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The best play in this game came from someone on the ice that was not a player.

With 5:23 left in the third period of what was a 3-0 Penguins lead, Providence forward Graham Mink decides it is time to tackle and start punching goaltender Brad Thiessen. Naturally, a line brawl ensues. Mink continues his assault on a defenseless Thiessen, when referee Trevor Hanson jumps in and tackles Mink to diffuse the situation any higher than it already had.

The end result for Mink, and ultimately the Providence Bruins, was a 4-0 shutout by the hands of Brad Thiessen and the now resurgent Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Game 6 is Monday night in Providence.

Brad Thiessen vs. Niklas Svedberg. No lineup changes for the Penguins this night.

First Period: Can best be summed up by saying that it looked like Providence wanted to send this to a Game 6 more than the Penguins did. Brian Dumoulin cashed on a rebound of a Brian Gibbons shot to make it 1-0. Then the Pens nearly score again on another rush by Warren Peters. Christian Hanson and Joey Mormina have been going at it all series. Mormina wanted Hanson to fight in Game 5, Hanson wanted no part. Hanson wanted Mormina to fight in Game 6 and gave Joey no choice as Hanson dropped his gloves and started punching Mormina. What became of this for  the Bruins was a Pens 5×3 power play. Trevor Smith scores in the slot after a P-Bruin lost his stick to make it 2-0 Pens. Wheels officially off the bus at that point for Providence, who took four straight penalties to open the game.

Second Period: Things tightened up for the P-Bruins. Not before Bobby Robins gets assessed a 5:00 boarding major. Two big penalty kills late by the Pens to preserve the 2-0 lead heading into the….

Third Period: Adam Payerl scores a goal on a slapshot that plum beat Svedberg. I thought at the time it was a big goal because you almost could feel a Providence goal coming. Thiessen was on his head making saves in scrambles. Pens with another big kill a Peter Merth delay of game call.

Then the gong show happened. Graham Mink falls on Thiessen after a crash play. It takes him a long time, or longer than usual time to get off of Thiessen and back on his feet. This incites the Penguins, Alex Grant  especially. The ensuing faceoff, Thiessen makes another save and all hell breaks loose with Mink on top of Thiessen punching him. Referee Trevor Hanson jumps in, and stops it and things separate. This is what was left of the carnage:

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Thiessen would be fine. Later, the Pens find themselves on a 5-on-3. They score on a Paul Thompson shot. Goalie Nik Svedberg takes exception and two hand slashes Thompson. The same thing nearly breaks out without any punches thrown at Svedberg though. Thiessen makes a pad stop with just about ten seconds left to preserve the shutout and the game ended.

Three Stars: 3) Riley Holzapfel (two assists, +2) 2) Brian Dumoulin (game winning goal, two assists, +1) and 1) Brad Thiessen (30 save shutout)

From the League’s PR, Thiessen has stopped 97 or 100 for a 0.82 GAA and a .970 SV%.

So the series will see a sixth game. The Penguins will need to play like the P-Bruins are on the brink of elimination I think in order to get this to seven on Wednesday.

If anything breaks Sunday as far as suspensions go, I will have an update first on Twitter. Then here on the blog.

If not, see you Monday.

Let’s Go Pens! All In!!!

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Eastern Conference Semifinal — Game 5

AHL Game: I5

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: PRO leads 3-1 (best of seven)

Media Kit

Last Game: Yesterday in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins won 3-1. Joey Mormina had three assists in the game.

Referee(s): Trevor Hanson / Jean Hebert

Linesmen: Tom Geore / Scott Pomento

What to Watch For: If the Penguins play, “their game” they will win tonight. (again) Any deviation off of this and we don’t come back tomorrow.

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / PRO: Nick Gagalis @NickGagalis

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep 

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 6?: A Bruins win wraps the series. A Penguins win and Game 6 is Monday night in Providence.

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I tell you, I had this headline cooked up in my brain right after the Game 3 loss.

I have one if this series gets to six.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins stave off elimination in a 3-1 thriller that has to go down as the best game played for the Pens in the series.

The last two period in Game 2 were great hockey by the Pens, but the deficit was already 4-1 after one period.

In Game 3, the effort was much better, a defensive zone turnover in overtime cost the Pens the game.

Is an 0-3 deficit too big of a hole to climb out of?

Tonight isn’t the night to answer that question.

Brad Thiessen vs. Niklas Svedberg — two lineup changes for the Pens, Bobby Farnham for Christiaan Minella and Peter Merth for Cody Wild.

First Period: Providence opened and possessed the puck like madmen. They score on an Alex Grant turnover. Guess who? Carter Camper banks it off of Thiessen from behind the net to make it 1-0 Bruins. This period would be all about the Bruins manufacturing shots from all areas and the Penguins taking shots that Svedberg could make easy saves on.

Second Period: Pens can’t score on two attempts on a wide open net on the power play. Adam Payerl shuffles a puck to Warren Peters who scores to tie the game at one. Bruins get a power play and almost score. A tired Penguins group of penalty killers are left out after the power play expires and ice the puck.

Here’ where I think the game met its turning point. John Hynes used his timeout to rest the tired bodies on the ice. Before this, Providence was going to score, it was just a matter of when. The timeout worked perfectly because soon after, Merth stretches a pass to Mormina on the far wall who wires a cross ice pass to Holzapfel who one times it in from the low right circle for a 2-1 Wilkes-Barre lead. Providence would take a penalty, and Joey Mormina would slap one home that Chad Kolarik gets a stick on in front to make it 3-1 Pens.

Third Period: Providence opened and rode aggressive puck possession and forecheck pretty much all period. The Penguins did not bend. They shut down two Providence power play attempts in the process as well.

There would be no sweep, instead, Game 5 is tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre.

Huge game by captain Joey Mormina, three assists on the night.

Three Stars: 3) Joey Mormina (three assists, +1) 2) Brad Thiessen (31 saves on 32 shots) and 1) Riley Holzapfel (game winning goal, +2)

Quickly, elsewhere, Syracuse finished off a sweep of the Springfield Falcons winning 5-2 tonight. The Crunch are 7-0 in postseason. Mark French will not be back next season behind the bench for the Hershey Bears. When you are expected to win a Calder Cup every season and do not, a move has to be made.

Anyway, back to this series. Gameday for Game 5 will be up at 3 p.m. Puck drop at 7:05 tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre.

Let’s Go Pens! All In!

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Eastern Conference Semifinal — Game 4

AHL Game: I4

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: PRO leads 3-0 (best of seven)

Media Kit

Last Game: Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins played arguably the best game of the series yet were still defeated in overtime by a score of 2-1. Carter Camper scored :31 into overtime to put the Penguins on the brink of elimination.

Referee(s): Chris Ciamaga / Terry Koharski

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Bob Goodman

What to Watch For: If the Penguins play, “their game” they will win tonight. Any deviation off of this and we don’t come back tomorrow.

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / PRO: Nick Gagalis @NickGagalis

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep 

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 5?: A Bruins win wraps the series. A Penguins win and Game 5 is Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

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I guess the sadistic side of me won out this time.

I had this headline already picked out Sunday. If the Penguins did not win tonight, then “Dark Daze” would be the headline that would run.

Dark Days or Daze, or whatever play on words you want to make of it, indeed.

The Penguins lose this game 2-1 in overtime and now are on the brink of elimination, down 0-3 in this best of seven.

The Penguins played a mighty fine game tonight, and gave the regular season champion Providence Bruins a great run and just did not come out winners this time.

The problem with that, and going forward in the series is that the Penguins have no margin for error. Lose one more and it’s another Spring of disappointment leaving Wilkes-Barre with another sense of what might have been.

Brad Thiessen got the net tonight. He was opposed by Niklas Svedberg. Both netminders played a solid game.

The opening period saw a measured period of hockey by both teams. For it being the third game in a seven game series, neither team wanted to or made a mistake.

Jared Knight would stuff home a shot from the far side after the Penguins had a tired group on the ice to open the scoring in the second period. Initially, I thought this was a good thing, being as though that the team that scored first in the series had gone on to lose both games. Providence really bottled up the Pens in the first half of the second period. They parlayed that into pressure but Thiessen and the Penguins defense kept them out. Then all of a sudden, coming back from a radio timeout, the Pens win the faceoff back to Cody Wild who puts a puck on net that caroms around to finally the stick of Trevor Smith. Tie game. Adam Payerl the next shift nearly makes it 2-1 and just like that the Penguins are the ones getting all the chances and all the offensive zone puck possession.

Both clubs would go into the locker rooms at the end of the third deadlocked at 1-1. It certainly looked like the top two defensive teams in the AHL were duking it out.

Penguins would get their best kill of the series when nabbed for too many men on the ice. Both netminder trade ten bell saves. Penguins nearly score on a fluke after more Providence offensive zone time. Pens get a late power play but don’t score.

Overtime lasts all but :31. A Penguins turnover at their own blue line sees Carter Camper pass to Jordan Caron who dishes to Carter Cunningham. Cunningham shoots, Camper pots the rebound. Ballgame.

I don’t think there is anything necessarily different that the Penguins could have done to win this game. It comes down to puck luck. The Penguins didn’t have it. The Bruins did and they have the 3-0 series lead.

Game 4 is Friday in Wilkes-Barre.

The Boston Red Sox did it in baseball in 2004.
The Philadelphia Flyers did it in hockey in 2010.
Will the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins do it in 2013?

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

To the end….

Let’s Go Pens!

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Eastern Conference Semifinal — Game 3

AHL Game: I3

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: PRO leads 2-0 (best of seven)

Media Kit

Last Game: Saturday in Providence, the Bruins rode a 4-1 first period lead to a 4-2 win and a 2-0 series lead. Chris Bourque had a goal and two assists in the first period alone.

Referee(s): Mark Lemelin / TJ Luxmore

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Bob Goodman

What to Watch For: Do the Penguins of the final 40 minutes from Saturday show up or do the Penguins from the first 80 minutes of the series show up? This is your season pretty much right here.

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / PRO: Nick Gagalis @NickGagalis

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep 

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 4?: Friday in Wilkes-Barre at 7:05

– No idea who is starting in goal for Game 3 Wednesday for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. It’s a good problem to have really, when you have two Class A goaltenders to choose from. If I am Coach Hynes, I give the net to Brad Thiessen until Jeff Zatkoff gives me a reason to give it back to him. Providence scored 12 goals on Zatkoff. Say what you want about the situation, but the Penguins played a much calmer and overall better game in front of Thiessen in the second and third period. And oh, by the way, Thiessen didn’t allow a goal in 40 minutes played.

– No suspension for Warren Peters for his hit on Zach Trotman in Game 2.

– Dylan Reese will not be available for Game 3 tomorrow. He skated Tuesday but won’t tomorrow night at seven.

– Boston recalled D Torey Krug today. This leaves Providence with 5 defensemen. The issue that the Penguins have had in the series hasn’t been anything on the Providence blue line. It’s been Chris Bourque and the deadly Providence power play. The P-Bruins could have rolled out an ECHL blueline and still likely would have won Games 1 and 2.

Elsewhere outside of this series…

– The Hartford Wolf Pack are back. I don’t know why they switched from the Connecticut Whale to Wolf Pack midseason a few seasons ago. Seemed silly to me.

– The Vancouver Canucks, who bought the Peoria Rivermen franchise, will not skate a team full of prospects next season. That means that the Canucks prospects will be spread out all over the AHL next year and the league will retract back to 29 teams unless a last second Hail Mary is called.

– The aforementioned Peoria Rivermen are apparently taking the elevator down three levels to a league called the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) with a team from the Central Hockey League (CHL) named the Bloomington Blaze. I know minor league team movement doesn’t interest nearly as many people as it does interest me, but there is a lot of movement below the AHL in the ECHL possibly gaining two if not three teams and the SPHL expanding and the CHL drying up completely.

Back to this P-Bruins / Penguins series finally, and an op-ed piece from yours truly. We have come way too far in the last couple of seasons for this to be the end of things for a fourteenth season. The summit is not and should not be second round of playoffs and out year after year after year. I am not going to Game 3 tomorrow expecting to lose. I am not going to Game 4 Friday to attend a funeral. This series has to be won on the road. Flashback to July last year and the boatload of talent signed by Pittsburgh earmarked for Wilkes-Barre in the Fall. This team here in the middle of May is still that same team, only better with additions of Derek Nesbitt and Chad Kolarik. We are not out of this series yet. We can, and I expect to win this series in either six or seven games.

Gameday for Game 3 will be here Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

All in.