviews of many of the Baby Pens I’d highlighted in yesterday’s PP article. Here’s a link to Dan’s recap, “It’s Over. What We Learned from Penguins Prospects’ Playoff Run.”
Well worth the read.
The defeat brings the final curtain down on the 2025-26 season for the Penguins’ organization. The Wheeling Nailers were vanquished by the Florida Everblades in Game Five of the ECHL Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Final on May 30.
Hey all.
In a matter totally unrelated to the Pens, the Kings apparently are set to hire Peter Laviolette as their new head coach. I have to admit, a bit of a head scratcher.
That’s not to say Laviolette isn’t a good coach. He won a Cup with Carolina back in the day and is the winningest American-born coach in NHL history. However, his last two coaching stints with the Caps and the Rangers, after starting quite well, went south pretty quickly.
Then again, the Kings’ GM is old-schooler Ken Holland, whose rep is on the wane these days.
Surprise No. 2. According to reports, the Oilers are considering hiring Mike Babcock! Again, the GM involved, Stan Bowman, has lost some luster of late.
Especially wild when you consider the success of young up-and-coming coaches like Dan Muse and Spencer Carbery. Makes you applaud Kyle Dubas for having the conviction and courage to hire Muse despite his lack of head coaching experience at the big-league level.
Rick