Chirps from Center Ice

First things first, Brad Thiessen left the game in the first period with an apparent injury. People said he tweaked his knee, radio said he could be sick. Regardless I didn’t see him leave the ice because I was looking elsewhere but he did not return. John Curry took the 6-2 Pens win in front of a sold out crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena.

For the Devils in net, Mike McKenna. Jason DeSantis was sent to The Nail today, and Andrew Hutchinson did not take warmups. Scuttlebut was they didn’t want to just throw Hutch into a 4 in 5 after coming off a bad knee injury. There were no “injuries” to report, so I would expect him in tomorrow vs. Charlotte. Steve Wagner returned also.

First Period: Very quickly, the Devils scored. Brad Thiessen went out to play a puck, lost it, got tangled with a player and Patrick Davis scored on the empty net. Right after that happened, Brett Sterling went on a mission. Off the post, all alone, off another post, just everywhere. The shots were 14-5 at one point in favor of Wilkes-Barre and finally Sterling scored to tie the game.

Second Period: Keven Veilleux took a Geoff Walker shot off the knee and went into the dressing room for a look but came back. Soon after, Geoff Walker uncorked a bomb from in between the circles to make it 2-1. Seven minutes in and Albany did not have a single SOG the period. Ryan Schnell fought twice. If he is going to make the penalty box his second home, it better be for fighting and not bone head penalties. Later Keven Veilleux scored top shelf with McKenna down to make it 3-1. After that with Rob Davidson in the box for an elbowing penalty, Nick Johnson would score with :03 in the power play. After two periods the Devils only had 13 shots on goal.

Third Period: Corey Potter fires a shot from the blue line which completely misses the net. It bounces off the board, up into the air and over McKenna’s head. He swats at it, and the puck goes in. A few minutes later, Brett Sterling scores again to make it 6-1. Pens played to protect the 5 goal lead (I know, it sounds stupid) but they took a bone head too  many men penalty and Adam Henrique score on the power play to make it 6-2. Ballgame.

Late update on Thiessen from the Bombulie Postgamer:

Coach John Hynes said Thiessen was kept out of the rest of the game for precautionary reasons. He won’t dress tomorrow against Charlotte, but the injury is not believed to be serious.

In the comment section it was mentioned that Patrick Killeen did not dress. He’ll be fresh if needed. Expect John Curry vs. Justin Pogge tomorrow.

Around the Division: Norfolk lost in Syracuse 3-2. Hershey beat Rochester 5-1. Don’t look now but the Bears are third in the division and playing some ridiculously good hockey right now. Binghamton beat Atlantic Division leading Manchester 4-2 in front of a sold out Verizon Wireless Arena in ManchVegas and Adriondack lost in a shootout to Hamilton 4-3. The Bulldogs scored two third period goals to come back and win. There were no penalties in the game. God bless you, Jeff Smith.

Standings: WBS with the win jumps back to an 11 point lead over the Admirals, 68-57. Hershey and Charlotte are tied with 53 points. Binghamton has 51 points in fifth. The B-Sens would get the Atlantic Division crossover knocking Worcester out if the playoffs started today. The rest of the division drops way off after that. Albany and Syracuse are tied with 37 points. Adirondcack creeps ever so closer with 31 points in last.

Tomorrow: Norfolk is idle. Hershey hosts Adirondack. The Admirals do not play till Tuesday in Portland.

Let’s Go Pens!