Chirps from Center Ice

Big night in Penguin land this evening with a 5-2 win and multiple point nights for a few guys. Luck in the standings tonight too with Norfolk losing in overtime to the Albany Devils. I think the Devils tied the score twice after being down to come back and win in overtime.

Brad Thiessen v. Leland Irving tonight. Dustin Jeffrey was back in the lineup after being in Pittsburgh. Jesse Boulerice and Robert Bortuzzo returned from their suspensions. Jason DeSantis took warmups but was scratched. Joey Haddad was sent back to Wheeling and Ben Street was the scratch as he did not partake in warmups.

First period: Wilkes-Barre, off the hop, was all over Abbotsford. Joe Vitale steals a puck from a Heat defenseman and he and Tangradi come down on a two on one. Joe passes to Eric he buries it. Later in the period Vitale would ge his goal while the teams were 4 on 4. Ryan Stone had a frustrating night for the Heat, he fought Keven Veilleux and hit a post later in the game. His frustrations capped off an overall frustrating night for the gritty Heat team.

Second period: Up 2-0, the Pens started the second flat-footed. Reacting instead of acting. Just letting Abbotsford dictate pace of play. Jesse Boulerice would sit for interference and (who else) Dustin Jeffrey would score shorthanded. At this point Joe Vitale had three assists and was for the evening a +3. Vitale would end +2 but he was right at the top of the +/- category, we’ll have to see where he shows up tomorrow in that category. Later, Heat rookie sensation Greg Nemisz would score to cut the deficit to 3-1. The last 8:00 of the second was just sloppy hockey by the Pens. If Abbotsford’s power play isn’t ranked last in the league or close to it we lose the game tonight in this time frame. The Heat went officially 0 for 4.

Third period: Pens up 3-1 to start the period. After Joe Piskula high sticked Keven Veilleux and drew blood for a double minor, Tangradi would sit for hooking and Jon Rheault for the Heat would score to bring it to 3-2. I felt at this point the game was going off the rails but Steve Wagner would fire a puck on net which Eric Tangradi would deflect in to make 4-2. I had not realized it at the time but tha ended any chance of a comeback for the Heat because the rest of the period they just spent chasing Veilleux and others, trying to get them off of their game instead of focusing on their own. Example: Tangradi scores at 6:17 on the power play. Ryley Grantham trip at 10:57. Brett Sterling scores on the power play to make it 5-2. Bryan Lerg throws a guy into the Pens bench, but Matt Pelech takes exception and pounds Lerg. Lerg doesn’t swing, and referee Mark Lemelin gives Lerg 2 for boarding and Pelech 4 for roughing. Instead of taking the obvious power play you get put yourself at a disadvantage and hurt your team. Undisciplined.

There were fights at the end. For two teams who are 3,000+ miles apart and only play each other in the Winter and Spring this season and may not again next year, the bad blood is evident. But, the Pens need to get used to this type of treatment because when you are the best team in the league, every team is going to send its goons after you to try to knock you off of your game.

Dustin Jeffrey, Joe Vitale and Eric Tangradi were your three stars in that order. All multiple points for them. Nick Johnson and Steve Wagner also had multiple points with two assists each.

Around the Division: Every team in the league played tonight. The AHL’s busiest night ever. Binghamton defeated Syracuse 7-0. Syracuse beat us way back when to give us our first loss of the year. Bingo is lukewarm and they hang seven goals on the Crunch? Imagine what Wilkes-Barre will do tomorrow… Hershey lost to Adirondack 3-1. Do not adjust your computer screens. You are reading that right. Lots of stories coming out of that game. Sheldon Souray looks like he hurt his knee, as he was hobbled and did not return. Patrick McNeill and Keith Aucoin returned from injury. None of it mattered though as Denis Hamel gets two goals, one of them being his 300th. The aformentioned Admirals lost to Albany 4-3 in overtime. Charlotte beat Providence 6-2. Certainly a much improved Checkers team from the one we swept in October in North Carolina.

Standings: WBS sits in first with 46 points. Norfolk gets the loser point in overtime and is 6 back in second with 40. The Checkers are in third, four back of the Admirals and ten back of Wilkes-Barre with 36 points. Hershey has 33 points and is in fourth. Bingo has 30 points in fifth. They would not crossover into the Atlantic if the playoffs started today. Albany has 24 points in sixth, Syracuse has 22 points in seventh and Adirondack has 12 points in last.

We will see how the team comes out and plays in Syracuse tomorrow. This can be a trap game for the Penguins. We will see how prepared they are.

Let’s Go Pens!