Chirps from Center Ice

Really a dominating performance this evening in the New York Capital District, a 4-1 Wilkes-Barre romp which by rights should have been a 7-0 thrashing or something like that.

Brett Sterling was a scratch. Joey Haddad took his spot on the fourth line. Nick Johnson as advertised did not play. Brad Thiessen got the nod in net in an unprecedented 2nd game in a row which to date has been unheard of. I was fully expecting John Curry against the broken Devils.

First period: Albany drew a quick 5 on 3 after a Brian Strait hook and a very soft Corey Potter trip. Tyler Eckford sniped from the blue line while Thiessen was screened. Later in the period, Adam Henrique took a cross check and Dustin Jeffrey scored to tie the game. More on him later.

Second period: Chris Collins bomb from the point finds a Ryan Craig stick to make it 2-1 early at 2:42 of the period. Albany beat writer Bill Cain tweeted that the Devils were being outshot 18-3 at 4:30 into the 2nd period. It really was a dominating performance for the Wilkes-Barre defense tonight. Radio called the corps a “man amongst boys” tonight. Later in the period, Joe Vitale drew an Alexander Urbom slash, and Andrew Hutchinson blasted a one timer from Dustin Jeffrey from the blue line past Frazee to make it 3-1. Then, Pierre Luc-Letourneau-Leblond and Jesse Boulerice scrapped in what was the fight of the year in my opinion. Both men struck each other so hard they cut each other. I mean open gashes which required stitches for both. Boulerice was hit so hard it knocked me out (not literally). Referee Terry Koharski reffed the score and called a bunch of penalties on WBS, but it just didn’t matter. We had shorthanded chance after shorthanded chance. Only 1,478 in attendance tonight and they booed the effort tonight. Bronx cheers on any legit shots on Thiessen who probably didn’t even break a sweat tonight.

The shots were 27-7 after two.

Third period: More shorthanded chances by WBS. Eric Tangradi lit the lamp at 5:50 from a delicious pass from Dustin Jeffrey. After that it was cruise control. Zach Sill got in late shenanigans but it didn’t matter it was a 4-1 Wilkes-Barre romp. 8-0 on the road and Thiessen undefeated.

Tyler Eckford for Albany, Andrew Hutchinson and Dustin Jeffrey for WBS were the three stars:

Thoughts: 1) As I said in my Gameday Preview, Albany’s core is fractured. Injuries and call-ups will hurt any team. Right now WBS is an elite team, so the 1-0 deficit early meant nothing to them, they just went on lockdown afterwards with the final SOG tally being 32-19. 2) Thiessen. Why start him twice in a row? Especially against a downtrodden Albany team? Unless you are naming him your #1 and going Thiess, Thiess, Curry this weekend v. Norfolk, Hershey and Bingo. My thought is it’ll be Curry-Thiessen-Curry this weekend. 3) The fourth line. Sill-Boulerice-Haddad worked hard and should have had a goal tonight. Really impressed by the depth on this team. 4) Bryan Lerg really played great tonight, which speaks again to the depth this team has. 5) Dustin Jeffrey. Really making a case to get called up to Pittsburgh and stay there. Eric P at the Wilkes-Blog has a post this week you should read. He was 1-2-3 tonight. Radio called his goal an “NHL caliber goal” and basically called this game his “breakout” game. Hard to disagree.

No other team in the East skated tonight, We are 12-2 right now with 24 points. Hershey and Charlotte have 19 a piece. Charlotte plays Adirondack tomorrow and Friday. Hershey plays in Bingo Friday.

Gigantic test coming against the Norfolk Admirals Friday which are going from pretender to contender. Get your popcorn ready.