Chirps from Center Ice

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4                               3

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I still like my chances in this series.

Despite a 3-0 lead after two periods, the Springfield Thunderbirds mount a furious third period comeback with a shorthanded goal at :55 and two extra attacker goals within a span of 1:34 late in the period to force overtime and it’s Akil Thomas’ fluke goal that goes off the end wall and off of Sergei Murashov and in to give the visiting Springfield Thunderbirds a 4-3 overtime win to tie this Best of Five Series at a game a piece with Game 3 ready to go Tuesday in Springfield.

That all said, I am off till Tuesday going camping and my weekend is ruined already.

It’s 11:10 p.m. on a Thursday, let’s see how quick we can get through this…

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Lineup Notes: Raivis Ansons for Boko Imama on the fourth line was it.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre withstands a Springfield push to open, but then the floodgates open and Bill Zonnon scores his second goal in as many games on a power play at 8:32 and the Penguins were off and running….

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That was about as orchestrated a power play that I have witnessed in some time.

Shots ended 14-4 Penguins in the period. Officials missed Gabe Klassen getting busted open with a high stick but the very next shift call another high sticking penalty that put the Penguins on the power play that gave them the lead.

Second Period: They absolutely dominated the Thunderbirds from top to bottom, left to right and side to side.

:16 into the frame, Tristan Broz scores here to double the Penguins lead….

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More tomfoolery from referees Liam Maaskant and Austin Rook, who I thought were average at best, missing a blatant trip on Springfield on one side, but calling Joona Koppanen for a blatant one on our side.

But they navigated clean to even strength again, go back on the power play and Avery Hayes scores to make it 3-0.

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Shots were 30-14. Write it how you want, it was one way traffic. The Penguins could do no wrong and Springfield couldn’t do anything. At five a side they were getting throttled. Two power play goals in your nets? Short series, buddy.

Third Period: But that’s what the casuals think.

Dillon Dube is whistled for delay of game at :31. Penguins power play. Get another one here and bury them.

Nope.

Hugh McGing, at :55, shorthanded.

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Shorthanded goals and the inability to say the word die is what Springfield Thunderbirds hockey is about in these Calder Cup Playoffs.

But they persisted, persisted, persisted and persisted some more until Head Coach Steve Ott summoned Georgii Romanov to the bench with 3:42 left. Vibes told me why not, they were hemming in the Penguins the whole period. Shots? Try 20-8 for the Thunderbirds in the period.

They score. Not one, but two. Same guy, too. Dillon Dube.

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I thank the Springfield media team for the economy tweet there showing both extra attacker goals.

It was off to…

Overtime: Didn’t like the vibes. Felt like they were shellshocked and just holding on. Shots 11-4 for Springfield here until Akil Thomas gets sprung on a breakaway, shoots, misses the net, but the hard shot caroms off the back boards back off of Murashov and in.

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A penalty was being called there, so if they fluke goal didn’t beat them, the power play most likely would have.

Three Stars: 3) Mikhail Ilyin (two assists) 2) Dillon Dube (two extra attacker goals) 1) Akil Thomas (game winning overtime goal)

The Good: Well, the first forty minutes we looked like a special team that couldn’t be stopped.

The Bad: Outshot 31-12 in the third period and overtime against a team that doesn’t know any better, probably doesn’t belong, but has home ice now and a 1-1 series heading back for a pivotal Game 3 Tuesday.

Turning Point: The shorthanded goal by Hugh McGing lit the fuse that propelled the Thunderbirds to this improbable comeback, considering how the first two periods went.

Ice Chips: I know I am writing these words for casuals who will never read them, but for the love of god your team is clinging to a 3-1 lead late in the third and you idiots want to start the wave? Like, what the hell? Is this your first hockey game? (yes, probably)

But that’s the dope in me that has never won the big one telling people who bought the ticket I didn’t pay for how to act.

Video Highlights: 

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Is it Tuesday yet? No? Just 11:30 p.m. when this goes up? Damn, I type fast.

Let’s Go Pens!

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4                            1

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I had this tweet after the end of the second period where the Penguins were leading 2-1.

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They say that the put away game is the hardest to win. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins play their most concise game of the series and oust the Hershey Bears in four games in the Atlantic Division Semifinals and win 4-1. Sergei Murashov with a dazzling 37 save performance. Murashov is undefeated in Hershey.

The Penguins will take on the Springfield Thunderbirds in the Atlantic Division Finals, after the Thunderbirds dispatched the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, 54 win Providence Bruins in four games 1-0 in overtime.

More on those fools in due time though.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Rafaël Harvey-PInard was injured in Game 3. Aaron Huglen took his spot up front. Finn Harding was in for Sebastian Aho on defense.

First Period: In an elimination game, if you are leading the series and want to put your opponent away, you better start on time.

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75 seconds in, that’s starting on time and Joona Koppanen is a punctual human being.

Boko Imama and Dalton Smith fought here with Imama swinging wildly, and Smith. getting the takedown. I don’t think anyone landed any punches.

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Hershey scores with 5.1 seconds left on a power play when Ivan Miroshnichenko ties the game at one.

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Second Period: Off the hop, Rutger McGroarty was denied at 1:18 on the breakaway while the teams were 4-on-4 after some end of first period shenanigans.

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Harrison Brunicke would make it 2-1 for the Penguins via a shorthanded goal.

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Here’s the setup. Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty come in on a two on one and don’t get the shot off, then Andrew Cristall works a give and go on a two on one for the Bears the other way but hits the post. Then Gabe Klassen works up the ice, puts a shot on which is stopped but there’s Brunicke for the rebound.

Whew.

It’s a developmental league for a reason folks. Harrison Brunicke was a mess in my opinion when he was here for his developmental stint earlier in the year but since he’s been back after his junior team was eliminated, he has grown leaps and bounds. He’s a wizard with the puck.

Wilkes-Barre has a late power play come and go but kept the pressure on.

Third Period: Ville Koivunen finishes off a beautiful play with Tristan Broz and Mikhail Ilyin to make it 3-1.

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Penalty filled period that favored Hershey. Wilkes-Barre didn’t do itself any favors with the penalties, albeit some were tacky tack. The Penguins get through it all okay however.

Then late, with Clay Stevenson pulled for the extra attacker, Gabe Klassen scores from about 175 feet an empty net goal that seals it.

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Three Stars: 3) Sergei Murashov (37 saves) 2) Harrison Brunicke (goal) 1) Aaron Ness (ceremonial, played a lot of playoff games for the Bears)

The Good: Buried their rival in four games. We don’t have to go to a Saturday game with our butts clenched. They are rounding into form, too. They came into the game prepared with an early goal, smothered their opponent and never looked back.

The Bad: This space for rent.

Turning Point: I want to give it to the collective penalty kill in the third period but that’s lame. The Koivunen goal gets it here.

Next Up: I’ll post the Atlantic Division Finals schedule once it’s finalized by the teams in a separate post. Sleuths on Twitter tell me it’s home in Wilkes-Barre Tuesday and Thursday, but it’s not official until it is.

Video Highlights: 

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Weekend Preview will be up Friday which I will riff on this past series, give you my thoughts on Springfield, and provide you with more NASCAR and soccer hot takes.

Let’s Go Pens!

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4                            3

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I had this tweet at some point during Game 3.

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That was because the Penguins jumped to a 2-0 lead only to see it evaporate and Hershey takes the lead. Hayes, who just had an empty net goal albeit an important one in Game 1, along with Rutger McGroarty, were no where to be found.

Fast forward to the final three minutes of regulation, and Avery Hayes scores to tie the game and force overtime.

Fast forward to 4:57 of the overtime frame and Rutger McGroarty’s goal has the Hershey Bears on the brink of elimination. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton wins 4-3. The Penguins can eliminate the Bears in Game 4 on Thursday.

My alternate headline was “Milk Cartons” if McGroarty and Hayes didn’t show up in the way that they did late. Milk does a body good.

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Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: They shuffled the top three lines and left the Imama line untouched and took Finn Harding out of the lineup for Chase Pietila.

First Period: Phil Kemp pounced on a loose puck left in the slot and scored at 3:15 to give the Penguins a quick 1-0 lead.

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Then the Penguins played some Harlem Globetrotters with a series of passes that ended on the tape of Mikhail Ilyin who scored at 6:16 to make it 2-0 Penguins.

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But here come the Bears.

Ivan Miroshnichenko scores right at the halfway point of the period and it’s a 2-1 game.

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But I think this play was offside.

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You are looking at the puck at the top of the screen and the Bears skater in the middle of your screen. Looks offside to me by parallax is a funny thing.

Hershey would get the only power play of the period and the Penguins would kill it, but Hershey would keep the momentum. Bogdan Trineyev scores to tie the game at two.

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Second Period: Last thing you want to do is see the opponent score in the first minute.

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Brett Leason is developing into a stone in the shoe.

Penguins had the only power play in the period and were not able to score on it. Avery Hayes was open near post and had a gaping net to shoot into and the pass came to him in the skates.

Wilkes-Barre outshot the Bears 10-7 in the period but it would have been 5-2 Hershey if it weren’t for Sergei Murashov’s efforts in net.

Third Period: Avery Hayes had a bit of an eventful period. He hit the post early on and at full speed it looked like a goal but the in house replays clearly showed low iron and no goal.

Wilkes-Barre had to sweat through a penalty kill with one of their best killers Joona Koppanen in the box but got through it cleanly.

They were chasing, and chasing, and chasing, and chasing a goal and out of a time out with a hair over 3 minutes remaining and Sergei Murashov vacated for the extra attacker the aforementioned Avery Hayes scored to tie the game.

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A few spikes of hairiness to the final whistle but it was off to…

Overtime:

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(I got tired of waiting for Coal Street to post the video on a work night so I did it myself)

The Bears fans in attendance were irate at the fact that the goal was not reviewed. Hershey has literally every angle covered with multiple angles for replays, but what they don’t have (or show) is the overhead. The fans in attendance were sure that the goal should not have counted.

Enter Hershey play by play man Zack Fisch.

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So there’s that, and this….

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Three Stars: 3) Ivan Miroshnichenko (goal) 2) Brett Leason (goal) 1) Rutger McGroarty (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. I mean I realize it’s not supposed to be easy, but don’t make it harder if that makes any sense.

The Bad: I’m starting to question who the better team is here and I wasn’t at the start of the series.

Turning Point: The McGroarty goal is the obvious answer here.

Video Highlights:

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Ice Chips: Game 4 goes Thursday from Hershey and you can expect the best from the Bears in the hopes they force the decider here Saturday at 6:05….I still don’t think Wilkes-Barre has played its best game of the series yet….they don’t give MVPs this early in but Sergei Murashov gets my vote here. He’s literally dragging them through the series….I would still try to find room for Raivis Ansons if I am Kirk MacDonald but as I have say for years, I don’t coach them, I just blog about them.

Talk to you Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!

         vs.        

2                              1

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Well, now it’s a series.

Hershey takes Game 2 by a 2-1 score Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

I told you in the Weekend Preview that Herhsey goaltender Clay Stevenson had the potential to steal a game if not the series. He stopped 36 of 37 shots, including 21 in the third period after an all out barrage by the Penguins in the third period after trailing 2-0, and now it’s an even series heading to a pivotal Game 3 Tuesday in Hershey.

Wilkes-Barre did not start on time, with just three shots on goal in the first period and in a period where they were awarded a very early 4:00 double minor power play.

Hershey scored in the first period on their power play off of a Brett Leason goal and then Bogdan Trineyev scored after a big stop by Stevenson on Aidan McDonough moneys before. McDonough would extract his pound of flesh in the third at 1:12 to jump start what ended up being a too little, too late onslaught by the home team.

That’s basically it. The game teetered on the brink of an all out mess but in the end I think that Ben Betker and Adam Tobias did a good enough of a job to not turn it into a slop fest.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Aaron Huglen and Raivis Ansons out for Boko Imama and Tanner Howe up front and Chase Pietila out for Finn Harding.

Here’s the goals starting with Leason’s power play marker than made it 1-0.

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Came off of a Finn Harding high stick call.

Penguins take two silly penalties to open the second period, get the kill but the Bears started to run down hill and Stevenson was dialing in. Finally he comes up with a huge blocker stop on Aidan McDonough and then Bogdan Trineyev scores to make it 2-0.

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The Penguins get exactly what they needed in the third period with a McDonough goal at 1:12 to bring the Penguins to within one.

But that is as far as they would get. With Sergei Murashov pulled late, they would never find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Clay Stevenson (36 saves) 2) Ilya Protas (two assists) 1) Bogdan Trineyev (goal)

The Good: Play like they played in the third period and the series is theirs.

The Bad: Play like they played in the first two periods and the series is Hershey’s.

Turning Point: The 4:00 double minor early set the tone. They didn’t score, Herhsey kills it off easily and then starts to roll a bit and shut down the Penguins in the first period offensively, get a goal and then Stevenson locks down the rest.

So Kirk MacDonald pretty much has to go back to Ansons and Huglen for Game 3. Imama and Howe are nice, but they are one dimensional and essentially the same player. For whatever reason I didn’t like Sebastian Aho’s game either, but the line with Howe and Imama really stood out. Maybe keep Howe in and swap Imama for Ansons.

Video Highlights: 

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Talk to you Tuesday for Game 3.

Let’s Go Pens!