The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins head to Ohio to take on the Cleveland Monsters for a pair of games this weekend.
Music to Set the Mood…
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Another First Wave staple on SiriusXM.
A Quote…
It means nothing to me, I have no opinion about it, and I don’t care.
— Pablo Picasso
Apropos nothing, ran across this one this week. The New York Times asked Picasso about the moon landing and he offered up that quote. It stuck with me. Everyone has to have an opinion about everything these days. I usually don’t because honestly, I don’t care.
The Setup
Two in Cleveland. It’s the yearly trip where they usually leave day early, stop in Pittsburgh for practice in Cranberry, PA, talk with media there and move on to Cleveland.
Friday’s game starts at 7, Saturday’s game starts at 4.
Last week the Penguins blew out the Springfield Thunderbirds, then swept the Bridgeport Islanders in a home and home. Providence stumbled, and the Pens cut the deficit to the Bruins lead on the division to two. More on the P-Bruins in a minute.
The Monsters beat the Toronto Marlies in a pair of games this past weekend and beat the Rochester Americans this past Wednesday. They have won three straight and are 7-2-1 in their last ten games.
Records
Wilkes-Barre is 35-13-3-2 with 75 points and second in the Atlantic Division.
Cleveland is 28-16-6-1 with 63 points and third in the North Division.
The Rest of Those Rascals…
Providence stumbled last week, tightening things up between them and the Penguins. After beating Belleville 5-2 Friday, they lost to the two non-playoff Atlantic Division teams in Springfield and Hartford and saw their 13 game win streak turn into a two game losing streak. They got back to winning ways with a 6-4 win in Allentown Wednesday. They host Bridgeport for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday. The Bruins are 39-10-1 and have 79 points and lead the division. They will shake out with three games in hand on the Penguins when the dust settles Sunday night.
Charlotte split with Syracuse in Syracuse last weekend and lost in overtime against Bridgeport on Wednesday. They are in Springfield Friday and Saturday and have a 29-17-4 record in third with 62 points. I think you may be okay if you pencil them in for third come mid-April.
Hershey got smoked by Lehigh Valley at home last weekend twice but got back to winning ways on Wednesday when they hosted Utica. They head to Rockford, IL this weekend. The Bears are 23-20-6-2 and have 54 points.
Bridgeport is next and I gave you their body of work above. They are 22-23-3-4 with 51 points and head to Providence this weekend. If they want to be considered a playoff threat, they need to win these games or play the Bruins close.
Lehigh Valley I also gave you above as to their ventures this past week. They are 23-23-2-2 and have 50 points in sixth place. The Phantoms host Hartford for a pair this weekend and then head to Utica Tuesday.
Springfield beat Bridgeport in a shootout last Friday then beat Providence clean. I think they are primed to unseat either Lehigh Valley or Bridgeport as a playoff team but have to get past a tough Charlotte team this weekend at home. 20-25-4-2 with 46 points is their record.
Hartford lost a close one to Utica last Friday, shutout Belleville then beat Providence. I don’t think they are out of it but they need to win games. They are in Allentown this weekend. They have a 19-25-4-2 record and have 44 points.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Up: Avery Hayes; recalled Monday.
Down: Several. Ryan McAllister went to Wheeling Monday, Raivis Ansons, Nolan Renwick, Emil Pieniniemi and Scooter Brickey followed on Tuesday.
Out: Just Zach Gallant, day to day with an upper body injury. Intrepid reporter Mike Flynn let me know this week that he froze his ass off watching the Penguins practice this past Tuesday and saw no red jerseys. Melvin Fernstrom left the game Sunday with apparent injury, but he may be good to go.
Are they 100% healthy? It’s looking like it.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Cleveland isn’t a pushover. Will the Penguins be favorites in the playoffs? I think so. Avoid Charlotte and I think you are okay. Do I like their chances in a Best of Seven Eastern Conference Final against a North Division opponent? I do not. Here are your suspects:
Laval: Don’t know, haven’t played them yet. They lead the division by seven points.
Syracuse: Nope. Crunch in six. I think they wear the Penguins down.
Cleveland: Best matchup I think, Penguins can win a series in five or six I think.
Toronto / Rochester: I like them over Rochester, but Rochester has to watch they don’t fall out.
Okay so maybe I have talked myself into a pathway to a Calder Cup Final, but they have to avoid Charlotte, Syracuse and maybe Laval.
The Monsters at home are okay, just 14-6-4-1. I think I favor the Penguins here because they have been head and shoulders one of the best teams in the League vs. a Cleveland team who are a good North Division team. Zoom out and take the better team in the League. But be careful.
They see the standings and know Providence is faltering and have injuries in goal. I think they understand the assignment here.
Who’s in Goal?
Sergei Murashov goes tonight, Joel Blomqvist goes Saturday.
Ivan Fedotov goes tonight, Zach Sawchenko goes Saturday.
Who’s Running the Show?
Stephen Hiff and Koletrane Wilson on Friday with Dylan Blujus and Craig Ford on the lines.
Chris Conway tags in for Hiff, Chad Fuller tags in for Blujus on Saturday.
Looking Ahead…
March. They host Springfield Wednesday then are in Syracuse Friday.
NASCAR Soccer Balls…
SVG at COTA on Sunday. NYCFC over Philly from a mild Chester 2-0 on Sunday also.
Give us a bold prediction…
What’s that, another hat trick you say? One of them gets one. My pennies are on Rutger McGroarty.
25 save shutout for Sergei Murashov, his third of the season.
11 of the Penguins 18 skaters recorded a point.
They are getting healthier.
2/4 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill.
But, consider the opponent. It’s Bridgeport, who has played better and is a bit improved, but will only be a 5 or 6 seed in the playoffs, if we are being brutally honest. Call me again when they do this against Syracuse, Rochester or Charlotte.
But that’s the pessimist in me, this was a good solid win, so let’s get into it.
Here’s how they lined up. Bridgeport didn’t post lines.
Warmups are underway, and this is how we’re looking on this snowy day ⬇️
Lineup Notes: They are getting healthy. Ryan McAllister came off the injured list but was a scratch. Alex Alexeyev is still ill, just Zach Gallant (upper body, day to day) and Raivis Ansons (week to week, upper) are injured.
Today, Gabe Klassen was back in the lineup after missing the last two as a healthy scratch, as was Rafaël Harvey-Pinard for Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen. Read into what you will on the Hayes scratch and Koppanen I think is part of the veteran rule. On defense Emil Pieniniemi and Finn Harding were back in for Chase Pietila and Scooter Brickey.
First Period: The Islanders had a late push where they owned possession time which kin dot forced the Penguins into taking a penalty. A Filip Hållander shorthanded rush up ice was denied by Henrik Tikkanen.
Second Period: The penalty kill from the first bled into the second but it was handled by the Penguins. Then Tanner Howe, who quietly has compiled a hell of a last few weeks, scores to put the Penguins ahead 1-0.
Kemp has three this season, all against Bridgeport.
Third Period: The Penguins ran away with things in the period but it came at the expense of Melvin Fernstrom.
Travis Mitchell hit Fernstrom with a shoulder to shoulder hit which thrust Fernstrom into the boards by the Penguins bench. A 5:00 major and game misconduct was assessed to Mitchell for boarding which put the Pens on a 5:00 power play.
Gabe Klassen and Aidan McDonough scored, set up by Ville Koivunen and Harvey-Pinard, respectively.
The only question would be whether Murashov would get a shutout or not and while he was tested late, he did earn the shutout.
Three Stars: 3) Sergei Murashov (25 saves) 2) Phil Kemp (goal) 1) Tanner Howe (goal)
The Good: Seemed like a team win, everyone pulling in the same direction, all for the common good.
The Bad: Can’t nitpick a shutout, so let’s nitpick special teams. I didn’t like them when they were on the 5:00 major, Bridgeport got too many looks in a 2-0 game.
Turning Point: The 5:00 major power play netted them two goals, and helped them run away and get them the win.
Around the Division: Providence had a 13 game winning streak coming into Saturday and at the close of business Sunday they now have a 2 game losing streak after Hartford beats the Bruins 5-2.
Standings: Providence 77 – Penguins 75 – Charlotte 61 – Hershey 52 – Lehigh Valley 50 – Bridgeport 49 – Springfield 46 – Hartford 44
Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.
Video Highlights:
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The P-Bruins will burn off one of their four games in hand on the Penguins when they travel to Allentown to take on the Phantoms on Wednesday. Charlotte will be in Bridgeport Wednesday also.
Wilkes-Barre will be out in Cleveland next weekend. I’ll talk to you Friday with the Weekend Preview.
I didn’t put too much stock when the Bridgeport Islanders scored first Saturday night. It happens all the time for them.
I started to worry, though, when the Islanders scored again to go up 2-0.
But my worried were allayed when the Penguins scored twice to tie the game at two heading into the first intermission.
Then the Penguins scored again, then again, but a Liam Foudy shorthanded goal shifted momentum in a big way, but the Penguins held on in a too close for comfort type of an affair.
Wilkes-Barre wins 4-3 to draw within four points of the Providence Bruins who had their thirteen game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Springfield Thunderbirds Saturday. The Bruins still have four games in hand on the Penguins.
Here’s how they lined up. The Islanders are one of a handful of teams that don’t post a lineup graphic.
Lineup Notes: Matt Dumba and Scooter Brickey for Emil Pieniniemi on defense and Aidan McDonough for Rafaël Harvey-Pinard at forward.
First Period: Adam Beckman’s shot while there were Islanders buzzing around Joel Blomqvist’s crease goes in and the Islanders take an early 1-0 lea at 6:06.
Then a Julien Gauthier goal comes when an Ethan Bear shot misses the net entirely, caroms hard off the back wall straight to Gauthier who had a step on Blomqvist and into a wide open net at 7:55 that gave Bridgeport a 2-0 lead.
Not a lot of action to write home about here. Tristan Broz fought Daylan Kuefer, that was all.
Third Period: Weird sequence here. Ville Koivunen rips a shot that rings iron, referee Jack Young washes it out, play continues.
Matt Dumba who was on the ie was adamant that the shot resulted in a goal and at the next stoppage, Young and Patrick Hanrahan review on the iPad at the scorers table and, well…
Good goal. They had to put about :50 or so seconds back on the clock.
But, a dumb D-to-D pass by Matt Dumba while the Penguins were on the only power play of the game results in Liam Foudy posting up the pass and taking the puck all the way in for a shorthanded goal.
Special teams remain an abject, top to bottom, disaster.
A rejected blog headline was “Brickey Wall” – but where I was going here was there was a late sequence where, with Jeremy Smith pulled for the Islanders, a puck gets past Blomqvist but it’s Scooter Brickey’s stick that prevents the puck from crossing the line.
Hanrahan and Young reviewed this on the iPad and this time, their suspicions turned out to be correct, no goal.
Three Stars: 3) Tanner Howe (two goals) 2) Sebastian Aho (goal) 1) Ville Koivunen (goal)
The Good: They gritted out a win that this time, I think they deserved.
The Bad: Special teams continues to be an issue.
Turning Point: The Koivunen goal gets it here because it ultimately ended up getting them the win.
Standings: Providence 77 – Penguins 73 – Charlotte 61 – Hershey 52 – Lehigh Valley 50 – Bridgeport 49 – Springfield 46 – Hartford 42
Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off. They play again Wednesday.
Video Highlights:
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The Sunday game in Bridgeport was moved up to 3 p.m. because of the weather. I’m actually happy to see that because I don’t like Sunday games in general, and a 5 p.m. start would have been brutal anyway.
Makes NHL debut, scores on first shot, scores another goal.
Returns to AHL, records hat trick against Hershey.
KO’s Zach Aston-Reese this past Sunday.
Yet another hat trick, Wednesday in Springfield.
You can probably call Hayes King Midas, as everything this kid touches is turning to gold.
Wilkes-Barre / Scranton romps the Springfield Thunderbirds 7-2 Wednesday night behind the Avery Hayes hat trick. Tanner Howe and Ville Koivunen also scored a pair of goals and Sergei Murashov stopped 30 shots.
I looked up the stat that Providence is 17-3 against the Thunderbirds, Hartford and Bridgeport this season so far. Well the Penguins are now 30-9-0-1 against Atlantic Division competition this season. That’s not bad, and it has them solidly in second place in the division.
Lineup Notes: First of all, shout out to the graphics department in Springfield, that lineup graphic is clean.
Filip Hållander made his debut for the Penguins this season on a two week conditioning stint. Atley Calvert was also back in after a scratch Sunday at home against Cleveland. Aidan McDonough and Gabe Klassen came out of the lineup.
Sebastian Aho made his return after missing 19 games (his last game was December 27) for Matt Dumba.
On Dumba, he is out with an upper body injury, likely getting new teeth this week and hopeful it’s not a broken jaw or worse.
Alex Alexeyev is ill, not injured. Thanks to Mike Flynn who let me know that Alexeyev was a full participant in practice Tuesday. Ryan McAllister and Zach Gallant (also out with upper body injuries) skated after everyone left the ice. No sign of Dumba or the other guy Raivis Ansons who is still week to week with an upper body injury.
Not announced yet by the team, but the Wednesday ECHL Transactions have Scooter Brickey and Nolan Renwick on the way back to Wilkes-Barre which is curious, considering Hållander is here for at least two weeks and they are relatively healthy-ish on defense. Unless there is a Pittsburgh recall or recalls coming when the NHL returns from Olympic break soon.
Phew, that’s like a blog post.
First Period: Disaster start for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, who see Springfield score on their first shot of the game with Theo Lindstein scoring just :33 in…
But that cold slap in the face woke up the Penguins, as they would rattle off four goals in the period, chasing Will Cranley after the fourth goal.
Immediately after the Lindstein goal, Avery Hayes scores to tie the game at one. Moments later, Ville Koivunen scores at 1:44 to make it 2-1 and then a boffo sequence by Cranley and his defensemen where Cranley goes behind his net to play a puck, he crosses up his pass to the defenseman and there’s Avery Hayes like Johnny on the Spot to score into a wide open net and then Cranley gets the hook finally when Koivunen finds daylight in the slot to score his second of the period.
So two of your best players carry the mail in the period. It’s a beautiful thing.
Shots were a head shaking 11-10 in favor of the Thunderbirds, despite the 4-1 lead for the Penguins.
Second Period: If you thought the game was over, you didn’t pay attention to the Weekend Preview I ran earlier in the day where I informed you that the Thunderbirds scored 14 goals across two games in Iowa this past weekend. They are an offensively potent team.
Dillon Dube motors past Finn Harding and steps by Sebastian Aho on a power play to cut the deficit to two on a power play.
Penguins had a late power play that they squandered and I did not like the way the period broke at all, but it was two goal lead heading into the…
Third Period: I think the message got across properly as the Penguins turned a close, two goal lead into a three goal explosion in the third to run away from Springfield and turned the game into a laugher.
Hayes gets his hat trick and then Tanner Howe nets a pair.
Was that the same spot? It looked like it. Nice pass by Aho there also.
Sergei Murashov stopped a Hugh McGing penalty shot, the first time that Murashov has had to stop a penalty shot in the AHL.
Three Stars: 3) Tanner Howe (two goals) 2) Ville Koivunen (two goals) 1) Avery Hayes (hat trick)
The Good: This week is a good week to wash the stink away from last weekend. I would say that tonight was a good start.
The Bad: Powerplay and penalty kill continue to be an issue. 0/3 on the power play and 3/4 on the penalty kill. They made up for that with offense and the play of Sergei Murashov.
Turning Point: Hayes’ third goal gets it here. If Springfield scores a third to make it 4-3, the dynamic of this game changes considerably.
Standings: Providence 75 – Penguins 71 – Charlotte 59 – Hershey 52 – Bridgeport 48 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Springfield 42 – Hartford 40
Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.
Video Highlights: If they are going to be posted it will be on the Thunderbirds YouTube page. That’s a nice way of saying that at 10 o’clock on Wednesday, they aren’t up yet.
Friday off, see you Saturday at home against the Islanders.
Just checking on how many of these Weekend Previews I have rolled out so far this season and this one is the nineteenth!
Music to Set the Mood…
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This one comes on SiriusXM First Wave every now and then.
Also, listen to that synth. This is April of 1985! Hardcastle was ahead of his time!
A Quote…
Perseverance is falling 19 times and succeeding the 20th.
— Julie Andrews
The Setup…
Weekday trip to Springfield and then another Friday off then a home and home with the Bridgeport Islanders.
Winnable games, sure.
The Penguins played their worst game of the season on Friday when they had their heads handed to them by the Syracuse Crunch and lost 5-0. They had just 16 shots on goal all game! They returned on Sunday for an afternoon home game with the Cleveland Monsters and lost in overtime 4-3.
Springfield was in Iowa this past weekend and won both games 6-3 and 8-6. After hosting the Penguins on Wednesday, Bridgeport comes in Friday, Providence comes in Saturday.
Bridgeport lost both games to the Providence Bruins this past weekend 4-2 and then 3-2 in overtime. They hosted the Utica Comets on Tuesday and won 2-1. They will be in Springfield on Friday night before heading to Wilkes-Barre for Saturday.
Records
The Penguins are second in the Atlantic Division with a 32-13-3-2 record and 69 points. Springfield has a 18-24-4-2 record in seventh good for 42 points and Bridgeport sits fifth with a 21-21-3-3 record good for 48points.
Bridgeport can’t beat Providence at all and play the Bruins a lot, imagine where the Islanders would be if they won, say, half of the games that they played against the Bruins.
The Rest of those Rascals….
You want to see Providence run away from you if they win their games in hand on the Penguins. The Bruins have four games in hand on the Penguins coming into the week. You do not want to see the Bruins slip away from you when you embarrass yourself in front of a big crowd Saturday when they win and then lose in overtime when they win in overtime, which is exactly what happened for the Bruins against the Islanders this week. Providence is an eye popping 37-8-1 with 75 points and lead the division and are tied for the league’s best. They have a very Providence three in three where they host Belleville on Friday, then travel 90 minutes to Springfield Saturday and then host Hartford on Sunday.
Charlotte lost to the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-2 on Saturday then the roof leaked at Bojangles Coliseum and the Sunday game was pushed to Monday and the Checkers hung nine goals in a 9-0 win against the Wolf Pack where Hartford had just 20 shots on goal. Woof. The Checkers are 27-16-3 and have 57 points in third. They, too, have four games in hand on the Penguins. The Checkers are in Rochester Wednesday then in Syracuse for a pair Friday and Saturday. They are not home again until the middle of March.
Hershey had a semi-OK weekend where they lost 6-1 in Laval Friday, won 6-3 in Belleville on Saturday and lost in Belleville on Monday. The Bears are 21-18-6-2 good for 50 points and fourth in the division and have a trip to Toronto on Wednesday before returning home for a pair against Lehigh Valley on Friday and Saturday.
Lehigh Valley lost both games they played to Cleveland and Syracuse this past weekend and are 21-22-2-2 in sixth in the division with 46 points and have a pair in Hershey this weekend.
Hartford, I gave you above with the Charlotte mention. How do you lose 9-0? The Wolf Pack host Utica Friday, Belleville Saturday and finish off their three in three weekend with a trip to Providence. The Wolf Pack have a 17-24-4-2 record and 40 points.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Up: No one as the NHL is on Olympic break for a few more days.
Down: Scooter Brickey and Nolan Renwick went to Wheeling last weekend.
Out: Ryan McAllister, Zach Gallant are out with upper body injuries Alex Alexeyev went back to on the injury list, Raivis Ansons (week to week, upper) is also there too. I forgot about Sebastian Aho, he’s there as well.
Conditioning: Filip Hallander was assigned five minutes before the preview went up at 11 a.m. to Wilkes-Barre for a two week conditioning stint.
Joona Koppanen came off the injured list and played in both games for the Penguins.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Cleveland and Syracuse are stiff North Division competition as any team in that Division has to be because one bad weekend and you fall a few spots. Springfield can be beat and Bridgeport may give you a stiffer fight but the Northeast corner of the Atlantic Division is full of really bad teams (Hartford, Springfield) and when you have a really good team like Providence that can feast on three teams they just pummel that explains why the Bruins are head and shoulders above everyone in the division, the Penguins included.
The Penguins will likely have a tough week of practice and video review this week and should, hypothetically, be re-dialed in to feast on some average to below average competition that is on their schedule this week.
You can start to worry if they only take two out of a possible six points, while Charlotte pursues from behind and Providence gets smaller and smaller in the windshield.
I Looked Up a Stat…
The Providence Bruins are 17-3 against Springfield (4-2) Hartford (5-1) and Bridgeport (8-0) this season.
Hey Ma, We are on TV!
Wednesday’s game will be on NHL Network, Saturday’s game will air across the AHL’s socials.
Who’s in Goal?
I would let Joel Blomqvist wash off the stink that was Sunday where he was pulled after giving up the third goal, but I think Sergei Murashov is the bonafide number one so you let him take Wednesday and Saturday and then let Blomqvist start Sunday.
Vadim Zherenko, Marcus Högberg and Henrik Tikkanen is my guess for the competition this week.
Who’s Running the Show?
Jim Curtin and Johnny Daniels have the job Wednesday in Springfield with Jack McQuesten and Trevor Disbennett on the lines. You’ll never get a bad word out of the work that Curtin puts in, he’s a fine AHL referee.
Jack Young and Patrick Hanrahan have Saturday’s duties with John Rey and Bill Lyons on the lines. Sunday sees Young in tow to Bridgeport where he meets up with Ben Betker. Jake Herzog and Kevin Briganti work the lines.
Looking Ahead…
A trip to Cleveland, next Friday at 7, next Saturday at 4.
Automobile Race Choice…
I joked about it with last weekends Preview but had a few people come up to me last weekend and said they liked me throwing a Daytona 500 pick in here in the blog so what the hell, let’s run with it.
They are going to ringing the sigh-reen in Dawsonville, Georgia when Chase Elliott wins at Atlanta this weekend.
Any Soccer Heads?
NYCFC kicks off their MLS season with a big 2-1 win out in Los Angeles against the Galaxy on Sunday.
Okay, blog boy, give me your bold prediction for the Penguins!
They win all three and in one they score a power play goal in overtime.
In what seemed like a 12 round prize fight where you had two really good teams exchanging blows all fight, it was Cleveland Monsters Captain Brendan Gaunce’s overtime game winning goal that puts the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins down for the 10 count as they lose 4-3 in overtime Sunday afternoon.
There was a lot to like in comparison to Saturday’s fiasco, but that is clearing a low bar. The Providence Bruins keep winning, and they did again today in overtime against Bridgeport and extend their lead on the Penguins even more now.
I heard someone say that the Penguins are happy with being in second and I think that’s a lie. Why would you be content with second? They want to win the division, but with the games in hand Providence has and the points lead, coupled with the fact they can’t seem to lose, it’s an uphill battle. Maybe in mid-April with a handful of games left, sure I may agree with you but not when you have a whole half of the season to go yet.
Lineup Notes: Aaron Huglen for Atley Calvert was the only lineup change.
First Period: Shades of the night before, the visitors get an early goal, this time with Max McCue scoring his first of the season that gave the Monsters an early 1-0 lead…
I think that something needed to be done as a culmination of how the weekend and this game in particular had gone. Not so much an indictment on the play of Blomqvist as much as an indictment of the team in whole.
It seemed to work because the Monsters didn’t get another shot in the period but the Penguins didn’t score either.
The punching and counterpunching continued but the Pens were down on all the cards heading into the…
Third Period: The Penguins lost Matt Dumba in the second period after Dumba took a puck straight in the mouth that cast some of his teeth onto the ice. That means that they had to go five defensemen.
Emil Pieniniemi stepped up and scored his first goal of the season that tied the game at three.
Three Stars: 3) Mikael Pyyhtiä (goal) 2) Ville Koivunen (goal, assist) 1) Brendan Gaunce (goal, two assists)
The Good: In spite of the weekend, they got a point that they probably didn’t deserve.
The Bad: How much time to I have? The power play is a disaster despite scoring on one today and now the penalty kill is slipping into a bad area as well. Despite having a goal and and assist, I thought Ville Koivunen had a frustrating weekend and was selfish in overtime when he could have passed to Hayes for a good opportunity.
Turning Point: Gaunce’s goal gets it here, as they normally do.
Around the Division: Gave you the Providence result at the top. It was 2-0 Providence, Bridgeport made a goalie change, scored the next two, but the Bruins win 3-2 in overtime….Hartford and Charlotte got postponed to tomorrow on account of a leaky roof in Charlotte and Lehigh Valley loses 3-1 to Syracuse.
Standings: Providence 75 – Penguins 69 – Charlotte 55 – Hershey 50 – Bridgeport and Lehigh Valley 46 – Springfield 42 – Hartford 40
Wheeling Update: Nailers and Reading Royals are tied late as this goes up at 7 p.m. Sunday. Box here.
Video Highlights:
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Back at it Wednesday in Springfield. Weekend Preview here around lunchtime Wednesday. Talk to you then.
Not much to this one, a 5-0 Syracuse Crunch throttling of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins on Saturday night where the Penguins put up a tepid 16 shots on goal the entire game. Light and easy work for Syracuse goaltender Brandon Halverson, who wasn’t tested at all and wasn’t named one of the three stars.
No, that honor went to Cooper Flinton, who had a pair of goals and was named first star of the game.
Just an absolute, lifeless, tepid effort out of the Penguins who do not match up well against Syracuse and Charlotte, two teams I do not give them any shot at getting past if they meet in a Calder Cup Playoffs matchup.
Nothing went right, every line sucked, and Sergei Murashov is the only reason the game wasn’t 15-0.
Here’s how they lined up, I’ll give the Syracuse goals and then let’s toss this one in the bin where it belongs and get ready for Cleveland on Sunday.
Lineup Notes: Tanner Howe and Joona Koppanen (back from injury) for Aaron Huglen and Nolan Renwick up front, Emil Pieniniemi for Alex Alexeyev on defense. Renwick and Scooter Brickey were sent back to Wheeling earlier in the day. Alex Alexeyev was listed again as injured.
Okay Blog Boy, show me the Syracuse Goals: Flinton got the scoring started for the Crunch at 8:10
In the second, :15 into a Pieniniemi offensive zone penalty, Dylan Duke nets his league leading 14th power play goal (he’s tied with other players) that made it 3-0.
They put up more of a defensive pushback in the period, but received no offense.
They score two goals four minutes apart in the third period on a back end of a two man advantage as Mitchell Chaffee scored and then Cooper Flinton scored his brace that made it 5-0.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 