Chirps from Center Ice

Exhale.

I have pretty much lived in fear of the Hershey Bears Hockey Club all season long. Despite the winning record against them, the Bears are what you want you minor league franchise to be. Top to bottom they are run like an NHL team. I have said from the very beginning of this year that the road to the Calder Cup runs through Hershey, PA. Beat Hershey, and you can beat any team. Win something Hershey can’t, and you are the favorite.

Tonight, before, 10,653 fans in GIANT Center, the Pens won a gritty, playoff like atmosphere game 3-2 in overtime, shorthanded, via Bryan Lerg. With the win and a Charlotte 8-2 win against Norfolk today, your Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are the 2010-2011 East Division Champions.

John Curry vs. Braden Holtby, fresh off of a cleansheet in the NHL last night.

First Period: Mathieu Perreault tripped Tim Wallace very early and Andrew Hutchinson scored :04 later on the power play. Bears would get three consecutive power plays afterwards but the Pens would kill them all. What a performance by John Curry between the pipes tonight.

First Period Intermission: Hershey media voting for Brad Thiessen for MVP and John Hynes for Coach of the Year.

Second Period: Keven Veilleux had a good game, stickhandling past three Bears on a shift and fighting Bears newcomer Andrew Carroll later. About midway through, the Bears were carrying the pace. Brian Strait goes to routinely clear out a puck and his stick breaks! In the melee, Francois Bouchard scores after a Brian Willsie point shot. Then later, with Dmitri Orlov in the box for slashing, Ben Street would fire a puck in from the right dot to put the Pens up 2-1. The guys over at Sweetest Hockey on Earth jinxed us sort of by tweeting that the Pens power play was lethal. To this point, it was, but afterwards…well read on.

Third Period: Pens carry the pace again, but as color guy Scott Stuccio stated on radio, if you gave the Bears an inch, they took a mile. Brian Willsie would sit for a penalty and as the Bears killed it they hooked up with Willsie who came in alone and Curry made a glove save. Later, Boyd Kane would sit for elbowing, none other than Keith Aucoin would skate in shorthanded and score to tie the game at 2.

Overtime: The Pens would get a powerplay with Steve Pinizzotto off for tripping but not score. Then, at the tail end Brett Sterling would take a silly roughing penalty while the Pens were in the offensize zone. Bears got the power play. Then, Bryan Lerg would come in shorthanded down the right lane and would fire a puck past Holtby stick side to send the Pens to the East Division title, a record for wins in a season, and John Curry’s 100th win.

Three Stars: Mathieu Perreault (two assists, +2) Andrew Hutchinson (goal, -1) and Bryan Lerg (game winning overtime goal, assist, +1)

The Pens limited the Bears to only 13 shots on goal in the second and third periods. But for Brian Strait’s stick breaking (he broke three in the game alone) and some puck luck late, we very well could have been looking at a 2-0 win. What a defensive shutdown on the tail end of a three in three, all on the road.

Around the Division: You know about the Checkers and Admirals game from the open. The Binghamton Senators defeated the Springfield Falcons 4-1. Syracuse and Bridgeport were postponed due to ice issues at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Like what happened when the Pens were in Atlantic City.

Standings: Pens clinch the Division and will finish first no matter what happens with points. We have recapped points all year here so I am not going to stop now. WBS 105 – HER 94 – CHA 91 -NOR 88 – BNG 87. The Admirals have two games in hand on the Senators. With the way the B-Sens have played the Pens this year, we are cheering for anyone but Binghamton. You want them to cross over into the Atlantic, ultimately. SYR 65 – ALB 65 and ADK 62.

Wilkes-Barre’s magic number to clinch home ice throughout the Calder Cup playoffs is 7 over the Portland Pirates. The Pirates have two games in hand on Wilkes-Barre, so it looks like that race will come down to the wire.

* – I am so proud of what this team has accomplished so far. Celebrate the East Division crown today and tomorrow and get back to work Tuesday to be ready for Norfolk on Wednesday. The prize is not a Division Championship or a Conference Championship, it’s that big silver shiny thing that Hershey has 11 of. Maintain focus and Let’s Go Pens!