Chirps from Center Ice

Nick Petersen shatters a record for five assists in a game today in Syracuse and assists on all five goals as the Pens cruise to a 5-3 win in Syracuse.

Brad Thiessen vs. Timo Pielmeier. No lineup changes from last night. Radio indicated that all guys who are hurt will be ready for playoffs.

First Period: Early, all four lines looked crisp. Nick Petersen and Paul Thompson have clicked since Thompson arrived in Wilkes-Barre. Then, Syracuse would go up 1-0 on a delayed penalty call which confused everyone, including Brad Thiessen, when Nick Bonino scored from 180 feet away. It was a delayed call on Keven Veilleux. Corey Potter was tripped, and Thiessen saw that and assumed with the refs arm already up that the Pens would get the power play. You know what happens when you assume. First period would end 1-0 and the Pens leading the Crunch 8-7 in shots but really there was only one scoring chance for Syracuse.

Second Period: Brian McGrattan would be in the box for holding and Keven Veilleux would tie the game. Later, Paul Thompson would score his first AHL goal when he and Petersen worked in on a neat 2 on 1. There was good flow to this period with lots of back and forth. Lat in the period, Zach Sill would get thrown into the boards and was slow to get up. He skated off under his own power both to the bench and to the locker room but did not return.

Third Period: David Marshall took Sill’s spot and left Nick Bonino unmarked and Bonino tied it. Then, Petersen would draw a Joe DiPenta interference call and Geoff Walker would get tripped and in the ensuing 5 on 3 Corey Potter would continue his offensive production with a goal from the blue line to make it 3-2. At this point I thought the lead should be much higher than 3-2. It felt like it was 10-2. Bonino would then go to the box on a rough and Geoff Walker scored to make it 4-2. Then, during a flurry of penalties, Nicolas Deschamps would score to make it 4-3 to make things interesting. Then, late, Keven Veilleux would score to put the game out of reach for Syracuse.

The win is the Pens’ 56th, Thiessen’s 34th. That surpasses Curry’s 33 win total a few years ago. The Pens are only one of four teams in the 75 year history of the league to win 56 games.

Three Stars: Keven Veilleux (two goals, -1) Nick Bonino (two goals, +2) and Nick Petersen (5 assists, +2)

Nailers beat guys Shawn Rine reports that Ryan Schnell is headed back to Wilkes-Barre. The Pens were 3/8 on the power play.

Around the Division: Albany comes back in the third to tie Binghamton, then beat them in a shootout 3-2. The B-Sens have to wait another day to clinch a playoff spot. They are, however, tied with Norfolk for fourth place. Huge game for both teams Wednesday in Binghamton. They are 2-3-1-1 vs. the Admirals this season.

No games for the Pens this week. Expect a post on the AHL award for top goalie tomorrow and a recap of B-Sens / NorAds on Wednesday and anything else that comes to mind in between here on the blog this week.

Let’s Go Pens!